Day 96: Welcome back Sarah Taylor

 There is not much surprises me about Sarah Taylor, the former England Wicketkeeper and World Cup winner who has achieved everything in the game. When you consider the issues she has had with anxiety, then it is all the more remarkable.

When she was announced as Sussex wicketkeeper coach, it was the next logical step. She is world-class in her field, and for some of her knowledge and skills to be shared made sense. It has also seen a pattern of Sussex inviting former players with a passion for the county to fill the coaching spots.

There was always the prospect that Taylor may play again as she was only officially retired from international cricket a few appearances for Sussex may have been on the cards.

To see Taylor named in the Welsh Fire squad for the Hundred is pleasing. With Matthew Mott captaining and the likes of Meg Lanning and Beth Mooney, on the same side, will be exciting for the team that will be playing their home games at Sophia Gardens this year.

Days until the start of a new season

There is a buzz around for the start of the County Championship; on Thursday, 18 teams have a chance of winning the top prize in county cricket.

By the end of that first day, we will start to form a picture of who will stand up and be counted. It will be early days; there will be groups of fans from one or two county seasons that will lower expectations.

I’m hoping for a few surprise packages this season. With the two-division format rested until at least next year, a few of the less fancied counties could prove a point or two. I would, of course, like to see Sussex play well. I don’t think they have a chance of winning the whole thing, but I like how the club is being run on the field and would love to see that represented in results.

Day 94: The fantastic four

 

After defeat in the 2017 World Cup semi-final, there was some deep thinking in the Australian women's camp. It was clear that while they had world-class players at their disposal, there was still something not right about the team's balance.

With the Women's Big Bash League in its early stages, there were some signs that the depth in which Australia would start to dominate the ODI format in the last few years. That they have gone on to break the record of consecutive wins are testament to the set-up and captaincy of Meg Lanning and the coaching of Matthew Mott.

Four players have played in all 22 games of Australia's unbeaten run they are.

Alyssa Healy

Healy has been one of the top keepers in the game for a while now. With her aggressive batting at the top of the order, she allows her side to make consistent starts. Before the 2017 Ashes, she said she would "bring the bitch back." Part of the fall out from the World Cup earlier that year was that Australia was getting too soft as a team.

Rachael Haynes

At the 2017 World Cup, Haynes only made the team when Lanning was injured and found herself in the side as replacement captain. Since then, Haynes has been part of the side with merit. A reliable middle-order batter and fantastic fielder, Haynes is irreplaceable.

Ash Gardner

A big-hitting all-rounder Gardner is the type of player that every side in the world wants. She hits the ball a long way and can be destructive on her day; add in her spin bowling, and you have a player for every occasion.

Given how often she has suffered from concussions, it is remarkable she has played a part in every game of this run.

Beth Mooney

Mooney is a player that has taken the game away from you without you realising. A consistent and unfussy player who plays fantastic cricket shots. Mooney is also an excellent wicketkeeper, and if not for Healy being in the side would have been behind the stumps.

Day 92: Hopefully see you soon

 

I don’t know what it is about cricket grounds, but you get a certain feeling at a great venue. It could be history, knowing that you are following in the footsteps of great players. Having played at Queens Park, Chesterfield, you realise how much of a privilege knowing that the likes of WG Grace, Don Bradman and Dominic Cork have all played there.

It may be how each stand has been built separately and over different periods of times, whereas with other sporting stadia like football grounds, there is a more uniform approach. Knowing that Brammall Lane used to host test cricket always intrigued me, and I wish I could have seen it in action as a cricket ground.

The closest you get these days to a cricket match being played in a football ground is at Burnley, where the grounds are next to each other.

At Headingley, I have made a mistake on more than one occasion of nearly walking into the rugby ground. I’m not sure if that is possible these days, though, with the new stand at that end of the ground.

I like to wander around a new venue or an old one, for that matter. To see the crowds fill in, find a second-hand book table or just get a feel for the place. They are places where I feel at home. However, I have had the pleasure of calling them the office on occasion. Which again, I know how grateful I am.

I cannot wait until I can enter a ground with fans in. They make sporting events so interesting, as there are genuine characters amongst them; in particular, cricket loses something when there is no one to see it—the gentle hum of background chatter or the smarting of applause for a moment of brilliance.

Hopefully, that won’t be too far away.

Day 91: April is here!

April is here. It means that there is only a week until the cricket season starts. To say I can’t wait is an understatement. I have my copy of Wisden and The Cricketers’ Who’s Who. I plan the games I would like to be at and the players I want to see in action. That, I guess, is still up in the air as we don’t know when we can be back.

I want to write about it, which means I have some serious research to do in anticipation of the first round of County Championship games next week. I want to get to know the players who I will be writing about. I want to know their stats when they scored their last century or took a load of wickets. Maybe find out what they average against each team and how that can encourage their side on to victory.

