It was with glee last night that I sat down to read the 2007 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. I hadn’t got 22 pages before I discovered this comment by Matthew Engel, the Editor, which really brought home the state of modern cricket and gave credence to my previous article Cricket’s great conspiracy theory. It also put perfectly into words why cricket is such an enthralling game for so many:

‘…the beauty of cricket cannot be measured by the number of runs hit in a day. It is a game of context, hinging on the delicate balance between bat and ball. That balance has been getting ever more out of kilter: batsman get stronger, their bats more effective, their padding more generous, the pitches less interesting, umpires more cautious, yet bowlers are scrutinised for the merest hint of ball-doctoring - they can’t even get away with honest-to-goodness old-fashioned seam-picking any more’.

Matthew Engel - Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2007. Pg 21)

It’s been busy down at the rumour mill this week. There has been more than the seasonal amount of hot air in the sails, and everyone has been working extra hours. It was hoped that it was just a contingency plan, but every cricketing nightmare became reality last night as it was announced that Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach had indeed been murdered. 

There seems to be two obvious scenarios at this juncture.

The first and the one that everyone is quietly praying for, is an outraged ‘fan’ was so distraught at Pakistan’s loss to Ireland that they have done the unthinkable . This raises many question about why the game has attracted this kind of fantacism.

The finger seems to be firmly pointed at the media and the sponsorship of the game which is pushed on us almost to the point forceful aggression. Players become corporate and then in turn, public property.

We have already seen the attack on Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s house this week. The feeling of intrinsic belonging that the fan is developing has warped the keen watcher into the dangerous fanatic. And the media? Well they just all went along for the ride.

If this were the case, the cricketing fraternity could turn a blind eye, claim it was a string of isolated incidents, and walk on by. Tragic but not immediately damaging to a game that many hold sacrosanct.

The second touted reason, and the one emerging from the most calloused hands of those driving the rumour mill is altogether more sinister and reaches far back into the sinews of cricketing history. It is a shadow on the shoulder of cricket that has been a constant blot on the horizon.

There have been reports of games being fixed reaching back to the dawn of the game, and ever since, it has risen and subsequently faded away, only to rear it’s monstrous head with frightening frequency. Time after time it has been dismissed with the blinkered hope that it had finally been eliminated. The truth was known. It was always easier to ignore than combat though.

And so it has come to this. A potentially apocalyptic watershed moment in cricketing history. A man much loved and respected within the game has been murdered. The hands at the mill are working fast and there are numerous match fixing conspiracy theories.

But consider this. If Bob Woolmer, who many saw as uncorruptable, (and if that was ever found to be untrue, my faith in cricketers would be well and truly destroyed), stood between a bookie and his ability to affect the outcome of a game of cricket, and has subsequently been killed then this truly is the end of the level playing field. Which player in their right mind would compromise the safety of themselves or their family for a game. If this is the case (and i say this as I hold a bag for the produce of the rumour mill, firmly in my hands) then our beloved game will be brought to it’s knees.

“If ain’t broke…..”

Well i’m afraid this time it is broken and it needs fixing

From Wickman of Royal Cricket

Wickman is astonished and gutted to hear the news that Bob Woolmer has died. As a young man Wickman lived in Kent. He could never work out whether he was a Man of Kent or a Kentish Man - but he followed Kent cricket nevertheless. Those were the days with Woolmer, Cowdreys, Iqbal, Ealham etc in the team. The county’s done nothing since.Does anyone think it’s a coincidence that Woolmer died the day after his spineless charges succumbed to an Irish side that has shown it could bowl but has hardly threatened with the bat? Succumbed? Make that capitulated. Even if they had managed to muscle another 40 runs out of their sorry apology for an innings Pakistan would still be at the races. And only a couple of weeks after the controversy over the “fitness” of Shoaib and Mohammed Asif? And all the other extraordinary bull he’s had to put up with over the last few months?

There should be heads hanging in guilt, not just shame, this week in the Pakistan dressing room.

It may be because I am not opening bat, but I find one of the most exhilarating things when watching or playing cricket (at any level) to be the battle between the fearsomely fast bowler and the courageous opening batsman. The classic example which springs to mind for me is the battles Michael Atherton used to have with Allan Donald.

In that case it would be fair to say that the South African paceman had the better of the exchanges, but all that seems to have changed. The balance now seems to be well and truly with the batsman.

The problem is that pitches now are so slow, and this World Cup promises to epitomise this trend. The home side is a classic example. The West Indies is immensely proud of it’s fast bowling traditions. If you look through the West Indies side now though you would struggle to find anyone with the pace to hurry most club pro’s let alone top class batsman. It is a side full of players who can ‘take the pace off the ball’, and keep it tight during power-plays. How dull.

The modern trend and ICC directives for pitch preparations and power plays to encourage big scores, are slowly killing off the fast men. Sure the best will always prosper as they learn new skills, and methods of out-foxing batsman, but once in a while can’t we just have a quick strip or two. Must the ever-decreasing WACA strip be a clone of it’s counter-part in Karachi. Fast bowlers must also be put on an even keel once in a while, and given a chance to put genuine fear into batsman, rather than just watching the ball whistle to the boundary with soul destroying repetition.

So here comes the conspiracy:
International cricket’s governing bodies are now so dependent on huge broadcasting deals that they are desperate for matches to run their full coarse in order to keep sponsors happy and to avoid having to pay out large refunds to the ticket-buying public. To this end instructions have gone out to grounds-men that they must prepare pitches accordingly. The result is that most pitches are slow, low tracks - not much fun for any bowler of quality.

The worlds best cricketers are becoming one dimensional clones, just like the pitches they play on. They are losing valuable skills by not playing on a range of surfaces - For crying out loud it even seems to spill over into the post-match interview, such is their robotic like conditioning.Some even argue for uncovered pitches again. Maybe not at the top level, but can we at least give the fast guys something to get their teeth into occasionally and make those flashy, arrogant twerps at the top of the order earn their runs. If he gets through the stage where he wonders whether he is going to get back to the pavillion alive, through courage and skill then he is worthy of his runs.A multitude of fast runs does not always equate to fascinating, absorbing cricket - At least not for everyone.

From Wickman of Royal Cricket    

Wickman is in the mood for a sweeping generalisation. The difference between the minnows and the big boys is the power of the big boys to bounce back when things aren’t going too well.

Look at South Africa today. 66-7. That’s a very deep hole they’ve dug for themselves. A fightback by Hall (60 odd) and Peterson and they scrape 192 together. Not a massive statement granted, but a Houdini-like escape.They’ve probably given themselves more than a fighting chance (it’s halftime in the game). The Irish were probably thinking (Wickman doesn’t do accents)