THE bearded figures of Mushtaq Ahmed and Inzamam-ul-Haq dominated much of a 2006 season that may not have ignited like the one before it but still offered quality, sometimes exalted, to go with the quantity at professional level that these days may be taken for granted.
Sandwiched between one dramatic Ashes series and another that everyone hopes will match it, England’s drawn series against Sri Lanka and victorious one against Pakistan were played in Australia’s shadow, but evidence abounded at all levels of the game that last year’s fever for cricket is still burning, despite inevitably reduced television figures.
Sky Sports’ coverage of the game has been industrious and comprehensive, but estimated average audiences for the Tests of only 261,000 do not reflect the continued success in filling seats for Tests and one-day internationals alike.
Kevin Pietersen’s reverse-swept six off Muttiah Muralitharan in the Edgbaston Test, Murali’s match-winning performance in conditions more like Colombo than Nottingham, Stephen Harmison’s all too brief demonstration of his best fast bowling against Pakistan at Old Trafford, Mohammad Yousuf’s deceptively somnolent-looking mastery at Lord’s and Headingley Carnegie, the continuing success of Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook and Monty Panesar and Andrew Strauss’s increasingly impressive demonstration of coolness under pressure as captain and batsman were all positive elements.
The negatives were Andrew Flintoff’s brave foolishness at Lord’s in May, when the dead horse he flogged was himself; Inzamam’s ill-advised failure to bring his side back on to the field when the umpires required, thus bringing a confused and unnecessary end to the final Test at the Brit Oval; the succession of injuries, in particular the sickening setbacks to the careers of Michael Vaughan and Simon Jones; and England’s embarrassing series of defeats in one-day internationals against Sri Lanka, when the silky strokeplay of Mahela Jayawardena made mincemeat of bowlers who should have been learning their trade at a lower level.
More mature talents excelled in county cricket, notably Mushtaq, achieving for the second time in four years — and in only 15 games — the 100 wickets taken by just three other bowlers, Courtney Walsh, Anil Kumble and Waqar Younis, in the past 18 seasons. Mark Ramprakash’s batting average of more than 100 for Surrey was no less phenomenal. John Crawley’s 1,737 runs, made generally on tougher pitches for batting, was an advertisement for the adage that class is permanent.
Sussex lasted the course better than Lancashire and won a memorable, low-scoring final of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy thanks to another seasoned performer, James Kirtley.
Lancashire were unlucky with the weather again, but they had no guarantee of winning their seven rain-affected games and so good were Sussex at scoring fast and bowling their opponents out that over the season, they played only 125 overs and one ball more than Lancashire, 4,783.5 to Lancashire’s 4,658.4, an average of 7.4 overs more for each game.
Nottinghamshire, the relegated 2005 champions, will be glad that Hugh Morris’s review of the domestic structure (due next July) will include the pros and cons of two-division cricket. Regardless of Sussex’s success at a small ground with the smallest playing staff — only 18 — the review should also insist that the ECB breaks from its bondage to television by rationalising the fixture list.
County executives will never agree but the management board should insist that by extending the 50-over and Twenty20 competitions, and accepting that the Pro40 is one tournament too many, it would be possible to start championship matches on the same day throughout the season. That would also even out weather advantages.
Most officials are contemplating better financial returns after a season of encouraging support from members and non-members alike. Richard Gould, new to the game as Somerset’s chief executive after four years as commercial director of Bristol City football club, believes that cricket should be counting its blessings.
“It’s a lot more stable financially than football; a more pleasant environment and the players are more humble and down-to-earth,” he said. Not only did three of Somerset’s four home Twenty20 matches sell out, but Pro40 crowds were also “very well attended” and, despite a dreadful season in the field, gate receipts from non-members rose to higher than £300,000 for the first time, while membership income also rose to £465,000.
