All hail the Bob County Willis Championship Trophy

There’s something very English about the compromise that has been struck for the 2021 red-ball season. On the one hand, you have those who wish to preserve the two-division structure; one the other hand, those who wish to move to conferences and an end-of-season showpiece final.

In a triumph for the Department For The Simultaneous Retention And Consumption of Baked Goods, the ECB have come up with a solution that incorporates both the Bob Willis Trophy and the County Championship into one mega-cake. What’s more, it’s not actually too bad a wheeze.

Conference supporters are probably the happiest of the two camps. Yet defenders of the two-division format may also welcome the realisation that this set-up means that the Champion County, whoever it is, will have had to prove itself against a greater number of opponents. In a nine-team division, the Champions would play only eight other counties, a minority of all possible opponents; in this format, they will play nine, a majority. Arguably, then, they will have greater authority to declare themselves the foremost county that year.

There’s one change I would make to the recipe (aside from renaming Group 1, 2, 3, to A, B, C to avoid confusion with Divisions One, Two, Three). As it stands, the Bob Willis Trophy final will inevitably be contested by the Championship-winning team and the Championship runner-up. This strikes me as both rather unimaginative and superfluous: it could easily result in a re-run of the final divisional game.

Why not instead make the Bob Willis Trophy Final a contest between the County Champions and the highest-placed team from the group stages? Or the County Champions vs the county with the most wins in the season, regardless of division? Or the most runs/wickets? Of course, if the Champions were also the highest-placed team, etc., then the opponents would be the next-highest-placed, etc. With two different qualification routes to the final, it would almost have something of the flavour of a World Series, or a Super Bowl.

If the first option were chosen, teams that started strongly would be rewarded with the chance of an end-of-season bonanza – even if they were to suffer a mid-season slump. This would be particularly valuable to sides that found themselves depleted through international call-ups during high summer.

Conversely, if one of the latter options were chosen, teams in Division Two (and possibly Three, although it would be unlikely that after such a poor start they would amass the needed number of wins/runs/wickets to pose a real challenge) would have added incentive, beyond mere prize money, to perform strongly despite their struggles in the first part of the season. The Championship pennant would be safeguarded for the strongest team across the season, but the Bob Willis Trophy would provide the chance of a knockout bonus for a plucky contender.

Obviously, despite either modification, the Bob Willis Trophy Final might still end up being County Champions vs runners-up. If nothing else, though, the run-up to the Final wouldn’t have been entirely straightforward and unimpeded. A bit like Bob’s run-up, in fact. How appropriate that would be.

Not The ’Nineteen World Cup

Sick already of the 2019 Cricket World Cup? Less than ecstatic about the five-Test Ashes series to follow? No need to worry. In 2017, I provided a list for Cricinfo of seven games to savour, mostly featuring the England men’s team. By contrast, here’s a selection of seven fixtures that have nothing to do with those behemoth competitions. Indeed, upon careful inspection of the fixture list, one can assemble a compelling and varied personal trip around the country.

28th April: Worcestershire vs Warwickshire (Worcester)
Playing 50-over cricket in April is probably not everybody’s cup of tea, especially the spectators’; nevertheless, options are limited from mid-April to mid-May. This at least ticks the boxes of a) derby game; b) cosy ground; c) close enough to town to hole up in a café (or pub) during the inevitable April-shower delays.

20th-23rd May: Kent vs Surrey (Beckenham)
All eyes will be on the newly promoted Kent to see how the swashbucklers fare against the reigning champions. With the game taking place almost in Surrey’s back yard, local support should be strong for both teams – and the game might just yield an early indication of whether Kent may be able to maintain the recent London monopoly on the Championship.

17th-20th June: Yorkshire vs Warwickshire (York)
It’s pleasing to see another outground come on-line, and York’s Clifton Park will see its redevelopment rewarded with its first first-class game. Those who treasure their trips to Scarborough have no reason to fear, as two games at North Marine Road are also scheduled (starting on 30th June and 18th August respectively). Alternatively, for those of a Red Rose persuasion, Sedbergh School in Cumbria will be hosting its first Lancashire first-class game from 30th July-3rd July.

18th-21st July: England vs Australia (Taunton)
Women’s Test cricket comes around so rarely that any appearance is welcome. It’s a shame that the last two instances were on dull pitches that did little to showcase the range of the players’ skills: it has to be hoped that Taunton will offer up a sporting pitch for the occasion.

