Scyld Berry "Disappearing World - The 18 First-Class Cricket Counties"

[slowfinger]

Scyld Berry, cricket correspondent for the Telegraph, has just released a memoir about the demise of not only County cricket in England, but also of Counties themselves, and what that means for us as a nation.

"In Anglo-Saxon and Norman times, the King’s men had drawn lines on a map of England to decide the areas where he would be represented by a Lord Lieutenant and a Sheriff; and their quills did not always have natural boundaries or contours to follow.

Cross the long bridge over the River Tamar and the distinction between Devon and Cornwall flows in front of your eyes: Cornwall is Cornwall. Elsewhere in England and Wales, one can walk or drive from many a county into its neighbour without seeing any difference in the terrain, architecture or people.

It is against this inexorable drift towards new identities, which county cricket struggles. Children grow up not knowing that they were born in a part of Britain which used to be called a county; and people arriving from abroad can settle in a part of Britain which used to be a county but they will be unaware that it ever existed. Hence the appeal of new identities to which they can relate, like Birmingham Bears or London Spirit."

Disappearing World, Our 18 First-Class Counties, is published on Monday by Pitch Publishing priced £19.99.

 

[Ali TT]

I wonder if Berry has evidence to substantiate such claims or if, as I suspect, he's just made it up.

County cricket is an anachronistic oligopoly. It might be too hard to change it but it's unlikely to be the way you'd create a professional cricket system in the modern day.

 

[Spark]

Yeah that last paragraph seems ludicrously overblown to me. A real classic of the "overblown romantic nostalgia" genre.

 

[HookShot]

Neoliberal economics and everything that it brings is the great wrecking-ball that swings through every traditional culture, and even entire civilisations. And for that we can point the finger at Reagan, Thatcher, Keating and Howard; at least in the English speaking World.

Because once any cultural entity, be it religion, science, art ‘n architecture or sport becomes disconnected from ‘time and place’ to become a mere ‘market commodity’ then it is pretty much doomed.

In short, vote socialist with all your heart if you want cricket, and everything else that you hold dear to survive another 100 years.

*steps off soap box*

 

[HookShot]

Yeah that last paragraph seems ludicrously overblown to me. A real classic of the "overblown romantic nostalgia" genre.

Berry is obviously a ‘Somewhere’ person, as opposed to an ‘Anywhere’ person. Neither group of people seem to understand eachother; which is why politics has collapsed and boardrooms are clueless on how to move forward into the future.

 

[honestbharani]

Berry is an insufferable cup half empty type of writer even at the best of times. He is now old, as well.

 

[Howe_zat]

Some real yelling at cloud vibes here.

 

[Ali TT]

Berry is obviously a ‘Somewhere’ person, as opposed to an ‘Anywhere’ person. Neither group of people seem to understand eachother; which is why politics has collapsed and boardrooms are clueless on how to move forward into the future.

Countries aren't the only somewheres though. Just because, hypothetically, a child born in or migrated to one of our big cities doesn't have any attachment to the historical county that in many cases hasn't had jurisdiction over the city for decades, doesn't mean they don't have an attachment to their local place. I lived in a part of SE London that was ceremonially Greater London and historically Kent but had little attachment to either, yet had strong bonds to the locality I lived in - the parks, the businesses, my neighbours, the local sports club etc. In terms of cricket, Kent did have their second ground near where we lived but Canterbury was a 2h drive away. The Oval was closer but not easy to get to.

 

[slowfinger]

Countries aren't the only somewheres though. Just because, hypothetically, a child born in or migrated to one of our big cities doesn't have any attachment to the historical county that in many cases hasn't had jurisdiction over the city for decades, doesn't mean they don't have an attachment to their local place. I lived in a part of SE London that was ceremonially Greater London and historically Kent but had little attachment to either, yet had strong bonds to the locality I lived in - the parks, the businesses, my neighbours, the local sports club etc. In terms of cricket, Kent did have their second ground near where we lived but Canterbury was a 2h drive away. The Oval was closer but not easy to get to.

take away the cricketing link to your County though and you‘d have even less - perhaps no way of identifying with Kent or Surrey

 

[Ali TT]

take away the cricketing link to your County though and you‘d have even less - perhaps no way of identifying with Kent or Surrey

But maybe in terms of getting and keeping kids in cricket it'd make more sense both logistically and in terms of rivalries that inspire interest, for clubs in SE London to play those in Croydon, Lambeth or even north of the river than Dover or Margate.

 

[Ashes81]

Scyld Berry, cricket correspondent for the Telegraph, has just released a memoir about the demise of not only County cricket in England, but also of Counties themselves, and what that means for us as a nation.

"In Anglo-Saxon and Norman times, the King’s men had drawn lines on a map of England to decide the areas where he would be represented by a Lord Lieutenant and a Sheriff; and their quills did not always have natural boundaries or contours to follow.

Cross the long bridge over the River Tamar and the distinction between Devon and Cornwall flows in front of your eyes: Cornwall is Cornwall. Elsewhere in England and Wales, one can walk or drive from many a county into its neighbour without seeing any difference in the terrain, architecture or people.

It is against this inexorable drift towards new identities, which county cricket struggles. Children grow up not knowing that they were born in a part of Britain which used to be called a county; and people arriving from abroad can settle in a part of Britain which used to be a county but they will be unaware that it ever existed. Hence the appeal of new identities to which they can relate, like Birmingham Bears or London Spirit."

