This month’s contributors
Simon HugHeS Editor
@theanalystneiL SQuiReS
is the rugby union and
golf correspondent of
the Daily Express. His
first love was cricket,
and he can still be
found at Headingley
when he should be
writing about Owen
Farrell or Rory McIlroy.JeRemY
BLACKmoRe
is a semi-regular for
The Cricketer, and he
also edited and jointly
published The Incider
between 2014-15. He
has written a piece
about counties using
tech to engage fans.geoRge DoBeLL
started his writing
career at The Cricketer
in 1997. He has been
senior correspondent
at ESPNcricinfo since- This month
sees the start of
his new column in
The Cricketer.
CHRiSToPHeR
SAnDFoRD
has written acclaimed
biographies of
Mick Jagger, Arthur
Conan Doyle and
John F Kennedy. He
has written for this
issue about the 1948
Invincibles.Jon CuLLeY
has been a journalist
since 1975. He has
written on cricket for
The Independent, the
I and the Daily and
Sunday Telegraphs.
Read his piece aboit
Garry Sobers and the
six sixes ball.No place to hide now
Firstly, a thank you: to
almost a thousand of
you for participating in
our survey on the future
of domestic cricket.
Our virtual (and actual)
postbag is bulging with
revealing and thoughtful replies (and there’s
still time if you haven’t participated – go to
http://www.thecricketer.com/cricketsfuture). We will
collate the results in next month’s magazine
and they will influence our forthcoming
recommendations for the future of the
game. There are clearly strong anti-feelings
about the proposed new tournament and
major misgivings about the way the County
Championship has been marginalised and
verges into winter.
Secondly, an apology of sorts: if you are not a
fan of T20 you probably won’t like this month’s
cover. But sorry, there is no option but to give
the newly named Vitality Blast a comprehensive
preview (see page 43) because that is just
about all there is to watch or follow over the
next month. County players’ whites can soon
be mothballed until the Championship round
on July 22 and then again until August 19. The
possibility that Jimmy Anderson may have
to play for Surrey (if they will have him) to
get sufficient red-ball cricket before the Test
series against India puts the whole summer
schedule into perspective. “Ridiculous” was his
word. When there is literally no cricket to play
or watch in daylight hours for six weeks at the
height of summer, it is hard to argue with that.
Thirdly, a plug. Some of the live streaming
services the counties now offer are pretty good(Full Stream Ahead feature – page 50). Surrey,
for instance, not only have live BBC radio
commentary and scoreline graphics attached
to the pictures but also show replays of key
moments, activated by the commentators
at the touch of a button. At the moment the
coverage is only permitted using fixed cameras
looking down the pitch meaning that any
ball hit off the square goes out of vision. That
will change as the restrictions are relaxed
and counties start to generate income from
this area (only Sussex currently charge for
it). Major League Baseball Advanced Media,
which supplies streaming of every MLB
match, is a billion-dollar media company in
the US with headquarters in New York City
opposite Google.
More than the regulation fixed cameras will
be required to capture the moment a batsman
equals Sir Garfield Sobers’ feat of six sixes in
an over (achieved 50 years ago this August –
interview page 36). It has never been replicated
in county cricket (and only once in first-class
cricket anywhere in the world). Unluckily for
the victim, Malcolm Nash, a very dextrous BBC
cameraman was there. There are no hiding
places for the beleaguered bowlers now, and
neither is there for the ECB.online
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