There is a view among county members, often expressed, that the reluctance to allow England players to participate in the championship shows contempt for the game that fed them. Usually this is to miss the point that England cricket underwrites the professional game and the wide recreational plane below it, but there are times when the ECB fails dismally to support the county game.
Only officials completely ignorant, or totally contemptuous, of the importance of championship cricket to the creation of Test players, and of the vast interest in it that exists among those who do not have the time to go to watch, could have announced the names of the England-contracted players last week on the first day of the final round of the championship, rather than this week when cricket has finished.
Meanwhile, the grass roots thrive, it seems. Nearly 50,000 youngsters have benefited in 2006 from the Chance to Shine initiative and more than 5,000 school matches have taken place, the majority of these being ones played for the first time in many years.
Among sad farewells were permanent ones to two towering figures, Fred Trueman and Clyde Walcott. Two Knights have retired. Roger Knight has been MCC secretary for 12 years, a man in natural harmony with his job, and Nick Knight left for Sky with a first-class average of 50 for Warwickshire, the best record of any England one-day player — 100 matches, five centuries and an average of 40 — and a spotless reputation.
Other notable departures include David Constant, still getting most decisions right after 38 seasons as an umpire; David Fulton, who might have played for England but for his eye injury; Anurag Singh, an ultimately unfulfilled cricketing talent but a successsful lawyer; Aftab Habib and Ashley Cowan, who briefly tasted life at the top; Martin Bicknell, who should have had much more of it; Darren, his reliable brother; and the wonderfully gifted but admirably “ordinary” Darren Lehmann.
FIRST-CLASS STATISTICS 2006
First division
For rpo Against rpo Diff
Sussex 376 3.46 255 3.29 121
Lancs 388 3.49 297 3.02 91
Hants 374 3.49 307 3.23 67
Kent 370 3.25 371 3.39 -1
Yorks 357 3.29 384 3.49 -27
Durham 292 3.42 335 3.67 -43
Notts 298 3.35 342 3.24 -44
Warwicks 285 3.03 366 3.33 -81
Middx 332 3.45 431 3.60 -99
Second division
For rpo Against rpo Diff
Surrey 491 3.86 337 3.54 154
Worcs 396 3.96 321 3.47 75
Essex 447 3.47 409 3.68 38
Leics 398 3.45 407 3.41 -9
Northants 374 3.63 407 3.38 -33
Derbys 355 3.24 396 3.66 -41
Glam 339 3.36 393 3.44 -54
Gloucs 362 3.53 418 3.74 -56
Somerset 315 3.62 385 3.80 -70
All instances of “declaration” bowling have been excluded; rpo = runs per over; diff = differential between runs for and against Table compiled by Neville Scott
Batting Highest score
342 Justin Langer (Somerset v Surrey)
339 Darren Lehmann (Yorkshire v Durham)
319 Chris Rogers (Northants v Gloucs)
Leading run-scorer
2278 Mark Ramprakash (Surrey)
Fastest hundred (Walter Lawrence Trophy)
45 balls Mark Ealham (Notts v MCC)
Most sixes
25 David Sales (Northants)
22 Rikki Clarke (Surrey)
Most ducks 6 Jason Brown (Northants) Bowling Best in an innings
9-48 Mushtaq Ahmed (Sussex v Notts)
9-138 Zaheer Khan (Worcs v Essex)
Best in a match
13-108 Mushtaq Ahmed (Sussex v Notts)
13-132 Mushtaq Ahmed (Sussex v Kent) Leading wicket-takers
102 Mushtaq Ahmed (Sussex)
78 Zaheer Khan (Worcs)
Fielding Leading dismissals (wicketkeepers)
68 James Foster (Essex)
68 Steven Davies (Worcs)
58 Nic Pothas (Hants)
Leading catches (fielders)
36 Graeme Hick (Worcs)
36 Martin van Jaarsveld (Kent)
Teams Highest total
717 Surrey v Somerset
Lowest totals
49 Middlesex v Notts
