After 20 months, the sound of applause at county cricket was sweet

PAUL EDWARDS: One's presence at a game makes applause natural. You can stand in your kitchen and clap like billyoh when a favourite makes a century – I have done so – but I fear you will acquire a reputation for eccentricity

It was, perhaps, no more than we expected of Tom Abell.

Deep in the sunlit evening session at Bristol last Saturday Somerset’s captain cover-drove David Payne to the boundary to reach his century after over six hours of exceptional concentration. Abell’s innings had begun under cloud on Thursday morning when simply surviving the 20.2 overs we were allowed amounted to a major achievement; it had been paused when bucketloads of rain fell on Friday; and then it had flowered the following day when glances, back-cuts and clips off the hip had been mixed with a strongroom defensive technique.

For what it’s worth, Abell’s hundred now joins that of Alex Lees against Warwickshire as the best innings I’ve seen this season.

Yet along with images of the century I will treasure my memories of Abell’s reaction to it: for he turned to his friends and supporters on the Mound Stand at Bristol and raised his arms in acknowledgement of their applause. It was the first time in some 20 months that I’d seen the bond between a player and spectators so plainly expressed and it was fitting that the major actor in the small drama was a Taunton boy who understands very well what county cricket means to folk deep in the West Country.

And by no means all the people clapping Abell were Somerset supporters. That was significant, too, for it again illustrated the fair-mindedness that accompanies even the keenest rivalries in domestic cricket. Such an approach is sensible, too. If you watch any sport determined to enjoy only one side’s performance, there’s a fair chance you’re not going to enjoy half of what you see.

Above all, though, it mattered that the game’s supporters were present, just as they were at seven other grounds last week, although I accept that the crowd watching 34.3 overs’ cricket at Wantage Road might not have been colossal. There will have been ovations for the four other centurions and also for Luke Fletcher’s 10 wickets against Worcestershire and Ben Aitchison’s six against Durham.

^{Hardy fans at Northampton}

One’s presence at a game makes applause natural. You can stand in your kitchen and clap like billyoh when a favourite makes a century – I have done so – but I fear you will acquire a reputation for eccentricity. Yet to do so on a ground makes the moment memorable for yourself, the people around you and for the cricketer you honour.

And it was not only players and spectators that merited appreciation last week. Their return would not have been possible had games not been managed in unique circumstances by counties who had no idea whether their plans would work until the gates opened. Among the many challenges facing all clubs over the next month or so will be that of offering a safe environment in which spectators can return to their cricket. That will present particular problems for the counties when the T20 Blast begins but it was still a significant task at seven venues on Thursday morning

As far as I’m aware tickets have to be booked at all grounds and then health checks are carried out and social distancing observed. I am strongly persuaded that our cricket will look rather different in a couple of months’ time but no one can be sure of that. For the moment, we must go through some weirdly shaped hoops.

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It has been an odd process. Along with millions of others I have had my temperature taken more often in the past 14 months than during the rest of my adult life. Good-natured officials have pointed what appear to be ray guns at my forehead, temple, arm or wrist. Thankfully for everyone the business has never been more intrusive than that. (I don’t care what vets say; I’m sure horses mind a bit.)

The neatest bit of kit is possessed by Gloucestershire at Bristol, where you put your head in front of a small screen, much as one might in a passport photo-booth, and your temperature is displayed thereon. In addition, there have been forms to fill in, questions to answer and zones to observe. My experience is that everything has been conducted with good grace by officials and stewards who have preferred to ask for my help than order me about.

The media have sometimes been subject to other restrictions. A few counties are perfectly happy with face-to-face interviews providing social distancing is observed; others insist on Zoom calls. Some counties have supplied hot drinks, a few have provided food and one or two have offered nothing whatever. To a degree the first-class clubs have found 18 different ways of doing the same thing – no surprise there – but it’s all been managed very politely in the hope that journalists will understand. I’d like to think we have. The idea that we’re in this thing together remains more a government cliché.

^{Spectators watch the action at The Oval}

The return of supporters will continue this week when six more grounds will have their procedures and protocols tested. The best-attended seems certain to be the tribal gathering at Emirates Old Trafford for the Roses rumpus but I’m sure there’ll be plenty of love at Worcester and Hove, too, even if the counties playing at home have little chance of qualifying for Division One.

And the following Thursday there will be particular joy at both Headingley and Taunton when Yorkshire and Somerset supporters are allowed in for the first time. It all amounts to a reawakening, a reconnection with activities we always treasured without understanding quite how deeply they were embedded in our lives. And now, it looks as though we will be able to enjoy them together. Look! We have come through!

But spare a fond thought for Middlesex supporters. (Yes, Alec, that does include you.)

Because the Home of Cricket (MCC’s capitals) is staging the New Zealand Test in early June, they will not watch their side play first-class cricket on their main ground until August 30 at the very earliest. They will be able to visit the very well-appointed venue of Merchant Taylors’ School in early July but watching a county game at Lord’s has an intimacy of its own and an atmosphere utterly distinct from the civic occasion that is a Test match.

It is certainly offers the best opportunity to imagine the ground as it was and to become reacquainted with some of the game’s richest history. And as with almost all cricket grounds, the past is never too far away, generous with its gifts, gentle in its teaching.