Will the real Royal London Cup please stand up

Amid the celebrations at Trent Bridge last August, Michael Hogan held a stump aloft and picked up Nick Selman. Tom Cullen, the wicketkeeper, who also ended up in possession of a stump, dived on top of Kiran Carlson, the captain. They were children, drunk on excitement.

By the admission of Glamorgan's ragtag Royal London Cup winners, this wasn't a feeling they were used to and perhaps not one they had anticipated: Carlson was only skippering – and Cullen only keeping wicket – because of Chris Cooke's deployment to Birmingham Phoenix, while Steve Reingold and Andy Gorvin were registered via Wales National County performances.

Reingold calls it "surreal from the get-go, playing in a side that were underdogs in most games". Yet when the going got tough, youngsters stood up.

Joe Cooke had never taken a List A wicket but ended as the tournament's leading wicket-taker.

"Collectively, as a group of players who had never really gelled or had time in the first team to go out and enjoy ourselves, we ended up getting over the line. It just worked, it just clicked."

When Andrew Salter played in the Yorkshire Bank 40 final nine years ago, the Welsh county were second best, defeated by Nottinghamshire. The experience was a blur to an off-spinner then 20 years old. He recalls the standing ovation for Simon Jones, playing the last match of a career ultimately defined by injury. But, for the most part, the second opportunity to star in a domestic final – no matter its denigrators – is wedged in the memory bank. Glamorgan had never before won a knockout final, and Salter's greatest pride is in squashing that hoodoo.

^{Tom Cullen celebrates during the 2021 Royal London Cup final [Getty Images]}

"I can only really talk on a personal level, but I think the images of the final and the celebrations really do paint a true picture," he says. "It was just amazing. It was such a special day for so many of us. It was amazing for Hoges to take that last wicket for the years of hard toil he's put into the club.

"The biggest day of my career. Did it exceed my expectations? Absolutely."

That feels an apt description of a tournament maligned from the outset, that fought against the collective absence of the circuit's best white-ball players and then saw swathes of the next-best picked up as replacements as Covid took hold of The Hundred. Rumours briefly spread a week out from the start that it might be cancelled altogether.

That it succeeded despite those curveballs says plenty for the standard of white-ball cricket in this country, even if the national side has endured a rare summer slump. At both levels – domestic and international – it's easy to forget how spoiled we've been by the quality of limited-over cricketers in this generation. Fifteen of the 69 Englishmen put forward for the Big Bash's overseas draft don't even have Hundred deals.

In a previous era, they'd be held up as some of England's best white-ball players. That doesn't mean much in isolation – anyone can enter, after all – but the wider point remains that, contrary to initial assumptions, the Royal London Cup merits plenty of respect.

Take Glamorgan: champions in 2021, but stronger this time around. Sam Northeast wasn't at the club back then, but he begins the competition in the form of his life, finishing the T20 Blast as its eighth highest run-scorer – only Steven Croft scored more Blast runs without earning a Hundred gig – and following that success with his unbeaten quadruple century in the County Championship. He is joined by Chris Cooke, David Lloyd, Colin Ingram and Timm van der Gugten, all on county duty for the next month after stints last year in The Hundred, where Michael Hogan is Glamorgan's solitary representative.

"I can only imagine that some of the guys involved in The Hundred but potentially not getting too much gametime would have loved to be part of the club's history"

Glamorgan's Andrew Salter

That much is surprising on a couple of levels – not least because the 41-year-old seamer is in his last season as a professional cricketer: a fine tale of human triumph within the wider context of the Australian's remarkable journey over the last decade-and-a-half, that he should find himself picked up as a wildcard – in the word's most appropriate sense – by Mahela Jayawardene's Southern Brave.

More generally, though, the greater curiosity is perhaps that others haven't been snapped up alongside him. Only Northamptonshire – missing just Josh Cobb – have as much of their regular squad available for the Royal London Cup as Glamorgan.

"I try not to give it too much thought just because it's time wasted thinking about these sorts of things," says Salter, asked if he felt disappointed that their title win hadn't led to more Hundred recognition.

"As a unit, we're ambitious. We're ambitious individuals. We would relish and love the opportunity but, at the same time, quite interestingly – with how we went last year – I can only imagine that some of the guys involved in The Hundred but potentially not getting too much gametime would have loved to be part of the club's history. It's a bit of a strange situation, where guys in The Hundred would probably have loved to be in our 50-over campaign, just with the way it went for them on a personal level."

^{The competition offers chances to fringe players to stake a claim to a first-team place [Getty Images]}

Just three of the 30 non-overseas leading run-scorers in last year's Royal London Cup have been rewarded with Hundred deals; on the bowling front, just four fall into that segment. One team analyst involved in The Hundred told The Cricketer that no notice whatsoever was taken of Royal London feats when it came to their squad selection for this season. That shouldn't come as much of a shock, however, given how the two formats are becoming increasingly distinct.

