Former county cricketer Robin Lett says the Unicorns should be given credit for their achievements and receive the right backing in order to develop as a side.
On the face of it, it would be easy to come to the conclusion that the Unicorns have found life very difficult in the 40-over game, but I think that does a huge disservice to the team and its players.
Here are the stats: The Unicorns have played 24 matches, winning four, losing 18 and having two abandoned. Of those 18 defeats, only five have been heavy losses. This means that from 22 matches completed, the Unicorns have competed well in 17 of them. They have accumulated 11 points over the two campaigns, and when you compare that with Worcestershire’s 13 and 16 for Glamorgan, the gap isn’t all that big.
The Unicorns is a fantastic idea and has given many players (myself included) a wonderful opportunity to experience the big crowd, TV cameras and everything that comes with it. How well they have competed hasn’t been reflected in their results. When it comes down to it, you can’t recreate that big match environment that the pros experience so often. At the business end of the really tough matches a yorker here, a well-executed reverse sweep there, and knowing the right time to play the big shot can make all the difference between winning and losing.
People often question whether the Unicorns are worth their place in the Clydesdale Bank 40 and why they don’t perform as well as the county sides. I can say from first-hand how difficult it is to try and take on a world-class bowler when you have worked a 50-hour week and your only practice is a club match the day before. That is what most of the players have to deal with.
Professional cricket is a job and it requires a lot of hard work, both in the gym and in the nets. If you took a brush away from an artist for a year and then asked him to paint a masterpiece on a Sunday afternoon, would he not find it difficult? The fact that the team has won four games and performed admirably in many others is a testament to the quality of the set-up and facilities they have to offer. But I think there are areas that need to be improved if they are to progress to bigger and better things.
If the ECB want this project to continue to develop, they will have to inject more money into it and the players must be able to get together to train more regularly. During the winter of 2010/11 we trained as a squad over three separate weekends before the season started. If the ECB could cover loss of earnings for one day during the week building up to a game in order for the team to be able to train together, it would make all the difference. Another alternative would be to employ a coach to make himself available to the Unicorns players to train with during the week. His job could be travelling to see players in their various areas and working with them for a couple of hours on skills.
I strongly believe the Unicorns are worth their place in our domestic limited-overs competition for so many reasons. It gave me a chance to close the book on what had been my dream for so many years. I felt outraged when I left Somerset in August 2010 and even more so when I watched developments at the county ground this year. It allowed me to be able to leave the professional game on my own terms and move on to something else. The players are the ones who will defend the Unicorns and its values because they have so much to be thankful for. It is a project that I believe will develop, continue to be successful and hopefully be around for several years to come.
Click here to read Robin Lett’s account of life behind the scenes with the Unicorns, in part one of Walking With Unicorns.
Walking With Unicorns: Looking To The Future
Former county cricketer Robin Lett says the Unicorns should be given credit for their achievements and receive the right backing in order to develop as a side.
On the face of it, it would be easy to come to the conclusion that the Unicorns have found life very difficult in the 40-over game, but I think that does a huge disservice to the team and its players.
Here are the stats: The Unicorns have played 24 matches, winning four, losing 18 and having two abandoned. Of those 18 defeats, only five have been heavy losses. This means that from 22 matches completed, the Unicorns have competed well in 17 of them. They have accumulated 11 points over the two campaigns, and when you compare that with Worcestershire’s 13 and 16 for Glamorgan, the gap isn’t all that big.
The Unicorns is a fantastic idea and has given many players (myself included) a wonderful opportunity to experience the big crowd, TV cameras and everything that comes with it. How well they have competed hasn’t been reflected in their results. When it comes down to it, you can’t recreate that big match environment that the pros experience so often. At the business end of the really tough matches a yorker here, a well-executed reverse sweep there, and knowing the right time to play the big shot can make all the difference between winning and losing.
People often question whether the Unicorns are worth their place in the Clydesdale Bank 40 and why they don’t perform as well as the county sides. I can say from first-hand how difficult it is to try and take on a world-class bowler when you have worked a 50-hour week and your only practice is a club match the day before. That is what most of the players have to deal with.
Professional cricket is a job and it requires a lot of hard work, both in the gym and in the nets. If you took a brush away from an artist for a year and then asked him to paint a masterpiece on a Sunday afternoon, would he not find it difficult? The fact that the team has won four games and performed admirably in many others is a testament to the quality of the set-up and facilities they have to offer. But I think there are areas that need to be improved if they are to progress to bigger and better things.
If the ECB want this project to continue to develop, they will have to inject more money into it and the players must be able to get together to train more regularly. During the winter of 2010/11 we trained as a squad over three separate weekends before the season started. If the ECB could cover loss of earnings for one day during the week building up to a game in order for the team to be able to train together, it would make all the difference. Another alternative would be to employ a coach to make himself available to the Unicorns players to train with during the week. His job could be travelling to see players in their various areas and working with them for a couple of hours on skills.
I strongly believe the Unicorns are worth their place in our domestic limited-overs competition for so many reasons. It gave me a chance to close the book on what had been my dream for so many years. I felt outraged when I left Somerset in August 2010 and even more so when I watched developments at the county ground this year. It allowed me to be able to leave the professional game on my own terms and move on to something else. The players are the ones who will defend the Unicorns and its values because they have so much to be thankful for. It is a project that I believe will develop, continue to be successful and hopefully be around for several years to come.
Click here to read Robin Lett’s account of life behind the scenes with the Unicorns, in part one of Walking With Unicorns.