21st-24th July: Gloucestershire vs Worcestershire (Cheltenham)
There is something of a lack of derby games in the County Championship this year, with Yorkshire, Surrey, and Warwickshire all in Division One, and Lancashire, Middlesex, and Worcestershire stuck in Division Two. That leaves neighbouring Gloucestershire and Worcestershire to provide something vaguely approximating a grudge match – and happily it’s in the delightful surroundings of Cheltenham College, which claims what must be one of the finest square-leg backdrops in English first-class cricket.

Gloucestershire vs Sussex, Cheltenham College, 2018

8th August: Middlesex vs Surrey (Lord’s)
Of course, there’s no lack of derby games in the T20 Blast. The Oval does T20 rather better than Lord’s, if truth be told, but getting to that fixture on the 23rd would mean missing play on Day 3 of the above Cheltenham game. This will be the seventh and final game that AB de Villiers will be playing for Middlesex (assuming they stay true to form and avoid the knockout stages, he laughs bitterly).

1st September: Kia Super League Finals Day (Hove)
One indisuptable success story for the ECB has been the launch and development of its women’s T20 league. So much of a success has it been, in fact, that from 2020, it will, er, be abruptly discarded. Whatever the merits of that decision, it means that 2019 will see the Final Finals Day for the KSL. One last seaside jaunt, then, to savour the memories, before the Hundred rolls in on the tide.

Needless to say, admission for all seven games would likely cost you in total about the same as an Edrich Stand Ashes ticket. You pays yer money and you takes yer choice.


Report: Sam Curran holds Middlesex to draw

Fifties from Sam Curran and Ben Foakes held off Middlesex on the final day of their County Championship meeting at Lord’s.

Many are the batsmen that have failed to add significantly to an overnight score; rather fewer are those that have failed to add significantly to overnight centuries; even fewer are those that have not done so twice in a match. On Saturday, Kumar Sangakkara added a mere single before edging Franklin to Rayner for 114; on Monday he added all of four runs before edging the same bowler to Simpson.

It nevertheless meant that Sangakkara had scored runs on each of the four days in the match, on what could yet be his final appearance at Lord’s. If it proves to be so, what better way to sign off?

Almost as if sensing the opening that his departure offered Middlesex in the game, even the angle-grinders in the Warner Stand ceased their ear-assaulting screeching. The Surrey lead stood at a mere 112, with the first non-specialist batsman at the crease.

Any Middlesex hopes that this would open the game up were quelled by Sam Curran and Ben Foakes’ partnership of 83 for the sixth wicket, only ended on the stroke of lunch when Curran nicked Rayner behind for his first scalp of the match. They were aided by the curious decision of Franklin to postpone taking of the new ball until the 95th over. With the old ball offering no appreciable movement, and Middlesex well up with the over rate, there seemed little obvious reason to persist with Rayner, who till that point had found little turn from the pitch. Sam Curran found Rayner to his liking, driving the off-spinner over long-off into the Pavilion for six.

That being said, the new ball also offered little to the bowlers. While Curran was the beneficiary of the decision to not include a third slip – Finn being the unfortunate bowler on two occasions – by and large there was limited movement either off the pitch or in the air, and consequently few alarms. Rayner briefly livened up proceedings by bowling Tom Curran through the gate for a spirited 22 – Curran being caught out by one that did, for once, turn, but the Surrey tail resisted in a way they had not done in the first innings, ensuring that within an hour or so after lunch the game was already heading towards handshakes.

Much of this was down to the resistance of Foakes, who was content to quietly survive. In the first forty-five minutes after lunch, he scored all of five runs, building pressure through time-consumption while his colleagues built it through run-contribution. He was left unbeaten on 67 after Malan’s part-time leg-spin cleaned up Meaker, whose off-stump was pegged back by a traditional leg-break, and Footitt, who chipped his second ball to cover.

Middlesex’s intentions as regards pursuing their target of 242 in 39 overs were called into question by the retention of Compton in his opening position. After Gubbins fell early, caught behind off Sam Curran – a decision he did not look entirely happy with – Middlesex were content to trundle along to 13-1 at tea, with 33 overs remaining. A trickle of runs followed after the interval, and although there was late excitement when Compton swiped Footitt to deep square-leg, both teams agreed to take the points for the draw soon after 5pm.