50 Shades of Grey Sky...

Once again the weather has continued to thwart all reasonable attempts to play any cricket in Nottinghamshire. Last weekend, all but one of the Premier League matches was cancelled without a ball being bowled, and the only game that saw some action, Cuckney versus Worksop, failed to reach a full conclusion.

A lot has been said on this weather, but I really can’t remember a season or summer quite like this one. I think one of the elements that has been so destructive to our cricket season is when it has rained, just as much as the quantity of rain. So many times this year we have seen the heaviest rain fall on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, rather than during the earlier part of the week. This has left the grounds with no time in which to soak in the excessive precipitation.

With little to discuss on events at Kimberley, the cricketing week has been defined for me by two events. Firstly, we have seen the retirement of Mark Ramprakash, a great servant of English cricket, who despite his perceived weaknesses at the top level, finished with a record in First Class cricket few could match. Ramprakash’s passing from the First Class game, has been deemed to be a watershed moment for many, as one of the last few remaining relics of the trying period of English cricket through the 1990s. For me though, Ramprakash will be fondly remembered as a battler. In an era now of high strike rates, powerful hitters, and innovative shots, there is less and less need or desire for his type of player, who valued their wicket, stuck to their best shots, and were happy for the team to score at 2 runs per over. Coaches and Captains when faced with a difficult wicket nowadays, are much happier to see their players go down blazing, with the mantra of ‘get what you can while you can’, rather than the Ramprakash method of ‘bat and hope it gets easier’. There is no doubt that many cricketing observers, and probably Ramprakash himself, will feel that there is a gaping hole in the centre of his career where a barrel full of international runs should lie, but to score one hundred first class hundreds, he can go away knowing that he entertained and fulfilled many people, at least on a domestic level.

Guardian (C) - Mark Ramprakash has always been a battler

The second event that has caught my eye this week was the Finals Day of our own Nottinghamshire Twenty20 competition. It was great to see a former Kimberley man, Nick Langford, scoring a crucial 56 in the final to steer Cuckney to victory. Langers is a good friend, and was someone who warmly welcomed me into the club last year, so I am delighted to see him doing so well. Indeed, or duet rendition of ‘When the Going Get’s Tough’ at last year’s karaoke is still talked about in many parts of Kimberley.

Nick Langford is having a great season

 I do still think that the League Twenty20 is a missed opportunity. We currently play one qualifying day on a Sunday in June, where you play in a group of four with two semi-finals and a final. When I played at Lancaster, the Twenty20 format was developed quickly into a coloured kits, Friday evening bonanza. Music blared, the crowds poured in, the clubs made a little money, and the players enjoyed the change and excitement. If we replicated it by having three groups of four, who play in a mini league and the winner qualifies for the finals day (still keeping the space for the South Notts/Bassetlaw winner), the competition could be enlivened and differentiated. A sponsor for the coloured kits is out there, we just need to find them!