March 2009 Archives

It has been suggested to me that orangutans have "endearing personalities".

Surely this cannot be so. Only a person - a human being - can have a personality.

Team A batted through the first day of the Bears' opening three-day friendly for 376 for 9 before declaring.

Westwood 46, Troughton 7 (both got dodgy lbw decisions), Clarke 43, Piolet 17, Johnson 22, Woakes 33, Carter 78, MacLeod 34no, Choudry 8no. Two local boys making up the side were Van Wyk, 48 retired out, and Pienaar 11.

Rankin summoned most life from a real flat track in baking heat and was unflattered by figures of 2 for 82 from 15 overs. Barker bowled intelligently in tough conditions for 1 for 51 from 13 overs. Miller 0 for 58 off 12. Anyon 1 for 64 off 15. Botha 2 for 35 off 12. Tahir 1 for 32 from 13. Maddy 0 for 19 from 8.

Carter batted properly, playing himself in until unfurling some trademark blows later on before falling to Rankin, caught at mid-on.

I don't think anyone at Warwickshire has noticed that a rather special golden anniversary for the club falls this year.

It was exactly 50 years ago that, following sustained complaints from home and opposing players, the Bears at last agreed to put a sightscreen at the City End.

Surely there should be some form of commemoration of this momentous development. Perhaps a celebratory match against a Lashings World XI?

The teams, imaginatively named 'Team A' and 'Team B', for the Bears' first three-day warm-up, starting tomorrow, are:

Team A: Westwood, Poonia, Troughton, Clarke, Piolet, Johnson, MacLeod, Choudry, Woakes, Carter - plus a local player.
Team B: Maddy, Frost, Potha, Ateeq, Barker, Tahir, Anyon, Miller, Rankin - plus two local players.

Meanwhile, down under, Jonathan Trott, on England Lions duty in New Zealand, bumped into Mark Greatbatch the other day. Batch was not very friendly.

Much missed.

After Warwickshire finished 12th in the county championship in 1909, the following year's Wisden reflected: "We are forced to the conclusion that some of the crack players are not getting any younger."

In 1911 those crack players were to the fore as Warwickshire won the championship in brilliant and spectacular style.

Wisden? Pah!

D-Day for Warwickshire's 'master plan' for the Pavilion End will not now be March 26, as had been anticipated. The scheme will probably now go before city planners on April 2.

I wouldn't back against Jonathan Trott batting at number three for England in the Ashes this summer.

Trott was assured by Geoff Miller before Christmas that he is still in the selectors' thoughts and has since scored heavily for England Lions in New Zealand. In two 'Tests' against New Zealand A, he scored 138no, 75no, 7 and 51, batting for ten hours and 48 minutes. Above all, England need a crease occupier.

After suffering an acute dose of Batchitis in 2007, Trott recovered to bat very well throughout 2008 and continues to build a case to fill for that troublesome number three position in the national team.

Trott's credibility as an all-rounder did take a bit of a knock in the second match against New Zealand A though. Chasing 457, the Kiwis were hanging on at the end with just one wicket to fall. Trott was entrusted with the ball - interestingly, above the likes of Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett - but failed to dislodge the Kiwis' number 11 despite bowling more than an over at him.

That number 11? Christopher Stewart Martin!

Negative leg-side bowling is nothing new.

In 1899, Warwickshire captain Alf Glover revealed his approach to some heavy scoring by Bobby Abel and Bill Brockwell for Surrey in a championship match at The Oval. "As a last resort," admitted Glover, "I put on Willie Quaife to bowl about six inches off the leg stump, placing nearly all the fielders on the on side. The result was that neither Abel nor Brockwell would touch a ball."

Glover, who was also a driving force behind Leamington Town Football Club, was a feisty character. On one occasion when he was skippering Warwickshire he got involved in a heated exchange with a group of spectators and ended up hurling the ball at them.

Bobby Abel scored 32,669 first-class runs for Surrey and England and, even late in his career, would practice his strokes assiduously in front of a mirror.

Alf Glover was no relation to skilful Leicester City left-winger of the 1970s Len Glover.

Today brought reassuring news for any English cricket-lovers who feared, after the Stanford and Pietersen/Moores fiascos, that their beloved game was being run by an organisation with a pair of nincompoops - Giles Clarke and David Collier - at the top.

The ECB issued a statement in which Clarke outlined the "great progress" which is being made while Collier listed the ECB's "considerable successes".

