A busy couple of days

Posted by John Winn

In a letter to 'The Cricketer' magazine in 1990 a reader claimed to have seen every county play every other county home and away in first class cricket, a total of 272 matches at that time. Being by nature a compiler and ticker of lists the idea of seeing every county play every other county just once appealed to me. Over twenty years later there are still thirty games I need to see to complete this venture.
No sooner had I decided that this might be a good idea than Durham were admitted to the ranks adding a further seventeen matches , making a total of 153. The challenge has become more difficult for a number of reasons, mainly because of changes in the structure of the County Championship. First of all by the introduction of four day cricket and the consequent reduction in the number of games played. In a typical week in May 1966, when every county played twenty eight matches per season there were fifteen championship matches, eight beginning on Wednesday and seven on Saturday. In the corresponding week this year there are just seven in total.
The added complication of two divisions is obvious. Derbyshire have played Lancashire in only one season in the last ten for example.Bad weather too can be a source of frustration. In 1998, along with a few hundred others I sat very patiently at Basingstoke while the ground staff mopped up after heavy rain. Play it was announced, would begin at three o'clock, at 2:55 the rain returned and the day was a washout. Hampshire v Derbyshire remains on my list.
This season offers me seven of my remaining 'listed matches', one of which, Essex v Glamorgan, I will not be to fit in on either of the occasions they will meet.The ECB can hardly be expected to draw up the fixtures to suit my pecularities so the week ahead will see me at Trent Bridge for Notts v Bears on Wednesday and Lord's on Thursday for Middlesex v Glamorgan.It never rains but it pours, let's hope not.