HUW TURBERVILL: A host of rain-affected Bob Willis Trophy matches exposed the competition's format while England should look to change their Test captain ahead of the 2021-22 Ashes
The Bob Willis Trophy seems to have gone down pretty well.
So well that many are saying that this proves that the great man after whom the tournament was named was spot on.
For in 2003 he was a member of the Cricket Reform Group, along with his brother David, Mike Atherton, and Michael Parkinson, who advocated three groups of six counties, playing 10 first-class matches, as we have now in this Covid-hit summer.
That number as the norm would put English cricket in accordance with Australia (the Sheffield Shield), and on a similar footing to Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (10 plus final), India’s Ranji Trophy (eight plus quarters, semi and final), the West Indies Championship, New Zealand’s Plunket Shield (so that’s what happened to Liam) and the Sri Lanka first-class competition (about eight).
It all feels like we are drifting inexorably towards having 10 matches not 14 (down from 16 in 2016), with Michael Vaughan and co. leading the charge. “Every match feels like a special event,” we are told.
It’s cobblers, of course.
The first round of matches was great with some thrilling finishes, but the third round which ended this week has been a partial wash-out, with some declaration bowling getting plenty of guffaws on Twitter.
Let’s face it, anything involving cricketers dressed in white and playing with a red ball would have been welcomed with open arms after the tedium of lockdown.
It’s not that they are in groups of six. It’s just first-class cricket for goodness’ sake – something to listen to (BBC Radio); watch (streaming) or monitor (website scorecards).
We need to fight to retain at least 14 matches.
Test cricket remains big in this country. It still accounts for the lion’s share of the contract Sky and the BBC agreed with the ECB from 2020–24.
By having 10 matches only, susceptible to the unpredictable British weather, we would be failing to prepare our Test team.
In addition, more people watch domestic first-class cricket here than in other countries, with the 18 counties having anything between 1,000 and 13,000 members. Yes, we know crowds are not huge for Championship cricket, but these people should not just be disenfranchised on a whim.
Just because more people watch EastEnders than Endeavour doesn’t make it better. Just because something is progressive doesn’t make it good.
Always telling non-cricketing friends & family that the game is all blood, guts, glory and fierce sporting theatre...
— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) August 18, 2020
Then one of them sends this over 👀 pic.twitter.com/X4FvbWczU4
When it looked as if England were going to lose the first Test against Pakistan at the Ageas Bowl, i.e for the first 11 sessions, I was sharpening my pencil again ready to call for Stuart Broad to be captain.
He has always been hard done by, a classic case of always picking the best batsman rather than the best candidate.
Joe Root is actually pretty good tactically, better than Alastair Cook was; maybe even better than Andrew Strauss… although the latter was a superb organiser/leader of men.
But the captaincy has clearly taken a toll on Root’s brilliant batting.
I would love to see Broad lead England in Australia in 2021/22, allowing Root to do what he does best – bat.
For England to win we surely need him at his best, doing a Chris Broad (1986/87), Michael Vaughan (2002/03) or Cook (2010/11).
Root, 29, averages 42 when captain, 52 when not … and has been cast adrift of the power pack of Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, and Steve Smith. He will blame sluggish surfaces like the Ageas Bowl and Lord’s, but he must be desperate to get back where he belongs.
Watching the wonderfully apocryphal Australian TV mini-series Bodyline was deliciously enjoyable as a youngster.
I have visions of a rather raffish Broad, studying videos of Smith batting, as Douglas Jardine allegedly did with his mentor Percy Fender.
Maybe Broad senior, who we know can be ruthless, could take on the role of mentor.
Like Jardine, Stuart Broad knows what it is like to be hated in Australia, after not walking at Trent Bridge in 2013. He ran the gauntlet down under that winter, being ghosted by Aussie newspapers, being hounded by fans.
There has even been talk that a form of ‘Bodyline’ might be effective against Smith, as it was against Don Bradman in 1932/33.
The parallels intrigue me. It probably won’t happen but it would be fascinating if it did.
It’s a wonder we’ve had any memorable Test cricket really this summer, such was the terrible start we endured with the pandemic.
The second Test against Pakistan was an atrocious waste of time, but there has been plenty of good stuff: the batting of Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope and Jermaine Blackwood; and the bowling of Shannon Gabriel, Stuart Broad and the Pakistan quicks; you could even argue that Dom Sibley’s batting has been of vintage Test standard, with Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes’ stand the absolute highlight. Crowd or no crowd, that passage of play will be memorable for years to come.
It’s been a tough summer for the broadcasters too, battling boredom in the bio-bubble, desperately filling airtime thanks to the inclement weather in Manchester and Southampton.
What TMS has lacked at times – Jonathan Agnew and Simon Mann excepted – has been a bit of passion, however.
I have had it on in the background as I work on The Cricketer magazine, and sometimes this summer you cannot tell if a wicket has fallen or not.
There seems to have been precious little vocal range between, say, an edge dropping short or being held at slip.
The commentators deserve every sympathy, for normally their efforts would be augmented by the crowd.
I wonder if this season was a special case for bringing in somebody a bit more excitable, however.
I am not sure if Jonathan Pearce likes cricket, but he might have brought the coverage to life a bit – or just reminded you it was on.
The third round of the Bob Willis Trophy was beset with rain - but teams did their best to reach an outcome
I’ve just come back from my annual cricket weekend in Suffolk; this year to Southwold CC and Campsea Ashe (v Woodbridge CC).
After the year we have all had it was a relief for us friends just to finally play together again. This year’s trip consisted of two matches, not three, and one night not two, but hopefully we can revert next summer.
I had two teenagers in my team and I’d forgotten what it was like to be their age. When we came off after fielding first in both matches I felt their eyes clamped on me, waiting expectantly to be given their places in the batting order.
They have been playing every week for their club sides, and I needed them ostensibly as bowlers, while for some of the tourists, the weekend was the only time they would bat all summer.
But try telling that to hungry teenagers!
On Sunday, the hosts didn’t listen to my advice.
The Met Office was forecasting rain for about 5pm. I suggested we play a T20, then take stock to see if the wet stuff arrived. If it didn’t, we could play some more.
My opposing captain agreed, but when he returned to his troops after the toss they were adamant they wanted at least a 35-over-per-side game.
After scoring 274 in their overs (at times it was brutal!), we limped to 135 for 5 in 30 when the rain came.
With the best will in the world, I think we would have struggled to make 140 runs in five overs.
Therefore, a pleasing draw! There’s no substitute for experience…
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