We’re worried about participation down here in Wiltshire. The clubs are all running their under 13s and under 15s, but too many of the youngsters are drifting away from cricket in their late teens and early twenties. It’s too long a game for people with busy lives, they say. In Bristol they are even floating the idea of turning their Saturday league into a Twenty20 competition.

Last summer was as bad as I have known it. We had football’s European Championships, then the Olympics, and of course the weather. The bloody jet stream that never moved. The only real summer we had was in March.

I was the third team captain at my club, Winsley, and raising an XI was 18 weeks of hell. Winsley is only a little village outside Bradford-on-Avon, but our first team had gone up into a division which included big town clubs such as Cheltenham and Swindon and they didn’t win a game till mid-August. I’ve never seen Charlie the captain so despondent.

Ben, the seconds’ skipper, never seemed to have settled his side till the end of the week. He was always “waiting to hear back from Harvey Burgess” (who didn’t actually make a single appearance) or “trying to get through to Ian Alsop” (ditto).

One Friday morning in June, when I’d just about got 11, Ben sent me a text: “How many have u got? Im down to 5 and charlie wants 2 of them.” He and I spent the whole evening finding players till finally we had full teams. On Saturday it rained.

One lad sent me the same text eight weeks running: “Sorry Stephen no can do. Definitely available next week.” I’m told he’s “keen as mustard” this year.

The great thing about texts is that you don’t have the embarrassment of ringing up and getting repeatedly rejected. You just fire off the texts – “Winsley 3rd XI are looking for one player for Saturday. Could it be you?” (well, you don’t want them knowing you’re five short) – and, if they don’t reply (as several never did all summer), what the  hell! I have a friend, Pete, a good cricketer in his time, and I got him to play once in 2009. He took six wickets and greatly enjoyed himself, and every week last summer I texted him. Every week he replied, too: “Sorry not this week but do keep asking.” Then in late August he rang me: “You’re not going to believe this, but I can play.” On Saturday morning the heavens opened.

But maybe texts aren’t as persuasive as phone calls. “Oh come on, we’re playing at Marlborough. That’s a nice ground. I tell you what, you can open the batting.” I joined Winsley when they started the 3rd XI in 2009. I was 60 years old, winding down my cricket, and they were looking to recruit some experienced players. “In fact, we’re looking for a captain. Perhaps you’d like to do that. No one at the club wants to.”

“Don’t touch it,” my friend Adrian told me bluntly. “They haven’t got a 3rd XI. You’ll spend all summer on the phone, and you’ll finish up forfeiting half the games.”

I took no notice. It was a fresh challenge. A last chance to fulfil my Mike Brearley fantasy. Only at this level of cricket it’s not the subtle bowling change that wins the game; it’s the last desperate, never-give-up phone calls on Saturday morning.

We were put in the bottom division of the Wiltshire League and, for all Adrian’s warnings, we had a wonderful summer. A lovely mix of young and old, a great team spirit and a thrilling end-of-season run chase on the slope at Norton St Philip, 229 in 45 overs, to win promotion. At the awards evening they gave me the President’s Cup.

One 18-year-old lad, Jim, new to cricket, hit 130 at Devizes. I was umpiring, fighting down my emotion, when he struck his 100th run. He was one of a group of five friends who became the life force of the team for three years, and their easy-going enthusiasm gave me a new lease of life. It even kept me in touch with the latest lingo. One week I texted one of them, Vince, with the travel arrangements, and back came the reply: “Cool beans.”

The 3rd XI was their team, and they wanted to stay on it together. By 2011 the club was getting frustrated by that – and starting to blame me. I was running “a club within a club” – and maybe I was. The trouble with clubs, though, is that they can get so caught up with aspirations and mission statements, so preoccupied by their league status, that they forget that most weekend cricketers just want an enjoyable afternoon, playing with people they like in a happy, settled side.

One week I persuaded Vince to go up to the seconds. Our 3rd XI were at Buscot Park, a tree-lined ground with a thatched pavilion on a National Trust estate, and we had a lovely game. On the way home we were purring with pleasure in the car. But I had to drop off the subs at the club where the seconds had been playing. “I’m dreading going up there and finding they’ve lost, that Vince has scored a fifty, and that he’s told them he doesn’t want to play for them.” I should have bought a lottery ticket – all three predictions were right. They were sitting on the patio, looking miserable as hell. No one likes losing, but I wonder. Do more and more league cricketers only enjoy their afternoons when they win?

Last year the lads did go up to the seconds, but somehow nobody came down in exchange. So I struggled through the summer, fearing that we’d finish up where we started – relegated back to the bottom division. And bottom divisions can get a bit ragged, with an uneven number of sides and the standard so very variable.

My counterpart at Marlborough, Rob, was also in the relegation mix, and I could  sense he was getting wound up. He’s a good man who cares, but like me his Brearley fantasy was not working out as planned. They played a rearranged game against the bottom club, Trowbridge 4th XI, on a Sunday, and Trowbridge turned up with two first-teamers. One Sunday morning in August I was walking in the woods with Sue, and my mobile buzzed. It was a text message from Rob, sitting on a beach in Spain, wanting to know yesterday’s results. That’s when I knew how much it had got to him. Marlborough weren’t the sort of club who would be happy to have their 3rd XI in Division 8.

In mid-August we travelled to Highworth in the north of the county. None of the sides in West Wiltshire like going up Swindon way; it’s another world, beyond our community of gentler village and small town sides. We were desperate for a victory, but in the fifth over our best bowler tore a tendon in his bowling arm and went home. Then, off the last ball of their innings, we somehow allowed their 24-stone No.11 to waddle an improbable single. “You never know,” he said as he walked off. “That just might prove vital.” It did. We lost by one run.

