Heyday? Hardly.

posted by John Winn

On January 21st I wrote in this medium

'Social media, the press and broadcasting outlets continue to express their anguish at England's recent four nil defeat in Australia.' 

Delete the last five words and substitute 'one nil defeat in the West Indies' and little has changed except the anguish has perhaps got deeper. Comments on twitter and in facebook, at least from those I follow, increasingly express a concern for the future of the county championship and at their most pessimistic foresee its abolition and replacement by franchises or radical changes to its format which would create a super division of six and a second division of twelve counties. 

Amongst the hundreds of comments on this issue a few weeks ago there was a photo of championship cricket being played in the ninety seventies and in the accompanying description the author went as far as to say that this was the 'heyday' of county cricket ie 'the period of a person's or thing's greatest success, popularity, activity or vigour.' Really? The 1970s when championship cricket was already competing with the counter attractions of The Gillette Cup, introduced in 1963, John Player League, 40 over Sunday afternoon, from 1969, and from 1972 the Benson and Hedges cup which divided the counties, minor counties (North and South) and Cambridge University into four zones of five, the members of which played each other once before quarter finals, semi finals and a final at Lord's. 

The first of these, The Gillette, came in response to the constant complaints about the slow play in first class cricket and the accompanying requests and promises to provide 'brighter cricket' which were a feature of cricket writing in the fifties. Wisden's 'Notes by the Editor' touched upon the topic on an annual basis from the middle of the decade onwards. In 1961 MCC appointed a committee of twenty under the chairmanship of Colonel RS Rait Kerr to consider the 'state of first class cricket' which followed similar enquiries in 1937, 1944, and 1957. All this long before the supposed 'heyday' in the 1970s. In its 1956 edition Wisden devoted 15 pages to an article by Bill Bowes  on the 'Growing Pains of Cricket' in which the celebrated former Yorkshire and England bowler sought the opinions of 16 of the most famous players of the first half of the twentieth century. Mostly it centred on discussion of changes to the lbw law introduced in 1937 which a majority of the pundits felt had contributed to the increasing dullness of the game.  Let us imagine that following Bowes' article the law had reverted to its pre 1937 position. Would the thousands  who had given up watching championship cricket after its post second WWII boom suddenly return to their nearest county ground with a spring in their step and a smile on their faces in response to a change in one of cricket's laws. Hardly.

Measuring something's heyday is not an easy thing but if we use attendances then the decline in cricket's popularity as a spectator sport is easily seen. In 1947 total attendance, exclusive of members, at county matches was 2,300,910 and by 1960 the corresponding figure was a little over 1 million, a decline of over 50%. Slow play undoubtedly contributed to this decline along with the counter attractions of television, family cars, etc. So how far do we have to go back to find a time when Wisden was happy? How about this from the 1888 edition? 

County Cricket by The Editor (Charles F Pardon). 

'I am happy that this year we have been able to make room for a very full and exhaustive summary of county cricket of the season 1887. Not only has every match played by the leading clubs been commented upon but the best engagements of the minor counties are recorded. County cricket is now so important and the spirit of rivalry so keen that, interesting as the Australian visit will doubtless be, the competition among the great clubs will lose none of its excitement."

Although there was no official championship, Surrey, after a gap of 23 years, 'regained first position' and nothing illustrates better the popularity of the game than  the attendances for their match with arch rivals Notts at Kennington*  Oval over the August Bank Holiday weekend, Monday Tuesday, Wednesday 1st to 3rd of August. 24,450 on the first day, 16,943 on the second and 10, 243 on the third, grand total 51,607 and as these represent 'persons who paid' probably do not include members. Admission was 6d, 2.5 pence in today's money. Not all passed off smoothly however for the Surrey club, not having anticipated such attendances had 'not secured sufficient body of police' and there were 'incidents of bottle throwing and other playful (sic) eccentricities indulged in by some of the holiday people.' 

* a district of London, not a sponsor. 

Surrey's 'long season' began on May 16th and ended on August 31st. Their counterparts, 135 years later, will be in championship action on April 7th, snow permitting, and the scheduled fourth day of the last match is on September 29th.