The statement was headed "ECB delivers on Building Partnerships and plans for the future".

Here it is in its entirety.

"Giles Clarke, Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, joined Chief Executive David Collier this week in outlining their plans for cricket in the next 24 months and the success of the five year Building Partnerships programme to the Government.

They met the Rt Hon Andy Burnham, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Gerry Sutcliffe, the Minister for Sport, on Tuesday and then fully briefed the ECB Board at their meeting today (Wednesday).

Giles Clarke also updated the Board on the vital role the Government was playing in working together with the ECB to ensure the successful delivery of global events such as the ICC World Twenty20 in England in 2009 while David Collier reported on the successes of the Building Partnership five year plan 2005-2009.

Giles Clarke said:
"The Government are one of cricket's key delivery partners. This ranges from assisting us to stage successful major international events such as the ICC World Twenty20, England 2009 through to the investment Sport England make in our grass roots programmes. It is therefore right that we have an on-going dialogue with DCMS to share our vision of how we intend to take the sport forward.

"I advised them of the great progress the ECB has made in meeting the objectives set out in our five year plan Building Partnerships. The investment by the ECB of 21% of our income in enthusing participation in grassroots cricket sets a benchmark for all sports to aspire to. This includes growth of 49% in the number of women and girls playing cricket and our women's team retaining the Ashes in Australia. Gerry Sutcliffe has been an energetic champion and supporter of the progress made by women's cricket at all levels and I am delighted he accepted my invitation to open the women's part of the ICC World Twenty20 in Taunton on June 11 2009.

"In the coming weeks we will engage closely with the DCMS on our plans for taking cricket forward including the framework of our new five year plan.

"This will include the proposals the Board agreed today to increase the representation of women in the governance of the game and careful examination of the fit and proper person arrangements we set for those who wish to invest in cricket or have ownership interest in our Counties. I also plan to discuss with the Secretary of State suitable arrangements for securing independent verification and input into the next five year plan and how his Department can assist in the complex financial arrangements that may be needed in examining whether people and institutions are fit and proper to be involved in the game".

In reporting on the outcomes secured as part of the Building Partnerships strategy, David Collier cited the streamlining of the Board and the committee structure at the ECB as a key component.

Among the considerable successes achieved within the Building Partnerships framework are:
* Increased Performance Related Fee Payments to 34% of fee payments to counties
* £5.2m per annum invested in representative age group, Premier League cricket and County Boards
* County attendances record a 23 per cent rise
* Increasing the number of volunteers to more than 85,000 per annum
* Expansion in women's cricket ( 49% ) and disabilities cricket ( 137% )
* Creating three England 'superstars' who are recognised by 10% of the population
* Increasing the community coaching provision to more than 24,562 roles
* Establishing a £10m interest free loan programme for community clubs
* Reward for counties providing players for England
* Establishing an England development squad of 25 players
* Twenty England qualified players taking 40 wickets or more per season and 28 England qualified players averaging in excess of 45 runs
* Women's and Disabilities teams in top two in the world.
* A 21% investment of ECB income in community programmes."

So there you go.

Perhaps Warwickshire were right to back Giles Clarke to the hilt all along.

New guidelines drawn up by experts commissioned by the ECB could "reduce the carbon footprint of cricket by the equivalent of a small housing estate."

And the guidelines could also save more than 700,000 hours of cricket pitch-preparation time across the UK through more effective use of rollers, it has been boldly claimed.

Boffins at Cranfield University's Centre for Sports Surface Technology have spent the last four years "aiming to develop a scientific understanding of the rolling of cricket pitches."

The boffins worked with the ECB and Institute of Groundsmanship to consult more than 100 groundstaff across England and Wales to identify the scope for improvement. Amazingly, they found that, in first-class cricket, the number of roller-passes over the pitch ranges from five to 280.

Dr Iain James, senior lecturer and head of the centre for sports surface technology at Cranfield, is in no doubt about the value of the four-year study. "We calculated," he revealed, "that if all clubs in England and Wales were to target their rolling using these guidelines, the reduction in rolling time will save a total of over 700,000 hours of rolling per year and reduce the carbon footprint of cricket by the equivalent of a small housing estate."

ECB pitches consultant Chris Wood reckons the study will prove invaluable. "This research," he said, "will go a long way to dispel the myths and legends and instil sound and economical rolling practices for the production of quality pitches across all levels of cricket."