So, there is no ill-will from Graham Clark, last year's standout batter by a country mile. The Durham opener averaged 80.75, smashed three tons and ended with 646 runs in nine matches as part of a side that finished as terrific runners-up, having played the most dominant cricket of anyone until the final. They passed 400 against Kent, made 17 half centuries across their batting line-up and, in Scott Borthwick, had the player of the tournament.

"I knew it would be based on what I did in the Blast this year," says Clark, who could only muster 280 runs in 13 appearances in a wretched campaign for Durham, who amassed just three wins.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't have one eye on it," he adds, in reference to the eight slots for wildcards – one of the motivations for playing the Blast to its completion in July was to better align it to The Hundred. "I wanted to be part of it, but my performances just weren't quite up to it. I started off pretty well but had a poor second half, so it was ultimately down to me that I didn't get drafted."

He is over the disappointment now, spurred on by what he was part of in 2021 – a tournament that far outweighed popular misconception.

Ed Pollock feels similarly suited to the shortest format, given not long ago he held the highest strike rate worldwide in T20 cricket, but is also without a Hundred contract, instead part of a Worcestershire squad that has retained most of its core. He concurs – "I think I've been accepting of it because I know I haven't put the performances in to warrant that kind of selection" – and points to the call-ups in the last three weeks of teammates Jack Haynes, Pat Brown and Mitchell Stanley as reason for future optimism.

In the meantime, he is looking forward to the next month in a format he believes should suit him more than any other, without the freneticism of T20 and the extra discipline required of the red-ball game. "Putting in match-winning performances for your county will always stack up," he says.

"Yes, we're missing 100 of the top white-ball players, but you're not rocking up against second teams. We're starting against Kent, and they've got three overseas players to choose from. I think that was the fear last year: some people called it a development competition and thought we'd be turning up against academy players at outgrounds."

The reality was different then and even more so now, ahead of a more settled campaign, where movement between 50-over and 100-ball tournaments ought to be significantly reduced. Worcestershire, as it happens, are scheduled to play just a single match away from a traditional first-class venue – at Scarborough. "We haven't lost many players, so we're gunning to win it."

He was still at Warwickshire last summer, whose resources were stretched more thinly. And while there is a reluctance across the board to devalue its competitive integrity, there were at least times in last year's edition when defeats had to be taken with the bigger picture in mind, with debutants blooded via academy pathways and second teams.

^{Fans at the 2019 Royal London Cup final [Getty Images]}

That came with its own upsides, though. Clark watched Luke Doneathy graduate into a key allrounder on Durham's run. "You can see the development – it has brought them out as people as well," he explains. "They feel like part of the squad; as a youngster, you can feel like you're on eggshells, worried about speaking your mind too much, but now they are a bit more assured of themselves, and that's great to see."

He points to Jonny Bushnell, a 20-year-old with a County Championship fifty on debut, as one to watch at the top of the order.

"Last year gave us the opportunity to extend the talent pool in the country," says Steve Snell, Gloucestershire's performance director, who insists it "is unfair to label it as a development competition", highlighting as an example the recruitment of Krunal Pandya as a tournament-specific overseas signing by Warwickshire.

"We want to win, but we want to win in the future as well. It's really important that some of our more talented players get the opportunity in the competition to not just gain experience, but to be there in the match-winning moments – and to thrive rather than just survive."

What Snell calls "financial prudence" comes into this as well. Gloucestershire have Australia opener Marcus Harris and Pakistani spinner Zafar Gohar on their books as overseas pros for the remainder of the season – and both could feasibly play in this competition. Whether they do so together, he says, will be determined on a game-by-game basis.

"At Surrey, it's a great opportunity for young guys and guys who struggle to get a game to play a lot and get better. I think 50-over cricket is a fantastic format – it's probably my favourite to play. It's just where it fits in on the world stage"

Surrey's Cameron Steel

There are ECB payments available for fielding 10 England-qualified players in a Royal London Cup team. "The club have been really balanced in that respect," says Snell. "They want to make sure we're fielding the most competitive side, but equally it's my job to make sure we're financially prudent as well."

At Surrey, without 13 of their star-studded squad and giving the month off to Kemar Roach and Hashim Amla, that means a senior role for Cam Steel, who once captained Durham in the County Championship and is now responsible for an inexperienced line-up, whose 12-man squad for their opener against Leicestershire features just 73 List A appearances between them.

"One minute you're running drinks or playing in the second team, but then England players go and a couple of guys go to the IPL, and suddenly you're playing," says Steel. "In this competition, I'm one of the most senior players. I've enjoyed it, but it's definitely a new experience for me.

"It's not often that you get a settled team at Surrey. We very rarely have the same team playing two games in a row. I think that's a nice thing for us – we know we're going into it with a certain squad, everyone goes to every game and will get some cricket in."

Did the unique circumstances of Surrey's relationship with this tournament – no club is without more players (Tim David only played in last year's competition because Covid had left them short) – help him secure his Surrey deal?

