The Cricketer Magazine – June 2018

Peter Trego

Domestic bliss

50-over thrills show cricket is in a good place

Limited in overs alone.

I think it is fair to say that the opening

month of 50-over cricket has been a

success, both in terms of the cricket

and commercially... well, at least for the

domestic teams competing in the Royal

London One-Day Cup.

The national side certainly did not open

their ODI account this summer with joy,

but what a game it was.

A truly modern take on the David

and Goliath story, where Scotland,who

recently fell short of qualifying for the 10-

team World Cup, went on to defeat the

world’s No.1-ranked team.

Not only was Sunday a great victory

for the Scots, it was a proper victory and

one to be proud of. There was no hint of

a dodgy pitch to level the playing field;

both sides met on a belter of a wicket at a

stunning location and the Scotland line-

up competed with a ‘Braveheart’ spirit

that any sports fan just has to salute.

What a fantastic and timely show

of quality from one of the Associate

countries, giving even more gravity to

the argument that a Cricket World Cup

should be exactly that.

Cricket is played and enjoyed by every

demographic in many, many countries.

I have seen this first hand while filming

the documentary Beyond the Boundary,

where I visited some of the poorest and

most underprivileged in their respective

countries, but it still seems that, only at

the top level, there is an air of exclusivity

that really needs to be removed to

make the game truly global. Scotland’s

performance is possibly the performance

to promote change in years to come.

It seems there is a healthy appetite

for one-day cricket, and certainly in

the dressing rooms there is a sense of

excitement preparing for these blocks of

limited-overs cricket.

The nets leading up to the one-dayers

have a unique feel to them. The bowlers,

who often have a grumpy demeanour,

are now nearly regarded as happy beings

knowing that is a maximum 10-over day

for their tired bodies, and the batsman

are buzzing about the place practising all

the sweeps, ramps and slogs that are now

commonplace in modern cricket.

I have always said that the quality of

skills will rise when the players can play

one format at a time, and I think it was

clear to see from some of the scores this

was the case, rather proudly summed up

in Somerset’s last game live on Sky, where

we successfully chased a Somerset List

A-record 357 to beat Hampshire.

But I suppose in the grand scheme of

short-format cricket, this month has just

the hors d’oeuvres for the eagerly awaited

Vitality Blast, and, of course, the Aussies

are here!

I am not sure what will get the crowd

fizzed up the most this summer in that

series... the cricket or the chance to openly

mock all the current affairs issues that face

the Australia camp.

I can definitely imagine at least 1,000

David Warners gracing the stands around

the country and I would not be surprised

to see a hardware stand set up outside the

gates in place of the usual replica shirt stalls!

Either way, there is no doubt that

limited-overs cricket is limited only in the

number of balls bowled, certainly not the

entertainment.... cricket is in a good place,

no matter what you may read.

Below
Safyaan Sharif
produced a pearler
of a yorker to
dismiss Mark
Wood and seal
Scotland’s win

PHILIP

BROWN

/G

ETT

y Im

AGES

What a fantastic and timely

show of quality from one of

the Associates... limited-overs

cricket is limited only in terms

of the number of balls bowled,

certainly not the entertainment

thecricketer.com | 79

Peter trego | County