This all adds to a larger picture. If I can get that across in the space of 500 words, then all the better. It won’t be easy, but I will be working hard to write entertainingly. I have always had nagging doubts about whether I am good enough to write for many people.

I have always wondered how players can perform to large numbers of people, which seems more straightforward. I have played in front of tens of people and that is easy to focus out most of the time; you get lost in the moment, and I would imagine that in the middle, where 25,000 are all cheering, it is easier to focus out the individual calls.

If I take the approach of is this something to read? Then I can’t go too far wrong. If no one reads, that is okay, but it will make the road easier if they do.

Day 90: Who is R. E. S. Wyatt?

How many of us who are not Warwickshire members, historians of the game or 150-year-old know much about R.E.S Wyatt? I would imagine not very many could tell you anything about the former England captain.

 I am ashamed to say I couldn’t tell you much other than he has a stand named after him at Edgbaston. It, of course, makes you assume that he was a person of not.

When we think of the 1930s and cricket, we think of Donald Bradman, Len Hutton, Harold Larwood and many more. This period is something I would like to study more, with it nearly 100 years since there is a big project in there somewhere.

Bob Wyatt was the England vice-captain to Douglas Jardine and eventually replaced him as captain. Wyatt played 40 times for England and was captain of both Warwickshire and Worcestershire on either side of the Second World War.

I mention Wyatt because, at the start of the year, I started to buy old cricket books to broaden my history on the subject and see the different ways that cricket is and was written.

So I was interested to see there was a book by Wyatt. Published in 1936, Ins And Outs of Cricket isn’t an autobiography; it is more of a manual about the game. Wyatt gives his opinions on picking a side and how batsmen and bowlers go about their crafts.

I’m about to read it, and |I will do so with interest; there are many topics covered, such as bodyline and the spirit of cricket, although they are in separate parts of the book.

The one part I am looking forward to is the short player portraits of every county side. As someone that wants to know more about the game in this period, it is a good starting point.

I will go in with an open mind and let you know how I get on with it. It may be time for someone to write a fascinating biography about Wyatt.

Day 89: County Cricket's charm

Cricket has something for everyone. That can be from the atmosphere where the only sounds are bat on ball, the chirp of a fielder and the hum of general conversation. Or if you want the razmataz of a T20 game with its loud music, big-hitting batter whipping the crowd into a frenzy.

I like the relaxed atmosphere of a county championship game. In attendance are many different people—the committed supporter who is cricket every day, whatever the weather. Then you get those who do the crossword or read the paper during a quiet session. There are usually two friends who talk nonsense, reminiscing about past matches or having a friendly 20p wager on the next ball's outcome.

The county cricket community is often underestimated; just because you aren't at the ground (we can't all take six months of the year off), it doesn't mean our interest is any less. We care deeply, we have our allegiances, but we are less tribal than some other sports, and a holiday in another part of the country may coincide with a day at the cricket.

While the counties have some responsibility in keeping us informed of the goings-on around the country, we still need objective reporting of the game. That needs to be a group of well rounded impartial reporters who have a good eye for the game and the ability to put that in words that inform and entertain in equal measure.

When cricket has so many records, there are many being broken every day, and as fans, we love it when we know that the tenth wicket partnership by two players both born in Chippenham has been broken at Northampton, the last time it happened was in 1904.

What county cricket gives us, though, is a community of like-minded people. We may see each other rarely, but we know who to start a conversation like no other group. We are bonded, we know the pain that our teams misfortunes, and when people repeatedly tell you how boring your passion is, you know we are in the same camp, and long may that continue.

Day 88: When I faced the raw pace of the bowling machine

I must have been about 14 when I was asked to have an afternoon of coaching at Arundel as a Sussex junior member. It was one of those days I cannot recall much about these days. It was a long time ago. I remember doing some bowling and fielding practice on the outfield.

What I do remember most was facing the bowling machine. It was the first time I had been up close to such a contraption. It fired out solid plastic balls at what seemed an unimaginably fast pace. I tried my best, and not being much of a batsman, it was hard work.

As I walked out of the net to take my pads off, I managed to get a brief glimpse at speed. Indeed it must have been a fast 75 mph; I was excited to see what I had just faced. That was when it hit me; it was only 40 mph. It bruised the ego a little; I hope I didn’t let it show.

Sussex arranged a few things like that for their junior members. I remember an event that they organised for an England under 19 game. They got a few players from the academy side to offer some training. I failed at the one-handed slip catching (stupid right-hand bias!), and it was a good day. Who were those young players that offered to coach us? One was Shaun Humphries, a young wicketkeeper and a bowler of promise called James Kirtley. I wonder what happened to him?

 Of course, he is now Sussex T20 coach, which does make me feel old. There aren’t many coaches out there that exudes calmness and will to make Sussex a force in the game like when he was in his prime.

It looks like a big task that both himself and Ian Salisbury have ahead of them, but I feel they have that love and passion for the county they played for.