I'm a big fan of Steve James, formerly of Glamorgan and now of The Sunday Telegraph. His autobiography Third Man to Fatty's Leg was one of the best I've read and unlike many was actually written by the subject. His weekly County Report in the paper is about the best overview of the county game which, as readers might suspect, doesn't always get the coverage I would like.But he's now caused offence.
Talking about Ian Bell's strange omission from Warwickshire's Friends Provident Trophy semi-final he says 'it is rumoured that chief executive Colin Povey might have had a large say in that. Too often this season cricket decisions have been made by non-cricketing people'.
He's right, of course, but Colin Povey a 'non-cricketer'!
He used to play (and I think still does) for Whitchurch in Oxfordshire, a lovely friendly club at one of the prettiest grounds I've ever played at. And let me tell you he can bat! Especially at a ground the size of Whitchurch's!!
Interesting! You may remember my rant about ex-cricketers getting cricket administration jobs based on the fact that they had played the game, rather than any aptitude for the role. If they have the business skills and have played the game, that's ideal, but an ex-cricketer with no skill to fulfil his role is far worse than a skilled manager who has never played the game professionally.
ReplyDeleteIn this case the problem is the Chief Executive getting involved in a selection decision - it's not his role, irrespective of whether he used to play the game at a club like Whitchurch, as a County professional, or as a Test player. So in my opinion, Steve James is getting two different issues confused....
[Off-topic, sorry] Why is the line below the comment box in German?
ReplyDelete[Back on topic] Based on today's non-performance in South Africa, there are at least eleven out there representing England who aren't proper cricketers: but then Twenty-20 isn't proper cricket, is it?!