It is rumoured that his sweat has the unmistakable aroma of frangipani, and that his pheromone laden ambrosial fragrance causes even the most acute, curvaceous Scandinavian princess to grant his every whim. His identity is a well kept secret known only to his closest confidantes, MI5 and naturally umpire Dickie Bird, and it is with some surprise and a considerable amount of delight that the man that never sleeps, The Tooting Trumpet, is once again sharing his thoughts at 99.94.
The English Domestic Season 2008: Preview
The extraordinary brontosaurus (that’s the bloated, prehistoric dinosaur with the tiny brain) that is the English domestic cricket season lumbers into life on April 10 with the traditional curtain-raiser at Lord’s where MCC face reigning County Champions Sussex in front of one man wearing an egg and tomato tie who was locked in last September and hasn’t found his way out yet. There’s a round of university matches to allow journeymen pros to feel like Virender Sehwag for a few days, before the real stuff starts on 16 April (expect snow over Northern Europe).
The English First Class competition is split into two divisions, with Lancashire favourites to lift the First Division crown this year, having come heartbreakingly close on the last afternoon in 2007. History is against Lanky who last won the title outright a mere 74 years ago. Sussex (with the incredibly prolific Mushtaq Ahmed back for yet another season and aiming for 2000 senior wickets) share second favouritism with Durham. The Trumpet suggests that a Flintoff-inspired Lancashire might just break the hoodoo this year, but advises a little saver on Somerset who have the captain, pitch and batting order to set up wins if their bowlers can take the 20 wickets. In the Second Division, Ed Smith’s Middlesex should romp to promotion accompanied by Essex and one of the Midlands Ws, Worcestershire or Warwickshire.
Believe it or not, there are three other domestic competitions: the Friends Provident Trophy, played over 50 overs, with a ludicrous combination of league fixtures and knockout phases spread over a mere 118 days; the Pro40, played over 40 overs (no-one knows why) in two divisions (which aren’t the same two divisions as the County Championship) getting started just in time for football to swamp sports coverage; and the Twenty20 Cup, which I shall preview separately come mid-summer.
Despite all that, who needs the IPL when the English domestic cricket fan can see players like: Mahela Jayawardene; Chris Rogers; Shivnarine Chanderpaul; Neil McKenzie; Albie Morkel; Michael Di Venuto; Danish Kaneria; Jason Gillespie (probably); Sean Ervine; Shane Watson; Azhar Mahmood; Yasir Arafat; Stuart Law; Brad Hodge; Andrew Flintoff; Ashley Noffke; Nicky Boje; Lance Klusener; David Hussey; Adam Voges; Justin Langer; Marcus Trescothick; Mushtaq Ahmed; Monde Zondecki; Sanath Jayasuriya; Fidel Edwards; Simon Jones; Darren Gough; Morne Morkel; Jacques Rudolph. And, despite the limit of just one overseas player per county, you can expect more see stars in the English domestic game as the season progresses.
English county cricket, for all its obvious flaws, is still the second best domestic game in the world: the number of Aussies who have used it as a stepping stone to the Test arena shows that. Let’s get it on!
Posted in County Season 2008, First Class, cricket, england | Tags: Adam Voges, Albie Morkel, andrew flintoff, Ashley Noffke, Azhar Mahmood, Brad Hodge, Chris Rogers, County Cricket, cricket, Danish Kaneria, Darren Gough, David Hussey, durham, Ed Smith, england, essex, europe, Fidel Edwards, First Class, Friends Provident Trophy, IPL, Jacques Rudolph, Jason Gillespie, Justin Langer, lancashire, Lance Klusener, Mahela Jayawardene, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Di Venuto, middlesex, Monde Zondecki, Morne Morkel, mushtaq ahmed, Neil McKenzie, Nicky Boje, Pro40, Sanath Jayasuriya, Sean Ervine, Shane Watson, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Simon Jones, somerset, Stuart Law, sussex, T20, Twenty20 Cup, UK, virender sehwag, warwickshire, worcestershire, Yasir Arafat