I’d had enough. I told the club I was packing up – not just the captaincy but, at the age of 64, the playing as well. And in the end they were good to me. For the last game Ben, bless him, didn’t pinch all my players. There were five clubs in the mix for relegation and, as it transpired later, only one of us would stay up. We went to Melksham, to the old Cooper Avon Tyres ground in the centre of town, and in 12 overs I took six wickets for four runs, my best figures for years. We won by nine wickets, and we stayed up. It seemed like the perfect ending.

Meanwhile poor Rob’s Marlborough thirds were losing to Wanborough 2nd XI, another side from Swindon way. We umpire ourselves at this level. I did once overhear a captain sending out a 14-year-old with the instruction “Don’t give anything out”, but mostly it works out fine. There’s a sort of unspoken understanding that you only give the obvious lbws, and some teams do start calling wides when they’re struggling, but a general culture of fair play does still prevail.

The law about high full tosses can cause disputes, and it did that day at Marlborough. Rob, bowling leg breaks, was repeatedly no-balled by their umpire for balls that were barely waist high. Why he should be bowling waist-high full tosses, I don’t know, but he clearly lost the plot – as well as his temper – and it all ended in a bad defeat and his resignation.

Rob and I had arranged an end-of-season friendly for the following Saturday. We played on the main square at Winsley, and I recruited my original five lads, all now 21 and coming to the end of their university days. There were no league points at stake, we played a declaration format, and the sun shone. Rob bowled a long spell without incident, and Marlborough finished up with nine wickets down, four runs short of our score. In the bar the two teams mingled happily, all agreeing that it had been as nice a game as any of us had played all summer.

I thought of making a little speech, saying that I had played my last ever game, but in the end I didn’t want the fuss. Instead, I sat for a while with the lads, telling them at one point that the best pop song of all time was A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke. Within a minute we were all listening to it on Luke’s iPhone.

‘I was born by the river, just by a little tent

Oh and just like the river I’ve been running ever since’

Deep down I didn’t feel ready to retire, but you have to stop some time – and perhaps it’s best to choose your own moment. I can still remember the words of the ambulance driver who some years ago took me off to hospital after I’d had chest pains while bowling. “Cricket’s a great game, but there does come a time when you have to pack up, you know.”

Just before Christmas I had a change of heart. I sent an email saying I’d carry on playing, and now they’ve appointed me vice-captain. Apparently there are only four weeks when the new captain’s away. I think I can cope with that.

Stephen’s most recent book The Way It Was – Glimpses of English Cricket’s Past won the National Sporting Club’s Cricket Book of the Year in 2009. 

Words: Richard H Thomas

Ashes tours are a complicated business; perhaps only the travelling has got any simpler. Fast-tracked to first class, you decide between chicken and fish, watch The Hangover Part III then it’s headphones on until touchdown. Aeroplanes are expedient in delivering teams from one hemisphere to the other, but as James Coldham suggests, there was something special about several weeks on a boat.

It wasn’t for everyone though. Invited by the MCC to tour Canada and USA in 1872, legendary hitter Charles Thornton saw a painting of a floundering ship in a shop window and promptly declined. Such fear was not without substance; on the Peshawur en route down under in 1882/83, Lancashire blocker Dick Barlow recalled seeing another vessel heading towards them one Sunday evening. “My word she’s coming too near to be pleasant; there’s going to an accident, if they don’t mind” – his words were scarcely spoken before the ship was struck, mercifully above the waterline so 400 passengers were spared an encounter with the circling sharks. England bowler Fred Morley was especially unlucky; he broke some ribs in the collision and seemingly the accident contributed to his death less than a year later. Alec Bedser also found sea travel bad for his health – on the 1954/55 trip he contracted shingles. Before sailing, Frank Tyson recalled a “stooped old man” offering young Colin Cowdrey some advice. “When you reach Australia,” he said “just remember one thing – hate the bastards!”. It was Douglas Jardine – seemingly his opinion of Australians hadn’t changed much in 20 years.

The Aussies have had some adventures themselves. In Trumper: The Illustrated Biography, Ashley Mallett reports that in 1899 the young Aussie champion “nearly drowned in his cabin” after forgetting to close his porthole in rough seas. Later, passing through the Suez Canal, allrounder Monty Noble was so disgusted by locals making rude gestures at the ladies aboard ship that he threw an apple and hit the worst offender in the ear. Gideon Haigh records that en route to England in 1921, Aussie paceman Ted McDonald and skipper Warwick Armstrong worked in the stokehold to “rid themselves of superfluous fat” and became as “hard as nails”. It was successful – Armstrong presided over a 3-0 series win and McDonald took 27 wickets.

Arthur Morris saw long voyages as opportunities for bonding and camaraderie. There were some protocols to get used to, though. In Bradman’s Invincibles: The inside story of the epic 1948 Ashes tour, Roland Perry notes that upon selection, Neil Harvey’s first task was acquiring something called “a dinner suit” in readiness for the formal dining and cocktails every night. It seemed a happy voyage; in contrast to the more introverted Bradman, vice-captain Lindsay Hassett led sing-songs as well as “crocodile marches around the ship”. Upon arrival, Bradman presented food parcels – most welcome in austerity-struck Britain where rationing was still in force. Thereafter his charity ceased – Australia were unbeaten in 31 first-class fixtures and took the Ashes 4-0.

Air travel generates fewer stories, but has had its moments. Kerry O’Keefe recalls the beer drinking challenge on the Sydney-London flight in 1977. Kim Hughes was an early contender, but “two hours out of Darwin all of it was on the aisle floor” and “his campaign was over”. Doug Walters won with 44 cans, but this was later beaten by Rod Marsh with 45, and then by David Boon with a surely unsurpassable 53, Merv Hughes gleefully reporting “the first 50 of the tour”. Whatever the class of 2013 get up to en route, it is unlikely that any will leave the plane like Marsh did – in a wheelchair – or Boon, who Steve Waugh recalls was escorted though customs and into bed for two days ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ style.

