Published: 09/11/2009 12:39:26 | Modified: 28/04/2010 23:36:48
Author: Christopher Martin-Jenkins | All Contributors
Scots know how to get on with the game
The ECB, you may have seen, is looking afresh at regulations for the various forms of county cricket next season.
For some reason the rules that follow are not under consideration, but we might see rather more action next season at places like Old Trafford and Taunton if the guardians of the first-class game were to take a lead from the Aberdeenshire Cricket Association.
Take, for example, their 'wet weather criteria': The following ground or weather conditions are to be considered 'unreasonable' for starting, continuing or resuming play: 1. Heavy rain which wets players through 2. Lighter rain driven by a strong wind 3. Water pooling on the pitch or on the outfield within 25 yards of the pitch. 4. Wet ground on the pitch or bowlers' run-ups such that the batsmen or bowlers cannot run or turn with safety. A slight restriction in foothold is not, however, 'unreasonable'. 5. Water rising round one's feet when the pitch is subject to foot pressure 6. Water splashing up when the ball pitches. 7. Foggy or misty conditions when the pitch is not visible from the boundary 8. Where the bowler or either batsman normally plays in spectacles and their vision is being seriously affected by rain obscuring the lenses. Wearing a cap can often help in this situation.
That's the spirit. Imagine umpires, say, Taufel and Harper, meeting to discuss the fact that Andrew Strauss has just got a spray of water and a bit of mud on his face after playing forward to a good length ball from Brett Lee.
“What d'yer reckon, Simon?” “Aw; it was only a little splash.” “Yeah mate: let's get on with it.” “Mind you, one of the fielders is complaining about raindrops on his sunnies.” “Tell him to pull his baggy green on a bit tighter.” “Right you are, Daryl. But don't yer reckon it's getting a bit foggy now?” “If you can see 22 yards, mate, that's good enough for me.”
Some hope. But what they call “Not Unreasonable Conditions” in Aberdeen might give cause for some serious thought.
The following, for example, are not sufficient reasons for suspending play: 1. Light rain which may be unpleasant but does not wet through or seriously affect the pitch, even if it makes the ball slippery or difficult to control. 2. Wet slippery grass or small pools of water 25 yards or more from the pitch. 3. Light mist or fog where visibility is such as to allow the pitch to be seen from the boundary. 4. Soft, wet pitches which may make batting difficult. 5. Players who cannot obtain sufficient footholds in wet conditions because they are wearing unsuitable footwear.
In Aberdeenshire, as just occasionally in first-class cricket when over-fussy umpires dither over a sprinkle or, more frequently, dimmish light, (I'm sure they play in all lights in the north east of Scotland) it is sometimes a case either of getting on with it in a bit of inclement weather or not playing at all.
I attended the ACA's annual dinner at Pittodrie the other night, with members of a mixture of 40-odd city and small village clubs spread over a wide and often barren area of the British Isles, linked by a deep devotion for the game.
They claim, indeed, that there are more club cricketers per capita in the Aberdeenshire area than anywhere except Yorkshire.
The association, this year celebrating its 125th anniversary, presides over clubs in an area of 3600 square miles that stretches from Fraserburgh in the north to Stonehaven in the south and from Aberdeen to Crathie in the west.
Populations range from around 200 at Crathie to over 20,000 at Inverurie. Only 17 of the clubs have their own grounds, the remainder making use of council and education authority facilities.
The Association teams play in four grades or leagues, with a variety of cup competitions, including some Twenty20 and seven-a-side tournaments. Players who show greater ability usually move either to Aberdeenshire, the current Scottish champions, or Stoneywood-Dyce, the home club of Kyle Coetzer, who has forced his way into the top order for Durham in their last two triumphant seasons.
John Hitchen, president of the ACA and a septuagenarian leg-spinner whose varied experiences include being imprisoned by Fidel Castro in Havana when he was a radio officer on a merchant ship, is one of many English or Asian cricket enthusiasts who found themselves drawn to Aberdeen by the consequences of North Sea oil discoveries. He speaks proudly of the way that cricket flourishes in the area but less so of problems such as swearing at umpires and coaching and motivating young players.
“Cricket is no longer taught in more than a handful of schools and it is almost impossible for clubs who don't have their own grounds to coach youngsters, whoever well intentioned they might be” he said. “Parents have to be generous to drive their youngsters many miles to and from coaching. Life would be much easier if only cricket could be restored to the school curriculum.”
Hitchen's club Crathie, who play in the grounds of the Queen’s estate at Balmoral with Prince Philip's strong support, are dependant on the Balmoral gardeners for pitch preparation. They managed to play almost an entire season on pitches that were 22 metres – rather than yards- in length without anyone questioning the sudden deterioration in their bowling performances.
A relatively new cricket club, Methlick, whose ground, “Lairds”, was given by Lord Aberdeen for a peppercorn rent, managed to involve the whole small community of the village in producing a decent ground from what was once a rough, rocky, waterlogged area. They now produces two teams every week and stages a lively gala every year.
Scottish cricket generally ebbs and flows but there is hope that involvement in the revamped Pro40 competition next season will make up the ground that the national side has lost in recent years to the Irish, whose stock has been boosted (like England's) by a leavening of talent bred overseas. The chief executive of the Cricket Scotland, Robby Smith, an Aberdonian, was encouraged to see the Grades Select team winning this year's Three Shires Trophy against competitors from the Central Belt and Perthshire and, at a higher level, the Aberdeenshire club winning the Scottish National Cricket League from their outstanding, albeit distant, base at Mannofields.
But, as with all cricket in Britain, quantity is one thing, quality another. Smith is awaiting a vote on proposals for a domestic system with fewer leagues and what he calls “whole-club development” to encourage the better endowed clubs to make fuller use of their facilities, especially for the young.
Poor weather or not, Scottish cricket, overshadowed by Soccer but blessed with far more players than there are in Rugby Union, is thriving. As one one-day international follows another it is all too easy to forget the game below the tip of the iceberg but, in many ways, that is where true devotion lies.