11:00am Thursday 2nd September 2010
FOR Gloucestershire and world cricket this is a vital week.
Local matters first. If Essex drop a point and we beat Northants on Saturday, a CB40 semi-final place will result, while a win against Derbyshire in the four-dayer will give us a real chance of championship promotion.
An injury-free squad know the opportunities and they know their responsibilities. There is, however, no guarantee that knowing what you must do is the same as achieving your goal. This glorious uncertainty is what attracts us all to sport.
The double victory over the Dutch has boosted our CB40 chances. The fixture at Rotterdam was played in much moisture and murk. Credit to the Rotterdam club is due - they made the match possible. When it started it seemed night was falling. To beat both darkness and damp, Gloucestershire bowled their ten overs (the game had been reduced to that) in 28 minutes. After two destructive overs from Jon Lewis an unlikely trio of Dent, Young and Taylor scampered through the final overs.
At Bristol, the weather was so different. Bright Bank Holiday sunshine and equally bright orange shirts lit up the County Ground.
The jacket worn by the gravel grandee (Roger Cullimore) lit up the committee room. Its colour defies description. All I can say is he looked like a Dutch supporter.
Steady cricket saw us win. Rotterdam wrecker Lewis was given the day off, but Kirby, Payne and Gidman were accurate and effective. Dawson and Young provided some moderate spin that a stronger team would surely have punished. The dismissal of Porterfield first ball caused alarm all round, especially in the press box. The assembled journalists who also cover Bristol soccer are, as you would expect, so used to failure they anticipated nothing less. Gidman and Franklin had other ideas and calmly saw victory obtained. Now for Northampton.
The past week saw the signing of a young South African, James Fuller, who comes to us from New Zealand, armed with a British passport. He bowls fast and hits the ball hard.
I have mixed feelings about such a signing, being happier if he came from Frocester or Fairford. I suppose what is good enough for England (Greig, Lamb, Robin Smith and too many of the present crew) is good enough for Gloucestershire.
Talks are taking place with out-of-contract players, notably Hussain, Porterfield, Banerjee and Ireland. I warned last week of raiding parties and must add Sussex to that list. They have lost Robin Martin Jenkins and James Kirtley but have gained a legacy of £11 million! Other counties watch out.
The mention of money leads me on to the other matter of which we are all too well aware - the spot-betting controversy surrounding Pakistan.
Of course, players are to blame, but astonishing complacency and leniency by the game’s administrators have allowed problems to spiral.
Both the current England and Pakistani teams have, among their coaches, players who have been questioned in match-fixing investigations.
Two Essex players were, in April, accused of doing exactly the same as the current Pakistani players. We have waited for the case to be resolved - it has not been.
Action must be quick, effective and public. Despite an expensive anti-corruption squad it was a newspaper that uncovered the current scandal.
We have all been let down by the authorities. By all, I mean the readers of this newspaper, the people who play and make it possible for others to play the greatest of games. That’s players, groundsmen, coaches, committee men, and tea-makers who give their time unstintingly to grass roots cricket without which senior cricket would not exist.
They do so because of their love for the game. They are to be found not just in “Forest & Vale & High Blue Hill” but throughout this country.
There is another group who pay increasing prices to watch the game. All have been betrayed. We deserve better. It is up to the game’s rulers to start providing the leadership we deserve.
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