So it’s another season of county cricket for you, Shiv. Why Derbyshire this time round?

It’s a bunch of young guys and I’m excited to be working with them as one of the older ones. Derby is pretty decent for me and the family – a little cold but you expect that! My son is here with me also; he’s playing at Stainsby and he’s played a couple of games already. He’s enjoying it there.

I’ve heard he’s a good player…

Ah, he’s okay, he’s okay! He needs to do a little more work to get better but he’s in the perfect place to do that.

Is he a leftie like you?

He is a left-hander, and he has the ability to bowl the ball with both hands.

Really! Does he bat a bit like you then?

Nah, I don’t think so, he got his own style…

Has anybody ever batted like you, Shiv?

I don’t think so!

So what can Derbyshire achieve this year, realistically? It’s their first time back in the big time for a few years…

They’re young fellas and I think they’ve done really well to get back up there. Now they’ve got to keep believing in themselves. They need to have the self-belief that it’s not that much of a difference from what they were playin’ last year. It’ll be a little tougher, but we’ve just got to work a little harder and realise that every time we step on the park it’ll be hard work, but if we prepare well we should do well when the time comes.

Talking of preparation, is it true that you sometimes net for five, six hours in a row?

Not quite six hours! But two or three hours, for sure. I just finished after two hours in the indoor school [at Lord’s], and that’s what you need to do.

How do you do it? Are you working entirely on the bowling machine? Or is it specific drills?


I work on everything! I do some work against the bowlers in the nets and then go indoor and work on the skills, often with another guy [in this case fellow left-hander Billy Godleman] so we can work on things together. I’m happy to have him in there and if he wants to work on something specific I can help him with that.

I want to talk about your style. I’ve never seen anything like it. Where did 
it originate, and how the hell can you describe it?


It’s something I’ve been working on over the years. It’s all about keeping your head as still as possible and working on your balance.

So the stillness of your head’s the secret? Because there’s a lot of movement before the ball is bowled but then, when it’s delivered, you’re in the right position?

Yeah, once you’re as still as possible and you’re in a decent position, then you’re ready to play the ball, you know.

Makes sense! I remember watching your debut on the telly, at Guyana in 1994 against England, and your technique has changed almost beyond recognition over the years…

Yeah, I used to walk across my stumps a lot and fall over, and it was because my balance was not quite right. So I’ve worked on staying more upright over the years.

And this thing that you’ve got a crab-like style, do you take it as a compliment or do you not take any notice?


It doesn’t bother me what people say. The main thing is performance. People can label me what they want. All I gotta do is get out there and get the job done…

Do you ever watch yourself back on TV and study yourself?


Sometimes I’ll watch back. Most of the time I have it in the back of my head where I’ve gone wrong in the day’s play, and every mistake is in my head. It’s something I grew up with, I can memorise the day’s play, and everything’s that’s happened is in the back of my head. By the end of the day I have a pretty good memory of what I’ve done, I have a programme in my head of what’s happened, what’s gone well and what’s not gone well.

It’s incredible to watch you, because sometimes when you play for the
West Indies things are going well and everything’s great, and other times wickets are falling all over the place, and yet you’re impassive at the other end. How do you manage to process it all, while batting for hour after hour? And what does go through your mind when the boys are really struggling?

Sometimes it’s pretty difficult when you’re watching the wickets tumble, but you have to get the job done. There’s a lot of pressure, a lot of pressure. You just have to try and focus on the job at hand. Focus on the board. If I’m still there, then we have a chance to get the total. The only way I can help the team is if I’m still there in the middle. You need to keep your head clear and do whatever’s possible to get the job done.

Do you feel a responsibility to help the younger West Indian batsmen?


I think it’s the same with the young players wherever I go. I’ve already done a lot of work with some of the very exciting young guys at Derby, who you can see really want to do well.

Do they come up to you and ask for your help?

A lot of the guys come up and ask a lot of questions but the only way I can help is if I look and see what’s happening, then I can pick up a thing or two and help as much as I can.

When you were over here in 2007 you batted for 1,000 minutes in the Test series without getting out, and that’s just crazy. But I’ve also seen you smash it to all parts, sweeping Harmison over your shoulder in a one-dayer, playing these incredible shots – and then there’s that 69-ball Test hundred against Australia of course. When you’re playing four- and five-day cricket, do you consciously have to rein yourself in?

A lot of times when I’m batting there’s a lot of balls I can hit, but I just shut myself out early doors, and say ‘I’m not going to play at that’, and I say to myself, ‘Have a look, have a look’. I give myself a chance to get in, and even then you don’t want to be playing too many shots because the ball is always going to do something and you have to be a little watchful out there.

That 69-ball hundred against Australia – it was such a change from everything else you’ve ever done in Test cricket. What happened that day?

Ah, it was just one of those days. From the first ball I timed it to the boundary and I just went with it, you know?

Not really, but go on…

I’d come off the back of two good hundreds in regional games, against the fast bowlers from Jamaica and the Leeward Islands, and then Australia came to Bourda, my home town [in Georgetown, Guyana], and after I timed the first ball, everything I hit seemed to run away on that outfield. I just found the gap and it went.

So it was completely natural?

I didn’t think about it, I was just in the zone, and when the announcer say it was 69 balls I was like, ‘What?’

Okay, you’ve made 10,000 Test runs, you average 50-plus in Test cricket: do you see yourself next to the other greats of your era – Lara, Kallis, Tendulkar, Hayden, Ponting etc? Because your record suggests that you should be…


Ah man, I don’t know. It’s not for me to decide…

Oh, come on!

Nah, I’m just focused on playing my cricket.

You must at least be proud of your record?


Well, a little bit. I’m hoping I can be a little better than some of the things I’ve done in the past. There’s still a lot of stuff I want to achieve.

And what of this West Indies side? What does the future hold?


We’ve got some bright young fellas coming through, like Darren Bravo and Kieran Powell.

