There seems to be an awful lot going on in the world of cricket at the moment, with the domestic season still some weeks away. The proliferation of Test cricket and one day internationals continues unabated and it is very hard to keep up with it all. England win an unbelievably high scoring match one minute and then in the next get bowled out for 113. New Zealand score over 700 against Bangladesh in a game with remarkably few extras, but again the sad thing about that game was the few spectators who actually turned up to watch it, as was the case in the recent games between South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Plenty of news at home as well with Lancashire upsetting some of their members by taking a championship match outside the county to play in Cumbria, at one of my favourite grounds - Sedbergh School. They might be even more upset when they find out that Sedbergh used to be in Yorkshire before boundary changes. Yorkshire too will have annoyed some of their followers (not difficult that I must admit) by signing Duane Olivier, the South African as a Kolpak player. I for one believe they should give their home grown players a regular chance to develop, rather than bringing in people from elsewhere on generous three year contracts.
Social media has also been very busy this week with Harry Gurney stirring the pot by advocating that all club cricket should be either T20 or 'The Hundred' (whatever that is). This has brought a lot of re-action and Mr Gurney's response seems to be 'I am cleverer than you and have lots more followers', which hasn't gone down very well at all. He has happily pocketed a few dollars in Australia for bowling just four overs a game and should be happy with his lot.
However be that as it may, some important good news this week (for me and several of my cricketing acquaintances) provided by MCC publishing the full fixtures of all their out matches on the Lord's website. The number of games in a season is really quite mind blowing. They are mainly against school sides throughout the country, but also against league cricket junior sides and club sides celebrating special anniversaries. For the first time to my knowledge they play a game against the national club champions at Lord's which will be quite an occasion for Richmondshire CC from North Yorkshire.
One very noticeable change to proceedings is that all the start times are given as 11 a.m. whereas for as long as I can remember the start times have always been 11.30. Not a big deal but just another symptom of how cricket feels things have got to change in all areas. These games are always played in an excellent spirit and provide a special day for the schoolboys who are given the opportunity to show their abilities against strong opposition. Have a feeling that things may have tightened up from the days when MCC always batted first, meaning the bowlers in their sides didn't turn up until lunchtime. Nearly all the games are played on a declaration basis rather than a specific number of overs, but still often provide close finishes. Most school grounds are wonderful places to visit and I would encourage cricket followers to sample these games before they too are swept away.
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