Disappearing World, Our 18 First-Class Counties, is published on Monday by Pitch Publishing priced £19.99.

What a load of old crap.

There are far too many counties playing first class cricket which dilutes the quality and does nothing to produce test quality players.

We should have 8 counties, the rest should drop to minor county status and players should be part time.

As for what the county sides are called, who cares.

 

[HookShot]

Countries aren't the only somewheres though. Just because, hypothetically, a child born in or migrated to one of our big cities doesn't have any attachment to the historical county that in many cases hasn't had jurisdiction over the city for decades, doesn't mean they don't have an attachment to their local place. I lived in a part of SE London that was ceremonially Greater London and historically Kent but had little attachment to either, yet had strong bonds to the locality I lived in - the parks, the businesses, my neighbours, the local sports club etc. In terms of cricket, Kent did have their second ground near where we lived but Canterbury was a 2h drive away. The Oval was closer but not easy to get to.

Back in 1995 there was an ODI tournament that featured Australia and Australia ‘A’. As it turned out England were eliminated and so the two Australian teams had to play in the final. Unfortunately no one watching the final knew who to barrack for, or whether to clap or boo when Glenn McGrath bowled Ricky Ponting for 19. In the end the whole experiment proved to be a farce. Even Bill and Tony were subdued.

The same sort of thing applies to County cricket except that it relies on parochial regionalism rather than parochial nationalism. And so if there are no discernible regional differences between the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire (for example) because the historical cultures have nearly vanished then you can very well ask the question, “What’s the point?”

Football uses parochialism that is more localised, hence Liverpool and Everton. But English Cricket never has, and so it would would need to dismantle itself (an emotionally painful process) if it were to follow the model that you are hinting at.

Hence Berry’s angst.

 

[Prince EWS]

Neoliberal economics and everything that it brings is the great wrecking-ball that swings through every traditional culture, and even entire civilisations. And for that we can point the finger at Reagan, Thatcher, Keating and Howard; at least in the English speaking World.

Because once any cultural entity, be it religion, science, art ‘n architecture or sport becomes disconnected from ‘time and place’ to become a mere ‘market commodity’ then it is pretty much doomed.

In short, vote socialist with all your heart if you want cricket, and everything else that you hold dear to survive another 100 years.

*steps off soap box*

Conservative socialists are always good for a laugh. Thanks for the post.

 

[slowfinger]

Back in 1995 there was an ODI tournament that featured Australia and Australia ‘A’. As it turned out England were eliminated and so the two Australian teams had to play in the final. Unfortunately no one watching the final knew who to barrack for, or whether to clap or boo when Glenn McGrath bowled Ricky Ponting for 19. In the end the whole experiment proved to be a farce. Even Bill and Tony were subdued.

The same sort of thing applies to County cricket except that it relies on parochial regionalism rather than parochial nationalism. And so if there are no discernible regional differences between the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire (for example) because the historical cultures have nearly vanished then you can very well ask the question, “What’s the point?”

Football uses parochialism that is more localised, hence Liverpool and Everton. But English Cricket never has, and so it would would need to dismantle itself (an emotionally painful process) if it were to follow the model that you are hinting at.

Hence Berry’s angst.

Well, cricket as a sport tends to breed players, at least in England, much more from the public-school system than football. People and families that go to public schools tend to live in shires and villages much more. If the system was club-based (i.e. clubs within cities and towns) then it would surely prove to be more inaccessible to said people who come more from shires and villages?

Would that have anything to do with why we still use the county system.

I think that there is a point to be made of the Hundred using a mixture of cities (Birmingham), Rivers, Countries (Wales) and all sorts as to its appeal for a supporter. Like, who or what can you support?

At least the IPL is region-based so it becomes apparent to the local.

 

[the big bambino]

Time to put away the hook shot.

 

[HookShot]

Time to put away the hook shot.

Yeah sorry, forgot where I was.

 

[the big bambino]

I just can’t see how the way you vote will help decide if traditional cricket will survive. That is up to the game and its fans. People will pay their money to see what they want and allegiances will naturally be formed.

 

[HookShot]

I just can’t see how the way you vote will help decide if traditional cricket will survive. That is up to the game and its fans. People will pay their money to see what they want and allegiances will naturally be formed.

Politics and politicians set the ‘ideological trajectory’ that transforms our thinking and affects literally everything we do; often without us even noticing.

So what was inconceivable in Australia during the mid-1960s became a reality during the 1970s. I’m talking about WSC of course.

And from WSC it’s only a short step to the IPL and Big Bash. The inevitable causalities of overt commercialism will be Test cricket, and Shield/County cricket as they are dependant on tradition and cannot be easily hyped.

Now depending on your personal temperament and affinity to cultural-history you will either be excited about all that radical change, or sad. Perhaps a blend of the two.


(this was the sort of post that intended to write previously, but I was having a God awful day at the time so wrote something trollish instead)

 

[the big bambino]

Politicians had nothing to do with those cricketing developments. Perhaps what you’ll see is test cricket being played by those countries that think it’s worth it. Which may not be a bad thing. Series that are played sparingly become meaningful. If we could keep 5 or 6 nations keen on the format it wouldn’t be too bad an outcome.

 

[andruid]

Meh, even the nostalgia ain't what it used to be.