Any young quicks?

Shannon Gabriel from Jamaica, and Sheldon Cotterrell, also from Jamaica – who hasn’t played for West Indies yet – is pretty sharp as well, so he’ll be knocking on the door pretty soon.

Finally then, you’ve spent a lot of time
 in England over the years – what do you like about the place?


Ah, there’s a lot of places you can go and sightsee – all the places you be hearing about as a little boy in school, and hearing all these nursery rhymes about London Bridge and all the other stuff you be hearing – and now me and my family have the opportunity to see all these things we see on the BBC News. The Eye of London [sic], we see the Big Ben, all these things we knew from a long time ago, from when we were ruled by the British. I was really happy for my son that he got to see these places because he listened so keenly to the rhymes at school!

And what about the music over here?

We listen to all the music! The beauty about the Caribbean is that we listen to everything so you get accustomed to all of it, and we enjoy it.

Do you dance?

Man, I would love to, but I can’t!

There was some welcome news for county cricket fans in the lead up to the start of the season with the announcement of a new broadcast partnership between the ECB and BBC that means live ball-by-ball commentary is now available for every LV= County Championship, Yorkshire Bank 40 and Friends Life t20 fixture.

In the past the Beeb’s local radio stations have covered the domestic game to varying degrees, but the new deal means followers of county cricket don’t have to miss a single ball this summer, with online streams hosted on the BBC Sport website. As English cricket embarks on a hugely anticipated summer, it’s a partnership that will help give the domestic game a platform to share the limelight with international competition.

To find out more about the impact this deal could have on expanding the profile of county cricket, and to have a stab at some commentary myself, I popped over the road to The Oval to join BBC London stalwart (and longstanding AOC tub-thumper) Mark Church for Surrey’s Championship fixture against Sussex. I arrive just as a freewheeling Matt Prior is hitting top gear on his way to a 36-ball half-century and I’m eased in gently, taking a seat at the back of the comms box to soak up the atmosphere and get my head around how the whole operation works. What’s immediately striking is that while Church speaks in a laidback, conversational style that evokes lazy Sunday afternoons spent sprawled on the sofa listening to Test Match Special, his hands are in perpetual motion – responding to tweets and emails and directing proceedings as there’s a switch in the commentary box, all the while never missing a second of the action he’s describing for his listeners.

Church is an old hand at live commentary – this is the 10th year that Surrey have had a ball-by-ball service and he’s been there throughout – and at times in the past it’s been an entirely one-man-show. “There have been occasions when I’ve been on air for eight hours a day on my own, and that is tough,” says Church. “The fact that every county is doing ball-by-ball means that from now on we’ll always have one commentator from each team – you’ve got someone to bounce ideas of and a view from both camps. It should give a much broader picture.”

Today, it’s Adrian Harms of BBC Radio Sussex sitting beside him and when Harms vacates his spot it’s my cue to don the headphones and begin my debut commentary stint. The sound of my own voice (louder than bombs – Ed) blaring through my headphones takes a bit of getting used to but Church is a seasoned pro and guides me through it without disaster.

Later, I speak to Church about the positive effect the expansion of county cricket coverage will have on the domestic game. “I think it’s wonderful that every cricket fan now knows they can listen to ball-by-ball commentary of every game in every competition,” he says. “It emphasises the importance of domestic cricket in this country and from what we hear, the listening figures have been really good for the first couple of weeks of the season.”

And those tuning in come from far and wide. “A  lot of the audience is from overseas. We have a lot of American listeners and I met a couple of them who’d started their cricket listening with us and come over due to the commentary to watch the cricket. It is amazing how many people listen in. I think that’s very important that you’re enticing new people in to the game.”

It’s reassuring to hear that the appetite for county cricket remains so healthy, particularly when you consider national newspapers have been stripping back their domestic coverage over the last few years due to the competition for column inches with other sports, the increase in volume of international cricket in the English summer and budget restrictions. The Times, for example, has covered every Championship game for the last 15 years but has decided to only send reporters to three matches per round of four-day fixtures this summer. It’s one example of the troubling, although perhaps inevitable, decline in the coverage of county cricket in the beleaguered, cash-strapped printed press, but Church says BBC Local Radio is playing a vital role in helping to fill that void. “National newspapers find it increasingly difficult [to cover county cricket] because a) there isn’t much space and b) they are concentrating on England. I think it’s a very important time for county cricket and the BBC are at the forefront of this. On the BBC Sport website you’ve got guaranteed ball-by-ball commentary, you’ve got match reports, you’ve got quotes. Then on the ECB website you’ve got match highlights, so the whole thing comes together.”

While Surrey have been offering extensive ball-by-ball coverage for some time, until now Sussex fans have only had limited access to live commentary. Harms, who is beginning his second year of cricket commentary with the BBC, says the increased exposure has been warmly received: “We did a bit of ball-by-ball but we certainly didn’t do every game – we wouldn’t have been doing YB40 or Twenty20 matches. We’ve been trying to do Championship cricket over the years but never with the commitment that we’ve got now. It is groundbreaking to have ball-by-ball on every Sussex game. I think it’s a great year to be launching it too. Without any particularly high-profile sporting competitions this year – there’s no World Cup, no European Championships, which always tend to distract – this summer is all about cricket. County cricket should have a much higher profile this year, which is tremendous.”

Pitch up midweek at a Championship fixture and you’re unlikely to see more than a smattering of spectators, but that doesn’t begin to reflect the interest levels in the domestic game up and down the country. People have to work, and inclement conditions often mean eight hours sat outside in single-figure temperatures isn’t an attractive proposition. But take a look on Twitter or at the ever-increasing number of blogs on the domestic game and it’s clear just how big the demand for comprehensive county commentary is. This new broadcasting partnership comes not before time and helps to provide those supporters with the coverage the game and its fans deserve.

