Cricket: Time to ease the pain of a year to forget

VERDICT ON THE SEASON The widespread feeling is that the game in this country, at first-class and Test level, is struggling

WITH THE exception of Surrey and Gloucestershire, and their patient supporters, the last nine months have been a stinker for English cricket. Anyone who claims to the contrary - and there are still plenty who bury their heads and sing the same old songs of denial - has simply not been paying attention to events on the field.

First to go were the Ashes. After the recent ignominy of losing on home soil to New Zealand, a defeat that thrust England to the foot of Wisden's world Test rankings, taking Australia to the last Test in Sydney now seems strangely noble. Becoming nostalgic about such things so soon is proof that standards continue to slip.

Glossing over the ill-fated warm-up for England's World Cup team in Sharjah, the next carbuncle in English cricket's annus horribilis was the early exit from the World Cup itself. Played in the kind of cold and grey conditions said to suit the home players, England were bombed out before the second stage, their batting never coming to terms with the better sides in their group.

The hosts absence aside, the World Cup provided some amazing sights, not least the frenzied support for Pakistan and India. Even when the two met at Old Trafford, days after their countries had reopened hostilities in Kashmir, their vociferous fans were largely well behaved.

Some of the cricket was brilliant, too, the two games between Australia and South Africa so close that a fag paper could barely be squeezed between them. Their tied semi-final at Edgbaston, a result that saw Australia through to the final on a superior run-rate, was arguably the one-day game of the century, a claim that Steve Waugh would not contest.

Apart from scoring vital runs in both games, Waugh also came out with the sledge of the year after Herschelle Gibbs dropped a dolly off him at square leg during the vital Super Six game at Headingley. "Congratulations, mate," chirruped Waugh. "What does it feel like to have dropped the World Cup?"

In the Test series against New Zealand, England snatched an unlikely victory in the first match at Edgbaston, largely through the brilliant bowling of Andrew Caddick and inspired strokeplay by their nightwatchman Alex Tudor. Sadly, Tudor never appeared again and he joined Darren Gough on the long-term injury list.

England then did the customary thing and lost at Lord's, also losing their captain, Nasser Hussain, with a broken finger. Without him, they somehow managed to hold on at Old Trafford, though the selectors, Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting, were not so fortunate. When defeat finally came at The Oval, English cricket appeared to have hit an all time low.

When you are marketing a product, even one as subtle and as peerless as cricket (which it can be when played well), perception is everything. Like it or not, the widespread feeling is that cricket in this country, at least at first-class and Test level, is struggling. If it isn't, then why do the winners of the CGU National League feel the need to call themselves the Lancashire Lightnings rather than plain old Lancashire? Cosmetic change, for the sake of it, is for pop stars and chameleons, not cricket clubs.

If gimmicks have to be used, why can't some imagination be brought to bear? Surely the Essex Iceni, after Boadicea's warrior tribe, would be a better and more apt moniker than the current "Eagles", which, like the team they represent, have not soared since Colchester was settled by the Romans. If the marketing men are prepared to dumb down and plumb the depths, is it any surprise when the cricket follows suit?

One of the favourite soundbites of Lord MacLaurin, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, is that the England team are cricket's shop window. He is right, and, despite what sundry county committees think, the Test side are the glamour item that sells the game to the public and sponsors. The only trouble is that the county game, the nuts and bolts, has to be competitive enough to ensure that the best end up in the shop window prepared for the international spotlight.

To be fair, some of the shortcomings have at last been recognised and the County Championship, unchanged in structure since 1890, begins the new millennium split into two divisions. My own feeling is that it does not go far enough and, without big financial incentives to remain in the top division (or penalties for being out of it), few players will care which one they find themselves in.

As it stands, next season batsmen in the second division will get to test their reflexes against Glenn McGrath and Shoaib Akhtar, while those in the first can hone their skills against the spin of Shane Warne, Saqlain Mushtaq and Muttiah Muralitharan, the last two instrumental in helping Surrey and Lancashire finish first and second. England's Test team would surely benefit more if the best players were concentrated in opposition, rather than spread out over two divisions, something regional cricket would better achieve.

When you are struggling, team spirit and fielding are the two things that should be strong. England and their captain can start by getting both things right in South Africa this winter. For the rest of the support staff, including the counties, the challenge starts with improving the pitches. Without them, improvement cannot be quantified, and whatever potential exists amongst cricketers will remain largely unfulfilled.