Looking Forward, Looking Back

As autumn sets in in England and everyone's attention turns to what is and isn't happening and what might or might not happen in any one of a number of cricket-related locations around the globe, sometimes it can be educative and not a little perplexing to turn one's mind back to events and people which everyone seems to have forgotten about in a world which turns too fast for its own good.

Andy Bull's columns in The Guardian are often wry and well-crafted, and are encapsulated in The Spin a weekly e-mail to which I subscribe. When this dropped into my inbox last week it really made me think.

At a time when one of the key off-field sub-plots involves what will happen to the Pakistan Three, it was a timely reminder of the fact that other people have drenched cricket in disrepute many times before.

At times the whole Stanford debacle seems like a bad dream. I wonder if Giles Clarke feels the same?

Get Out of Jail Free

I try never to knowingly agree with anything Charlie Colvile says, so inevitably I have my doubts about the way he was dancing on South Africa's grave with such undisguised relish last night.

For what it's worth I don't think that they choked, merely that their standards had slipped slightly from where they'd been for most of the competition. I'm sure this had something to do with a heightened awareness of pressure on the part of the players and the winner-take-all nature of the contest, but it also reflected the effervescent quality of Pakistan's cricket.

On the day when his erstwhile associate Allen Stanford finally gave himself up to the authorities, Giles Clarke found himself presenting the match award to Shahid Afridi, but, while Afridi and Umar Gul were outstanding, the true highlight for me was the ease and coolness with which Shoaib Malik caught Jacques Kallis to practically terminate South Africa's chances.

In a format which tends to reward erratic brilliance at the expense of relentless competence, Pakistan always had a good chance of winning last night and they'll take that forward to Sunday, regardless of who they're playing.

Stanford, languishing in a cell somewhere in Virginia, probably won't be watching the West Indies take on Sri Lanka later, but I will.

Bewildered

Watching the distracted, slightly bewildered visage of Giles Clarke as he blustered his way through his media interviews in Antigua last night, one got the distinct impression that here was a man who doesn't really do self-analysis or contrition. Even when he - and the ECB - have got everything in relation to Stanford so manifestly wrong you wouldn't bet on Clarke admitting as much to himself, let alone the wider world, anytime soon.

As Johnny Rotten once said:

'Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?'

You Couldn't Make It Up

I'm still at work but I gather that over in Antigua the proverbial is hitting the fan - and will be for a long time to come. And there I was looking forward to an evening's cricket on the telly...

Someone who'll probably be even more disappointed than me is Owais Shah. Finally selected to make a return to Test cricket, and the game doesn't even go ahead.

It'll be interesting to see how this one develops, especially the suggestion (genuine or complete fantasy, who knows?) that Sir Allen Stanford may be asked for the loan of his ground.

(How To) Get Rich Quick (or Not)

Like virtually everybody else in the known cricketing universe (it seems) I was watching as things started to go wrong for England on Saturday evening. I couldn't however, manage to summon the energy or interest to watch until the end, as it was pretty obvious what the outcome was going to be. And, without trying to come across as too much of a purist, I was more interested in the Test match in Delhi, even if it subsided into a tame draw, than I was in anything which happened in Antigua.

I can't add anything original to what's been written by innumerable other people already, but I think that Rob at Cricket Forever and Patrick at Line and Length summed things up very well.

As Patrick says, it'll be great if what Stanford's team have achieved (and how they've done it) has a lasting influence on the game in the islands. While I can't agree with Stanford's pronouncement that the victory meant that West Indian cricket was back, it does at least look like a vague step in the right direction, something they've taken very few of in recent times.

And, as Rob says, England choked. Partly, I suspect because they wanted the money too much but at the same time weren't really sure what they were doing there. They were only too well aware that their week in the Windies constitituted a poor preparation for the imminent Indian tour, but they were only doing as they were told (and, as a by-product, hoping to get rich).

I think it's about time we moved on to something which really matters.

Fraught with Difficulties

A superb piece by Athers on the whole Stanford debacle here.

Flirting

So many people are putting in their oar in about the Stanford series that it's difficult to keep up with it all and all too easy to become confused about what you really think.

For the record, I have nothing against T20 cricket (I'm basically a fan, as many of my past postings show) and I also don't mind sportsmen earning huge amounts of money (wouldn't we all love the opportunity to do the same?), but I can't muster much enthusiasm for what is, essentially, an artificial and empty series of contests designed only to publicize Stanford and swell the players' bank balances. I'll probably be watching on Saturday night but I wouldn't bet on my making it to the end, because, basically, I couldn't care less who wins.

All this aside, the story that Stanford had been forced to apologize for his 'on-camera flirting' with various England 'WAGs' was designed to raise a laugh, although it would have been even better if Matt Prior's other half had given him a bloody good slap.