After an eventful few years at Lancashire so far, do you feel you still have unfinished business as a coach at international level? And have you had any offers?

Yeah, I’ve been talked to by a lot of people during my time here. I made a commitment to Lancs, I’ve really enjoyed my time here, it’s been great, and certainly family-wise it’s fitted. My daughter’s going to university next year, my son’s going into sixth form, so it’s helped us get some stability as a family which has been great. What happens in the future… I loved coaching internationally; it was great fun, I love working with good players. I like working with any players if I’m honest, I’m a cricket junkie in that respect – I love it. So I’m open. If the situation’s right and things fit and the opportunity comes, yeah, I’m very open to whatever comes, but anybody would be – who wouldn’t like coaching when you walk out and it’s a full stadium and it’s exciting? You know, that’s great fun.

Have you turned some things down?

Yeah, I’ve had a lot of interest. You listen to what they’ve got to say. Realistically it’s not been the right time or place for me because family-wise it hasn’t quite fitted. You just hope that when the time fits somebody still asks you to do something!

Andy Flower gets a huge amount of credit for the job he’s done. You were the first to bring him into the England set-up. Do you still talk to him?

Andy was on the Level 4 [coaching programme] when I was academy director, then he came to do some batting coaching there, then I went into the main job and Andy came as my assistant. Andy’s a really good man, and was always going to be a good coach. I speak to Andy, I enjoy talking cricket to Andy. If anything, at times, Andy can ask me an opinion because I’m outside of the set-up. Andy’s got his own view on stuff and he’s in the set-up, but he also – as we all do – wants different views, views not always as close to the situation, because if Andy asks me my view I’ll always give him what I think, and that hopefully at times is useful to have. But Andy’s views are often good ones, I think.

After you finished as England coach there was a lot said about you by players and ex-players in the press and in autobiographies. You’ve been praised for the dignified way you handled the whole thing, for keeping your counsel and getting on with things. Has it been difficult to bite your tongue at times?

A little bit. The thing for me was, I knew what my role had been in that transition, so when I went to become national academy director it was a national academy. Then, before I became England coach, we spent two years transforming that into a national performance centre, so it didn’t just deal with 18-23-year-olds, it dealt with 15-year-olds up to the England team. I had a big influence in doing that, and the systems involved. As England coach we started to evolve those systems, bringing in different coaches, fielding coaches, the support team [Moores hired the current coaching hierarchy of Flower, fielding coach Richard Halsall and spin coach Mushtaq Ahmed during his time], different support systems for players, not shoving information down them but making sure they’ve got the right support to become the best they can be at that level.

So I was obviously frustrated when I left, because it was an unfinished job, but I was also very satisfied that what I’d given was everything I could to it, and we’d made some really good decisions: we’d brought in some players who were starting to move on: Broad, Swann, Prior… they’ve gone on and they’ve made careers, so I didn’t in some ways think I wanted to start shouting about this, that and the other. The best CV for any coach is his players: good and bad – sometimes you get things right and sometimes you don’t get it right. There were things from that England time I’d do differently, of course there are, and there are things I wouldn’t change at all. Once it was done it was done, it was time to move on from it, and I was lucky I got the job here at Lancashire, because, one: it’s a big county, two: it’s the county closest to where I was born, so I had a real affiliation with it, and in many ways I just got stuck into that, moving on. And we have cracked on, and some of the most enjoyable coaching I’ve had has been over the last few years here, it’s been great fun.

Looking from the outside, it’s been an interesting time at Lancashire. Obviously you had the disappointment of relegation last year, but you’ve now won the Championship with two different counties as coach…

Yes, in some ways it’s not dissimilar to Sussex in that we wanted to bring players through. Two thirds, three quarters of our playing staff are Lancashire lads, so credit to our academy system for pulling them through – a lot of them get an opportunity. And with that we’ve won a Championship, which was brilliant, we’ve come very close in one-dayers: finals day, semis and quarters, without quite getting over the line. Then we had the disappointment of getting relegated last year. And at the same time the club has been going through this ground development, so you take it all together and it’s an exciting time. I think we’ve got some good players who are getting better. We’re trying to build something here that will last, so we take both the win and the relegation for what they are, learn from both and this year we’re really excited about trying to get back in the first division, trying to win a one-day trophy, and we’ll see where we are at the end of the year.

How has the role of the coach changed in your 15 years doing it? Now that there is so much money on offer for young kids away from county cricket do you have to deal with them differently? Sir Alex Ferguson says he doesn’t give the hairdryer treatment anymore…

I don’t think it’s the money that changes things. I think people have changed, and for the better. Young people now expect to be treated as equals – as I think they should be. I think the whole idea of those sorts of systems where you believed everything your doctor said no matter what, unquestioning of authority etc, they’ve gone. Everybody’s on a level, as they should be. You need to be asked your opinion and you need to have control, I think that’s a much better way of dealing with people and it serves people well: if you build respect for one another, there are different views and there’s a forum for that, if they then start earning a lot of money I think you’re on a sound footing to carry on with a good relationship. If you’re trying to stamp your authority all the way through then as soon as they get some power and some money they’re going to try and stamp theirs. So I think generally that’s the way the world’s moved, which I think is a good thing if I’m honest, it’s a much healthier place to be when everybody has their say, rather than top-down, do what you’re told. It would be hypocritical, if we want to help produce independent thinking people, if we told them what to do all the time.

How did your aptitude for yorkers, specifically at the end of a limited- overs innings, come about?
When I used to play in the park, the boundaries were quite long straight down the ground but pretty short square. If you bowled length you’d just be hit to either side, but if you bowled yorkers you could only go straight and you had more of a chance of taking a wicket. It was something I always tried to do as a junior and I’ve since built it into my professional game.

