LEFT ARM OVER
NEIL MANTHOP: While UK’s gamble pays off, SA shambles in the shadows
For a nation that has a 150-year history of moaning about almost every aspect of the county game, they all seemed in remarkably good spirits
A whistle-stop tour of England last week took in eight of the 18 first-class counties and provided a deep and personal look into the well-being of the sport in the country that gave birth to the sport of cricket. I spoke to players, coaches and directors of cricket at the richest and some of the more modest grounds. For a nation that has a 150-year history of moaning about almost every aspect of the county game, and a century of predicting the imminent extinction of the international game, they all seemed in remarkably good spirits. It wasn’t just the unusual, uplifting month-long heatwave and England being 2-0 up against India, it was an unmistakeable general feeling of prosperity, of well-being and contentment. Almost every aspect of the English domestic fixture list has been criticised as it has evolved in recent years and yet, there it was: an endless wave of domestic T20 matches in the six-week height of summer without a Test match in sight. It was despised when it was announce...
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