The Teesra

Category: cricket

  • New ECB hubs with Government funding? What really matters?

    New ECB hubs with Government funding? What really matters?

    With the Essex Over 60s 1st XI due to play Yorkshire Vets at Bradford Park Avenue last week†, I was reminded of the recent news about the new cricket centre in Bradford, and the (then) Government’s promise of £35m funding to support “grassroots” cricket.

    The talk of “16 new hubs by 2030” was, perhaps, all too reminiscent of the promise to build “40 new hospitals for the NHS”. And with the demise of the Conservative government, it might be that this funding never does come through.

    But I do wonder if the emphasis on investing in building new cricket hubs was ever really the best strategy.

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  • On the ball. A thought experiment.

    With apologies to any fans of ITV’s, now abandoned, On the Ball football highlights programme, what follows is a consideration of the ideal cricket ball.

    The post comprises a series of thought experiments, with little (no) actual research or science to support them…but there might be some hypotheses that could be worth further investigation.

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  • Review — Beastly Fury: The Strange Birth of English Football — be careful what you wish for!

    Review — Beastly Fury: The Strange Birth of English Football — be careful what you wish for!

    In the continuing debate about the future of professional cricket in England, there is an iconoclastic strand that would see the end of the “First Class” system — a big “no” to the elitist, closed shop of the MCC and the Counties.

    One repeated theme has been the need for an “FA Cup of cricket”, open to all teams, whether (old-style) County or club or, presumably, franchise.

    As if the model of professional football is somehow more equitable than the (admittedly flawed) First Class cricket and County system we have in England and Wales.

    So it was very interesting to read Richard Sanders’ Beastly Fury: The Strange Birth of English Football, to find out a bit more about the early years of the professional game in England.

    And it might appear that a little caution would be advisable!

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