Would you say the emergence of specialist ‘death bowlers’ is a relatively new phenomenon?
If you think about death bowling with yorkers, it’s almost tradition. Fast bowlers have always run in trying to bowl the hardest ball there is to hit. But I think it escalated in the Twenty20 game, specifically the first World Twenty20 in South Africa, where Umar Gul made a name for himself running in and bowling quick, deadly yorkers. Having watched Gul in particular as a teen, I remember thinking, ‘I want to do that’. When I came through at Yorkshire, I practised it at length.

How would you teach someone to bowl a yorker?
It’s like every other ball – you can’t just turn up and bowl a yorker. For me, I’ve got quite a slingy action, so I try and push the ball out, towards the batsman, to try and get a bit of curve back into the pads. I try and aim for off stump, but if it reverses or comes back, it’ll come back to middle or leg. If it holds its line, it’ll hit off stump. That’s the key – I try to hit the wickets at all times.

What do you do to practise?
Last year we started putting a baseball mitt down where the batsman’s feet would be and tried to hit it. Obviously the mitt isn’t that large, so the margin for error is minimal – as it is when you’re trying to bowl a yorker in a game. We had an 18-ball challenge and I managed to hit the mitt eight times, which I was chuffed with. This year we’ve got something slightly different called ‘Yorker Golf.’

Do you change your grip?
I don’t tend to change my grip for the yorker, but my action does get a bit slinglier and my wrist is tensed. I try and get it fully behind the ball. When you think about reverse swing, you need to get your wrist fully behind the ball. I tend to find the more you push it out, with your wrist behind the ball, the more it cuts back in. The danger with that is the more you try and push it out, the harder it is to maintain that wrist position as you release it.

Do you ever change your angle on the crease?
Sometimes I do but it’s very rare. I tend to think the batters are the ones that have to change their approach if I keep bowling my yorkers. I think it was against Sussex in the Twenty20 semi-final last year; I landed six yorkers out of six in my second over and I think that’s my best example of not changing anything if it’s working for me.

Are your yorkers quicker than your normal deliveries?
I don’t think so, but they seem quicker because they’re fuller. I would like to say I bowl mid-80s, but my average speed is probably around 83 or 84mph. I’m hoping to build that up as I bowl more and improve through strength training.

Do you have to have another variation if you can land the yorker five or six times in an over?
I was labelled quite predictable last year and in one article they said I was ‘boring’. But I’ve got something up my sleeve; last year people were talking about the yorker and hopefully this year people will be talking about this new ball I have. I’m trying not to give it away…

DRILL IT

YORKER GOLF

Get two cones about shin high and place them in front of the stumps, on the batting crease, and then rest a pole across the cones. The aim is to try and bowl a perfect yorker that goes under the pole and hits the stumps.

If you get the ball under the pole and hitting the stumps, it’s an eagle (-2). If you get it under and you miss the stumps it’s a birdie (-1). Hitting the pole is par but over it is +1. If your delivery goes over the pole and above knee-height, or wide, it’s +2. Have a ‘round’ of 18 attempts each with a teammate, and the lowest score wins.

SKINS A400 Compression Half Tights £55

THE LOWDOWN: SKINS’ dynamic gradient compression delivers more oxygen to the muscles, while a tight fit reduces vibrations to help ease those aches and pains the day after a match.

WHAT WE LIKE: Breathable ventilation mesh in key, practical areas is a nice touch. There’s a real feel of quality, with a noticeably smooth, comfortable material. And these keep your muscles feeling warm even in cold weather: a godsend for anyone prone to the odd hamstring tweak.

WHAT WE’D CHANGE: Less flexible elastic round the waist than the ‘010’s means they require a more exact fit, and they’re pricey: £55 just for your bottom half is a bit of stretch to your funds as well as your quads. But they’re likely to last you for a while and keep you in decent fettle while they’re at it.

010 Gear Active Shorts £25

THE LOWDOWN: Launched last year by former Kiwi seamer Iain O’Brien, 010 is the newest option in sports compression wear, with an emphasis on “comfort for you and your manatomy”. After years of wearing apparently inadequate underwear, O’Brien has taken the matter (and who knows what else) into his own hands. The result is a carefully fashioned short offering real support, and reduced muscle fatigue in those hard-working upper legs.

WHAT WE LIKE: Effective on the compression front, and specially designed for extra room in the, err, business area. The highlight for us is the new towelling waistband which adds real comfort and sweat absorption. And then there’s the friendly pricing…

WHAT WE’D CHANGE: There’s less of an emphasis on temperature control with these compared to the SKINS equivalents. And if you’re easily offended, you might object to the name: ‘010’ is O’Brien’s little ‘man’ joke…

The motive behind writing my book on my battle with cancer was simply to tell my story, and to motivate and give hope to the many cancer patients and survivors, both in India and around the world.

There is lot of myth and stigma around cancer, especially in India. Not many people are ready to talk about it; it is actually treated and taken as a death sentence. When I was going through my treatment, Lance Armstrong’s book helped me and motivated me to fight the battle. That’s when I decided to pen my own journey.

To someone who doesn’t know my story, I would describe it as straight from the heart. It tells a little bit about my childhood, and covers the time when I was with India playing the World Cup and how I was fighting the symptoms without knowing it was cancer. I also write about my denial, and my subsequent fight against the cancer, and how with the help of my mother, family and friends, I overcame it. Finally it covers my latest fight to make a comeback on the field.

My relationship with cricket has changed as a consequence of my illness. Cricket was, is and will always remain the love of my life. But after the illness I have started looking at things a little differently. Cricket is still there but I have started admiring other small things in life. Before, a failure used to frustrate and depress me. But now I try to give my best and don’t worry too much about the result. I try to control what I can control.

I think my greatest innings in 50-over ODI cricket came against Australia in the World Cup quarter-final in 2011 [Yuvraj hit 57* to steer India to victory by five wickets]. Looking at the situation, and the pressure of the game and what was at stake, I consider it my best effort.

