Why cricket in this country is right to move with the times
With a memorable summer still fresh in the memory, and the T20 World Cup looming large, it seems an opportune time for The Early Whistle to have its say on what’s become a true sporting sticking point. Is English cricket firmly embracing the 21st-century good for the game here, or will it prove the ruin of it?
The Hundred, having just completed its second season, has only made things worse, or better, depending on which camp you’re in. Five-ball overs and crisp-packet kits? It’s enough to make decades-long members of Trent Bridge choke on their skips!
But they really shouldn’t, not least because skips are fizzibly melty. Joking and ad slogans aside, colourful atmospheres characterised by big-hitting bats and buzzing DJ sets are as far removed from tradition as leather-on-willow has known thus far, drawing more criticism than ever before. Yet because of what it’s done for the women’s game alone, the Hundred is here to stay and the purists need to get used to that fact.
You can, of course, see where they’re coming from just a little. Test cricket, for so long the be-all and end-all, is a game like no other. Unfortunately, in terms of professional sport, it was also unique in its rank elitism upon these shores once upon a time. Unless you happened to have the talent of Ian Botham or Geoff Boycott, representing England straight from the working classes was a nion impossible dream. As with so many aspects of society, Eton and Oxbridge were the keys to the kingdom. That the class divide is more hotly debated than ever in 2022, means that English cricket was wise to begin its modernisation when it did.
The fact that this has become exponential, certainly in the last 10 years, might mean that the amount of games played within the various formats has become difficult to keep up with, but with that comes the money. The West Indies began a steady decline in the 1990s, and the main driver behind that was youngsters turning their back on cricket in order to pursue careers in better-paid sports. Would Usain Bolt, a promising fast bowler in his youth, have reaped the same rewards opening for Warwickshire at the Pavilion End?
But nowadays that’s a much less distant prospect. With its Bollywood investment, the IPL has set the bar for untold riches and now other franchises are trying to follow suit. No longer are lucrative cricketing careers the preserve of a select few and, although the heady days are still long past, the Caribbean is on its uppers once again.
Young people want to watch as well as play. It’s not uncommon for a hip twenty-something Mancunian couple to begin their Friday night out with a visit to a T20 match at Old Trafford. The lights and music create a genuine buzz, whilst kits of many colours are a lot easier on the eye than a sea of white. Even the tournament branding compared to that of yesteryear must surely play a part: which sounds more appealing? The Sharks in the Blast, or Sussex in the Natwest Trophy? No offence meant, all you Natwest bankers out there.
To many of the old school tie brigade who take their seats at Lord’s each summer, it must seem like someone’s hijacked their beloved game and ripped its heart clean out. But without breaks in tradition attracting a more diverse audience we’d be close to having no game to be loved at all. The 21st-century contest between bat and ball may be evolving quicker than an Umran Malik delivery, but evolve it must, not just to preserve cricket’s integrity in an ever-changing society but to preserve cricket itself. The England setup incorporating the expansive T20 style into the Test team is proof that codes can not only co-exist, but compliment one other.
While we’re at it, if you thought you were getting away from here without a good old Early Whistle sporting prediction, then you’re very much mistaken! New Zealand are getting closer and closer to breaking their one-day tournament duck, whilst England have become the master swashbucklers, which is why we’re going for a repeat of the 2019 50-over final.
Is the English game on a sticky wicket or the verge of a brave new world? Who’s your tip for T20 glory? Have your say in the comments box below.
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