Geese Laying Golden Eggs (and other cliches)

When I first read the broad details of Giles Clarke's 'plan' for the future of English domestic cricket on Cricinfo on Friday afternoon my blood ran cold. I've since recovered my equilibrium a bit, but it seems to me that the ideas prompt far more questions than they supply answers.

Now clearly Clarke's major motivation is to make more room in the calendar for Twenty20, which, as we all know, is the goose which is currently laying golden eggs all over the place. This, it is assumed, will include some sort of 'English Premier League' on the Indian model.

So far, so opportunist, but why seek to emasculate, confuse, and, in many people's eyes (including mine), ruin, the County Championship, which, in its current form is working as well as it has ever done (just ask Justin Langer, who's been lavishing it with praise recently)? Surely the way forward is simply to get rid of the far less relevant Pro40 League, which would allow a further expansion of Twenty20 to be easily accommodated.

But no, Clarke seems to have allowed himself to get a bit too caught up in Sir Allen Stanford's vision of the future, in which Twenty20 will take precedence over everything else, including Test cricket, and seems to believe that the Championship can be marginalised. He would presumably argue that the proposed conference system would provide an equally good proving ground for potential Test players as the current two division format, but I disagree. Strongly.

It was also surprising to find Clarke, who's customarily (and quite correctly) described as a 'successful businessman', arguing in favour of measures, apparently including a salary cap and the loaning out of overseas players to 'weaker' counties, to try to balance out the strength of the competing clubs. While aspects of this would be welcome, one's suspicion is that these ideas have been included simply as a means of ensuring the votes of these counties for proposals which most county administrators would otherwise tend to feel uncomfortable with.

The only completely good thing about the proposals is that the crackpot idea of returning to three day matches which was being put about a few weeks ago seems to have been dropped, but, as I've indicated, I'd be much happier if the focus of the plan was turned towards the Pro40 League and away from the Championship.

With reports of reduced crowds in the current English Twenty20 competition there are signs that, perhaps, the goose is already being asked to work a little bit too hard. Everyone involved, from Modi to Stanford to Clarke, needs to be very careful not to kill it stone dead. If this is managed properly, and the right balance between first-class and Twenty20 cricket is achieved, the future of the game can be ensured and enhanced. If it isn't it will be jeopardized, and, while it's very hard to work out what's going on in Giles Clarke's mind, I really doubt if he wants that.

What's the Point?

For sport to really have meaning it has to have a competitive context - usually this is provided by tradition, time-honoured rivalry or a major competition - but, to me, the central weakness of the series of matches announced by the ECB (or should that just be Sir Allen Stanford?) this afternoon is that they have none. In fact, do they have any point at all apart from making the players rich?

Now, although I can easily be mistaken for a cricket purist (probably because, at the end of the day, I am one), I enjoy Twenty20 as much as the next person. But an annual series of what will basically just be exhibition matches? I'm getting bored just thinking about them, let alone watching them.

And who the hell are the 'West Indies All Stars'? I've heard of the West Indies, and I might take some interest if they were playing, but the 'West Indies All Stars'? No thanks, although, with the amount of money available most of the main side's main players are bound to be there, trying like mad to stick their fingers as deep into the pie as they'll go.

This could be good for the game; it could be bad. Until now I've tended towards neutrality and optimism on the subject of the Twenty20 'revolution', but this feels more like boredom and cynicism, coloured with a tinge of distaste.

Permeating My Indifference

I've had a week off work this week and have been out and about doing things - some mundane but necessary, others highly enjoyable - while the County Championship has slowly cranked itself into gear in its time-honoured way in England and the IPL has hit the ground running (and at a furious pace) in India.

I haven't got access to the channel which is broadcasting the IPL in this country so I haven't seen any of it and inevitably feel a bit detached as a result. I enjoy Twenty20 but only if I can watch it. While I'll always keep an eye on events in Tests which I can't see, I can't be bothered to do the same for the IPL.

A few events and statements have permeated my indifference, though.

This morning all the news seems to be about Harbhajan Singh supposedly slapping Sreesanth. Apparently Bhajji denies it, saying he merely pushed him (I've heard that one before somewhere), but various other people have supported Sree's account. Who knows? I certainly don't, but I can't say I'm surprised. It was only a matter of time before someone took a pop at Sreesanth, and it's just a surprise that it wasn't Andre Nel. As for Harbhajan, well, if this is true he needs to take a long hard look at himself.

I also, of course, heard about the fact that Sir Allen Stanford had suggested that Twenty20 cricket could surpass (Association) Football as the world's most popular professional sport.

I find Stanford interesting - Americans who seem to have got into cricket properly generally are - and he's right that T20 might just make a bit of a dent in the 'American market' - but bigger than football?

Er, no. You and I will be watching Chris Martin make a Test century before that happens.