^{Surrey are missing 13 players [Getty Images]}

"Definitely," he acknowledges. "I'd love to say no, but I'm a good, serviceable county cricketer. And you need to have players like me at a club like Surrey, where those guys go away and someone basically fills the gap. That's where I am at the moment, and I'm happy to be realistic about that.

"Fifty-over cricket was definitely one of the reasons – they needed a leggie and I was available. It was brilliant for me: I bowled well, it basically got me a deal and it put me in the mix for the T20s as well. I love the comp, and I would be absolutely devastated if it stopped. I think a lot of clubs would be – it really levels the playing field, I think. It gives a lot of teams a good chance to win a trophy. You can't replicate playing competitive cricket.

"At Surrey, it's a great opportunity for young guys and guys who struggle to get a game to play a lot and get better. I think 50-over cricket is a fantastic format – it's probably my favourite to play. It's just where it fits in on the world stage."

That subject – the format's future – is particularly pertinent, with England a year out from the chance to retain their 50-over World Cup but currently without domestic List A cricket for those likely to be part of the travelling party to India.

"There could be an interesting scenario where someone makes their List A debut playing for England if they’ve only ever played T20 and The Hundred," notes Pollock. Will Smeed came closer than anyone to accomplishing that quirk earlier this summer, making his professional 50-over bow against South Africa for England Lions.

Whether this is a problem remains a point for debate: you'd be hard-pushed to locate the last player selected by England for ODI cricket on the strength of their 50-over form. Ben Stokes' previous domestic List A appearance prior to his World Cup-winning innings in 2019 came 19 months earlier, with a first-ball duck for Canterbury in New Zealand's Ford Trophy competition.

Jos Buttler's last non-England outing in the format came six years ago. Speaking to The Cricketer last month, Sam Hain, the holder of the world's highest List A average, described England's approach to batting in the format as akin to "an extended T20" and largely earned his Hundred deal – after being rejected twice – on the back of reworking his reputation as a 50-over anchor by improving his strike rate in T20 cricket.

Equally, though, it is hardly arguable that players learning on the job in international cricket could possibly be a healthy situation. As Pollock puts it: "They have definitely narrowed as formats since I first played, but I still think there is a side to it you won't know until you've played it."

Snell adds: "The ECB needs to look at how competitive 50-over cricket is going to be, with a World Cup coming up next year. The opportunity for players to play 50-over cricket against the best players is running out. If you look at the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup, it was almost the opposite: 50-over cricket was so prioritised.

"With no structure in place for next season, I couldn't tell you what 50-over cricket looks like in the lead-up to that World Cup.

"But looking ahead, even how many four-day games there will be is incredibly difficult to plan for. There might be 10 games – that's four four-day games less, so for the depth of your squad you don't need anywhere near as many players as you do for 14 games. The difficulty is, we're having to plan our squad for next season already without knowing what the structure looks like. You're making a plan without knowing what you're planning for."

How that situation can be addressed, with four major competitions to fit across a season running low on available days, is a question for another time. Simon Kerrigan, the Northamptonshire spinner, is among those to have tweeted their support for a knockout tournament in the style of the old NatWest Trophy, including the National Counties, three of which recorded wins over first-class sides on Sunday.

^{The Oval during the Royal London Cup in 2021 [Getty Images]}

But whether a straightforward win-or-bust format – the one-day cup has featured group stages since 2006 – answers the call for a decent stream of 50-over cricket is another potential issue.

In the meantime, 18 counties will get on with life: the number of professional players absent to The Hundred is dwarfed by those not involved, which was a fact often forgotten in the premature belittling of last year's edition. The Royal London Cup is still the home of the vast majority of the circuit for the next month.

"I was looking around yesterday, and I feel like a lot of the teams have got a bit stronger than last year," says Clark, who holds no resentment at where he finds himself. "There seem to be a lot of overseas players and good players who you'd have thought would have had a good chance of playing in The Hundred. That boosts people's squads as well. I think it'll be a lot stronger this year. I don't think we come into the tournament thinking we're favourites or anything like that. But we do go in with confidence, having played good cricket last year.

"We spent a lot of time on the road and enjoyed each other's company," he says. "Even away from the cricket, it was just a good time to be involved with the squad. We wanted it to be fun because when it's fun you play better anyway. So, we want to repeat our mindset towards it – it might not go as well, we might not play as well. Hopefully we do, but we just want to express ourselves."

As in 2021, different clubs have been affected differently: Essex are without Simon Harmer, while Alastair Cook is injured. Durham will miss David Bedingham for at least the first half. Hampshire are unlikely to call upon Keith Barker or Kyle Abbott, and Mohammad Abbas is out of the country. As well as Pandya at Edgbaston, compatriots Washington Sundar and Cheteshwar Pujara are available for Lancashire and Sussex.

For all the scepticism and variables, it's lost none of its importance to those taking part.

"I don't think it is possible to replicate what we did last year," says Salter. "It would just be impossible. As a group, we've drawn a line underneath it just because you have to. It's a new squad, it's a new competition."

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