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2013 Diary A Ramble on Women's Cricket
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Previous page : 2013 Page 8<July 16>There has been quite a lot of muttering around the boundary - yes I agree a lot has come from me, but not all by any means - about the publicity given to England matches so far this summer, that is those against Pakistan. Indeed one spectator who had brought her daughter, recently a convert to playing the sport, to Loughborough, bent the ear of one of the England staff rather severely on the subject. I had some sympathy with her point of view.I was unable to get to Louth for the first match in the series but they tell me there were approximately 2,500 there to watch. When the second ODI started at Loughborough I counted the number of people around the ground omitting a small party of school children being supervised by a teacher and obviously there under a 3-line whip (a procedure in the UK parliament in which MPs are told by their parties "turn up and vote or else!). There were 57. True the number increased a little as the match went on but it was a shadow of those who had been at Louth where the publicity machine had been in full swing.One view expressed to me was that if we did that at Loughborough then "they couldn't cope". Possibly true - but then that surely is an argument for not playing it there rather than an argument for no publicity.We hear frequently that bums on seats is what pays for the men's exorbitant salaries (and TV rights, of course) , so if the women are to get what they deserve then more bums on seats for them is what's required and you won't do that at Loughborough much as I enjoy going there.And then I found this article... Market it & it Sells! The writer points out something that at first escaped my notice - those at Louth paid and those at Loughborough did not. I am a fervent supporter of this sport and I trust no one will gainsay that. And yet there are times I have difficulty finding where and when fixtures take place. If the public are to become interested it has to be easy for them to discover when County, Academy, EDWP etc games are to be played. Gain a hard core of watchers at those events and the crowds at internationals and second tier games will grow, partly at least by word of mouth. On this site I do my best to "Market it" in the hope that it will sell, so if you are aware of any games in the categories I've listed above or which you think may be of interest do let me know. CricInfo keeps a useful running list of upcoming international games, but what's needed is information on the rest and marketing of the big matches.Money may be tight but if the 20th century taught us anything it must surely be that market it and it will sell - don't and it will remain an obscure sport played and watched by only a few. And that may mean scant reward for those who dedicate many years of their lives playing it.
I seem to have found an apprentice. At least that's what she's been called. I'm not so sure about the term. If I needed a lesson in how the young deal with modern technology this might well have been it. When I acquired my current camera it took me some time, fiddling with dials and buttons, to work out what does what, and there are still times I press or turn them and wonder "how did I get there?" It wasn't what I was intending to do. But my 'apprentice' - well she seemed to take about three minutes to master the lot. Fingers spin dials, buttons are pressed at lightening speeds and everything appears to behave as the 'apprentice' intended.I suspect it would not be long before the 'master' and the 'apprentice' roles would be reversed, if indeed they haven't been already. My 'apprentice' should shortly return to the other side of the boundary rope and I'll be able relax in the knowledge I can't be upstaged, well for the time being anyway. However, I shall miss being able to put my feet up and just watch the complete picture instead of the narrow angle a telephoto provides.
Heather Knight turns the ball to leg during the County Championship
match between Sussex and Berkshire, 2013
The County Championship table appears to be nearly settled. Sussex have topped the list and, in earlier days would have been considered County Champions. I have expressed my thoughts before about mixing leagues with knock-outs so I won't reiterate them again. Sufficient to say, from my point of view (and am I alone?) Sussex are the champions, whoever 'we' finish up playing in September, and however that match turns out. Over the league season we have not played consistently but nor have others and the result has been massively influenced by the bonus point system. Is this as it should be or not? With so few games to play (and that might be the real worry) some means of differentiating is required but if you have any thoughts on whether the current one is the right one, let me know. I have to admit to indecision here.
<July 17>You will recall, if you've read this blog for more than a few months, that I am very strongly against the invention of new words, or the introduction of old ones giving them new meanings, in order to appear 'PC'. In the picture above Heather Knight is a batsman and as far as I know she has no problem with being so described. We have the language of Shakespeare in which to envelop our daily lives and, new inventions aside, there seems no good reason to maul it. As far as I am concerned a human with a cricket bat in their hand is not a new invention!I was therefore interested to come across the following in the Radio Times pull-out of the Proms Guide for 2013. It is a quote from Tine Helseth, a Norwegian trumpeter. Just in case you are not familiar with Norwegian Christian names I had best tell you Tine is a woman."It's great that there's finally a female conductor at the last Night, and at this moment we don't have many female conductors, but I find all it a bit silly sometimes. I remember when Marin Alsop was conducting in Oslo and the radio presenter corrected himself - first he said 'the conductor' and then said, 'Oh sorry, the female conductor,' and I just wanted to jump into the radio. I know him well and he's a great guy, but I found it very strange that he had to say that."It would seem that it's not only in women's cricket that the performers are sometimes irritated by the way diminutive terms or expressions are used about them.
And further to my query about bonus points and their uses, I have received the following in an email...I haven’t investigated this in detail but just as an ‘off the wall’ idea I looked at a CC in which the bonus points system remained the same but team ranking was based solely on points scored verses points yielded. This might have an interesting effect on play because every bonus you let the opposition acquire really hurts you. Currently it doesn’t really hurt you unless you are very close together in the table.
An interesting point being that Yorkshire could not make the playoffs regardless of their result against Middlesex. What it suggests is that Sussex and Kent have more comprehensively beaten their opponents than Yorkshire – or conversely Yorkshire have suffered much heavier defeats than the other two. It looks like it better reflects the 'over the season' performances ….. and of course I’m biased because its lifts Warks one place !Suppose Yorkshire were only, say, 13 points behind Kent within this system (like they are under the current system). All the points that they let Middlesex acquire are much more important than is going to be the case on Saturday. Yorkshire really don’t care how many bonus points Middlesex get as along as they (Yorkshire) get 13 pts from the match. Under this proposed system they would have to get 13 more than Middlesex in the match.The Surrey v Essex match would also be interesting. Under the current system Surrey only have to beat Essex and they will climb above them. Under the proposed system they would have to beat them by 15pts just to climb up to -46pts.In both methods Middlesex are not safe. In the proposed system Middlesex (-28pts) would get to the -30s if they lost against Yorkshire whilst Essex could climb into the -30s if they beat Surrey.Needs a lot of thinking about (to put it mildly)!Now I can't say I have any strong feelings on the matter at the moment, but having had much to think about with the blatant weirdness in the rules of the recent World Cup I find myself chewing over all sorts things in relation to the rules of other competitions, not because I am necessarily critical of them but to see if there are anomalies (there's that word again) which might be headed off by a rule change. It is quite possible there are none here but I find it interesting to ponder the 'what ifs'. In a season where a large number of fixtures were rained off and it suited sides not to re-arrange it produced some unlikely results in the previous season.<July 23>I was asked recently by my brother to take a some photographs at a Scout Presentation Evening. As I arrived at the school where this was to take place I notice a trophy cabinet containing various cups and alongside it a cricket bat hung on the wall.
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