I still feel there is a lot I can achieve as a cricketer. I have a lot of cricket left in me. I will constantly aspire and work hard to regain my place in the Test team, and then there is the 2015 World Cup – it would be nice to defend the trophy and keep it with us.

The fact that my Test performances don’t match up to my limited-overs achievements is one of the grey areas in my cricket. And there could be lots of reasons for that. But I don’t think about it negatively now. I have always tried my best and will strive harder.

I don’t worry at all for the future of the 50-over format, in light of Twenty20’s popularity. I think all three formats have a place and a reason to survive. And in fact Twenty20 has drawn a new audience to cricket and it has also bought lot of good changes to Test cricket and 50-over cricket. I think one complements the other.

If I had to choose one of the three formats, then it is Test cricket without a doubt. Test cricket is the format I love and respect the most and that will never change.

The Test of my Life: Yuvraj Singh’s Memoirs on his Cancer Journey is out now. 

Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara, born 27 October 1977 in Matale, is probably the best batsman Sri Lanka have produced statistically, in terms of consistency and for his remarkable work ethic. Like his friend Sachin Tendulkar, Sangakkara was initially tennis-obsessed, and focused more on that sport till he was 15. It was only at the under-19 level that he began to concentrate on cricket. By 22 he was good enough to play for Sri Lanka, keeping wickets and batting 5 or 6.

In recent years, he has been one of the most consistent batsmen in cricket, in all three formats. He brings stability to the team, and is the go-to man whether the need is for stout defence or all-out attack. He takes responsibility at the crucial No. 3 position, holding the innings together so others can bat around him. In one-day cricket he keeps wickets as well. Even if you took his batting out of the equation, he still brings a lot to the table. And that’s remarkable for someone who averages above 55 in Test match cricket.

Over the years – and I have known him since we were teenagers – he has evolved into the kind of player that even he might not have dreamed of. As an all rounder, he is an inspiration. He didn’t get a lot of opportunities when he first came into the side. He was a bit late in announcing his arrival, already 19 when by that age most batsmen in the subcontinent already have their career paths laid out for them. Although we are of the same age group, we never played under-19 cricket together; at 17 he wasn’t seen as someone who might be a future prospect.

But he lost no time in catching up once he made the grade in the under-19. He set his goals and went about ticking them off in his mind as he attained them. His capacity for hard work is astounding. Often he bats twice or thrice at net sessions. His aim is not just to understand the bowler, but bowling itself.

Last year he went about plugging a couple of holes in his career record. His century at Durban enabled Sri Lanka to win a Test in South Africa for the very first time. It was Sri Lanka’s first Test win since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan.

Earlier there was the matter of his not having scored a century in England. He finally made one at the Rose Bowl. Sangakkara, aware that this might be his last tour of England – we tour there next in 2014 by which time he would be 37 – was keen on a century at Lord’s, but it wasn’t to be. But not yet 35, he rose to the top of the ICC Test batting list, and of all those who have over 9,000 Test runs, only South Africa’s Jacques Kallis has a better average.
 Lord’s however was the venue for a remarkable off-field performance as well. It did not surprise anyone who has known Sangakkara. The MCC Spirit of Cricket lecture that he delivered showed what a rounded personality he was. It is difficult to imagine any current player giving a talk like that, with an awareness of both the game and its spirit and the authority to speak the truth as he sees it. Sangakkara is a very strong character with clear ideas of right and wrong. The speech wasn’t so much about administrators and politics as about cricket itself and about speaking up for the generation to come who will judge us by how we reacted to the problems in the game. It took a lot of courage, but he saw it merely as a duty that players have towards the game. Especially the duty of a captain.
He spoke the truth when it might have been more convenient personally to mouth platitudes. I have got into trouble in the past when I was captain, and I think it is the occupational hazard of leaders in our part of the world. But any youngster who has aspirations to lead the country must realise that it is a job that calls for a strong character. It will be difficult otherwise.

Another aspect of our game he feels strongly about – and we have been emphasising over the years – is the importance of playing cricket the Sri Lankan way. Our teams have flair, but with experience, that becomes controlled flair. The techniques of some of our players did not come out of the textbook, but they are uniquely Sri Lankan, and our better coaches have seen fit to leave alone the likes of Mutthiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis and dozens of others who bring a variety of skills and enrich the game with their methods.

The idea is not necessarily to be just flamboyant but work from a strong base and build a unique style, much in the manner of jazz musicians who improvise all the time but whose skills are rooted in sound technique.

We don’t want people telling us “do this” or “do that.” In a group of six or seven, everyone is different. That is our strength. We don’t want to play like anyone else. It is the Sri Lankan way, and captains like Sangakkara have encouraged individuality that contributes to the team environment. Sometimes it is a delicate balance. Sangakkara himself is a technically sound player, but he is still very Sri Lankan in his approach for his rhythm and the manner in which he improvises.

We spend a lot of time together, and have developed a unique friendship over the years. There was never any rivalry; we complemented each other. We pushed each other to perform better. It’s a great friendship off the field as well. We are doing a lot of ventures together, our families are good friends too. Sangakkara grew up in Kandy, I was in Colombo. We played the odd school match against each other, and the friendship really began only after we were in the national team. It has helped us become better cricketers, I think.

Both of us love a challenge. On field, Sangakkara has the reputation of being a sledger. Usually he is the one who goes after people, and I am the one who pulls him back! It’s quite easy to wind him up, but the things he says, especially from behind the stumps, are hilarious. There is no malice, and everybody realises that. He has even had a go at me often, in club cricket; even in warm- up games when we are on opposite sides, he still doesn’t relent. And not just cricket. Even if it is a game of football or rugby and we are on opposite sides we will have a go at each other.

Sangakkara’s training in law school might enable him to use arguments against opposition that may not be immediately available to them. But with bat in hand, the arguments are of a different order. Only Don Bradman and Brian Lara have scored more double centuries. But it is not the runs alone that matter in the Sangakkara story. There is pride in who he is and where he comes from – and it is this raised self-esteem he has inculcated in the team that will last.

