12 2GS Saturday August 1 2020 | the times
Sport Cricket
A year and half ago Bob Willis
decided to prove that it was possible
to reinvent cricket. Or rather he
wanted to persuasively illustrate that
county cricket could be revitalised,
could be fascinating. It had been a
lifelong obsession but no one had
taken much notice and so the
former England captain devised a
spreadsheet of all sport and its
commitments and found a space for
county cricket to be televised when
nothing much else was on.
Devising a spreadsheet. What this
actually meant was that Lauren, his
wife, was pulled to the table in their
southwest London living room and
tapped away, creating a highly
complex colour-coded guide to the
Willis world of meaningful cricket
that he entitled his “2020 Vision”.
An element of what Willis had
dreamed of has come true. The Bob
Willis Trophy begins today. It is a
one-off red-ball competition involving
all 18 first-class counties divided
into three regionalised groups,
culminating in a five-day final.
Willis, who had prostate cancer,
died in December, aged 70. The new
tournament has been named in his
honour but it is the pandemic that
has forced the shake-up he so desired,
rather than his lobbying or common
sense. His ambition was for England
players to be properly available to
their counties for a sizeable chunk
of the season, for the number of
counties to be reduced and for there
to be a final. That the Bob Willis
Trophy will be condensed and
decided by a potentially gripping final
that could entice new fans is what
makes it a fitting tribute; but what
would have made him truly proud is
that the trophy design is based on one
of Lauren’s paintings of him in action
with that trademark, curiously angled,
bowling action.
Lauren, 52, flew to Australia, where
some of their closest friends live, soon
after her husband’s funeral. Willis
absolutely adored the country, its
people and its wine and it offered a
comforting place for Lauren to grieve.
She returned to a London about to
face lockdown just as she needed to
be with friends and, in desperation for
something to occupy her mind, she
wondered if she should paint.
She had loved art school and was
considered talented but had done
nothing since. She tentatively showed
a friend her A-level art project. The
friend gushed and encouraged and so
she ordered some art materials. The
Willis would
have loved a
tournament
in his name
first batch was dreadful, so she
ordered a posher range of canvases
and acrylics and set to work depicting
the bowling action of her late
husband. She applied herself so
feverishly that her back seized up, but
the end product is captivating. As you
walk into the Willis flat in Mortlake,
her image of Bob, beautifully framed,
mid-action, greets you and of all the
art on display — most of it portraying
Bob Dylan, Willis’s hero — it is the
most striking and moving.
Of course it is moving. Bob and
Lauren were a team. They watched
sport together, jogged together,
watched films at strange hours at the
local plush cinema. He waxed lyrical
about Dylan and Wagner, she
swooned over the careers of Chris
Evert and Meryl Streep. “I’d have
approved anything that kept his name
out there,” she says of the new trophy,
but she has been touched by the
interest in the competition. She had
planned to be one of those present to
watch Surrey, her late husband’s first
club, take on Middlesex at the Kia
Oval this weekend, before the new
restrictions were imposed.
“The County Championship is the
most unsexy competition in sporting
history,” she says. “It needs to be
sexed up. If the tournament is a
success they may reconsider the
format. As hard as Bob tried he
couldn’t do it, but these extraordinary
times might have done it instead.”
It has been suggested that Lauren
will present the trophy at the final,
although she laughs and adds: “I don’t
know if it is the right people who
have hinted that will happen.”
It should happen, though. Willis,
who in his own way made the
championship exciting by winning it
in consecutive seasons with two
different clubs, would regard the
strides made towards a more
entertaining format as meaningless if
the love of his life was not there to
hand over the trophy in his image and
Lauren has worked tirelessly to raise
awareness of prostate cancer. She is
full of love and praise for the doctors
that gave their all and disparaging of
those who were slow to treat him or
unfeeling as they did so.
They were a devoted couple. The
tributes that poured in upon the
announcement of the death of Willis
offered some comfort but Lauren
hopes that commentators, fans and
cricketers will look forward and that
the trophy bearing his name will be a
feature of the game for years to come.
Willis once had tea with the Queen
only to then dash to see Dylan in
concert at Earls Court on the same
day. He was a hero to Elton John,
John Major and John Cleese as well
as to Brian Lara and Joe Root, but he
was modest, never bragging, never
name-dropping. He spent 40 years
trying to give the county game some
oomph. The new trophy in his name
may just succeed.Widow insists county
competition in memory
of hero can lift
the game, writes
Alyson Rudd
South group
Kent
Captain Sam Billings
Coach Matt Walker
2019 Fourth in Division One
Made shrewd signings in Hamidullah
Qadri, Tim Groenewald and Jack
Leaning. Watch for youngsters Adam
Milnes, Harry Podmore and Robinson.Hampshire
Captain James Vince
Coach Giles White
2019 Third in Division One
Home matches at Arundel, which is
notoriously slow and low. Kyle Abbott,
key with the ball last year, may be
missing for quarantine or visa reasons.Essex
Captain Tom Westley
Coach Anthony McGrath
2019 Division One champions
The spinner Simon Harmer took 83
wickets in 2019 and will be key again.
Jamie Porter, out of the England set-up,
will be available, as will Alastair Cook.Surrey
Captain Rikki Clarke
Coach Vikram Solanki
2019 Sixth in Division One
Seven senior players missing on
England duty. Impressive young
players such as Jamie Smith and
James Taylor will look to step up.Sussex
Captain Ben Brown
Coach Jason Gillespie
2019 Sixth in Division Two
Bowling boosted by the signing of
Stuart Meaker from Surrey. New
arrivals Ravi Bopara and Mitchell
Claydon provide experience.Middlesex
Captain Steve Eskinasi
Coach Stuart Law
2019 Eighth in Division Two
Should fare better having not been hit
by England call-ups. A strong bowling
unit will be augmented by youngsters
Ethan Bamber and Blake Cullen.WIFE’S PAINTING
INSPIRED CRICKET’S
NEWEST PRIZE
West/Midlands/Wales group
Gloucestershire
Captain Chris Dent
Coach Richard Dawson
2019 Third in Division Two
Securing promotion was a fantastic
achievement. Dent is vital for his runs
and all-rounder Ryan Higgins will
have to carry a lot of responsibility.Northamptonshire
Captain Adam Rossington
Coach David Ripley
2019 Second in Division Two
After securing promotion, they will
rely on a core of experienced players
in Alex Wakely, Josh Cobb and Gareth
Berg (in from Hampshire).Glamorgan
Captain Chris Cooke
Coach Matthew Maynard
2019 Fourth in Division Two
The absence of Marnus Labuschagne
is a blow. Billy Root, Nick Selman and
David Lloyd must step up. Watch out
for wicketkeeper Alex Horton, 16.