The Wisden India Almanack also features writing from, among others, Sourav Ganguly, Gideon Haigh, Osman Samiuddin, Dileep Premachandran, Mike Selvey and Lawrence Booth. Click here to order a copy now.

The return of classy keeper-batsman Ashish Bagai to the Canadian fold could prove vital in retaining their ODI status and place in the High Performance Programme. He is one of the best talents ever to emerge from the country, combining deft glovework and a compact, stylish batting technique.

He made his debut as a 17-year-old in the Caribbean one-day tournament where he batted at No.10. By the 2001 ICC Trophy he had moved up the order a few places and over the next decade he blossomed, establishing himself as a senior member of the team and lynchpin of the batting order, providing the finesse to John Davison’s fireworks.

In 2011, still in his twenties, he participated in his third World Cup, as captain. He is the most capped player for Canada in ODIs and has scored almost 2,000 runs in that format, the fourth-highest for an Associate. His career high-point came in the inaugural World Cricket League 1 in 2007 where he averaged 86, making two eye-catching centuries.

With the exception of Davison it was Bagai who always looked most assured and accomplished against Full Member opposition, his technique standing up to the step up in class. Indeed, he earned a short professional stint for Sri Lankan side Ragama in 2009. His technique and desire to occupy the crease should have served him well at first-class level, but his modest average of 31 is disappointing.

A gifted financier, he decided to draw the curtain on his playing career in 2011 after becoming disillusioned with the progress of Canadian cricket. However, his appetite has clearly returned and expectations will be high as he seeks to arrest his country’s recent decline and, who knows, perhaps compete in a fourth World Cup.

Tim Brooks is an expert on non-Test playing cricket nations and can be found @cricketatlas. To read the criteria and rationale behind his top 50, click here.

Division One (matches beginning May 22)

Sussex v Somerset, Horsham
Durham v Middlesex, Chester-le-Street

Division Two (matches beginning May 22, unless stated)

Worcestershire v Gloucestershire, Worcester
Essex v Kent , Chelmsford
Hampshire v Lancashire, Southampton (beginning May 23)

– Middlesex have won just once on their last six trips to play Durham away from home (L3, D2). That victory was by 10 wickets and came on the opening day of the 2006 season.

– Sussex have won just once (2011) in the last 12 occasions they have hosted Somerset in the LV= County Championship (D6, L5), Chris Nash hitting a century in that victory.

– Essex have not beaten Kent at home in the LV= County Championship since 1994, a run of eight games in which time Kent have picked up five victories (D3).

– Worcestershire are unbeaten at home against neighbours Gloucestershire since 1986, they have won 10 of their 16 meetings at New Road since that distant defeat.

– Hampshire’s last home win in the LV= County Championship over Lancashire was way back in 1989. Lancashire have won six of the ensuing 13 games between the sides in the south.

Opta are the world’s leading sports data company and the ECB’s official and exclusive data collection and distribution partner.

It’s easy to be jealous of Stuart Broad. Obviously talented, refreshingly bright, unmistakeably tall and unavoidably handsome, he leads an enviable existence. Fast-tracked into England seniority after making his international debut at the age of 20 back in 2006, he’s been at the heart of the set-up, as a regular in all formats, for five years. He’s grown up as an international cricketer, and been part of the most successful England team for generations, with a world tournament, two Ashes wins and a whitewash over India – as well as the captaincy of the Twenty20 team – to his name. He only turns 27 this year. What a bastard.

And now there’s 2013: cricket’s big year. First, a tasty contest with a revitalised New Zealand side, then a Champions Trophy on home turf, followed by back-to-back Ashes series. As Broad tells AOC: “If you could write a script of when to be an England cricketer, it would be this year… You’re pretty much living the dream.” It’s good at least to hear that Broad himself knows he’s got it good.

But although his road through life sometimes seems to have been as smooth as his boyish complexion, it’s actually had its fair share of bumps. Broad’s form has known fluctuations, his body has suffered injury, and his experience has included genuine extremes. A rocky start to the 2009 Ashes series (six pricey wickets from the first three matches) was overcome spectacularly, ecstatically in the last two Tests (after his six-fer in the Headingley defeat, a five-fer at The Oval swung the game and ultimately the series). Then after a solid start his 2010/11 Ashes tour was ended by injury, meaning he missed out on the business end of that champagne series down under. With all that lies ahead this year, AOC puts it to Broad that now is an interesting moment in his life and career.

“Yeah, it is. 2009 had everything an Ashes series has, I had the downs, we had losses, we had great, thumping wins, then I had personal achievements as well. Bowling at The Oval I still look back on as probably one of the best spells I’ve bowled to help win what was probably the biggest game of my life at that point.

“And actually I look back at the 2010/11 Ashes tour with great memories. I was only there for six weeks, played the first two Tests. I absolutely loved it, loved every minute of it. Unfortunately I got injured; it still hurts me thinking about it – it was actually a pretty terrible injury to get; I ripped a four centimetre tear going straight through my ab. There was no doubt I was going home. But it’s such a strange thing, we were obviously winning the Test at Adelaide – absolutely thumping them – it was amazing looking at the Barmy Army. Then suddenly I bowl a ball and I think, ‘Oww’. So I bowl four more and I start thinking, ‘Right, I can’t really breathe here, something’s gone wrong’. So I said to Straussy, ‘I’m going to have to nip off to see the doc’. Walking down the tunnel, I suddenly started to really struggle to breathe. I walked into the Adelaide changing room, lifted my shirt up and there was bleeding under the skin.” All of a sudden AOC doesn’t feel quite so envious.

“The doc looked at me and goes, ‘This isn’t good’ and I think I just burst straight into tears, just completely emotionally gone. That was late on day four I think, I rock up day five and the manager goes, ‘You’re flying tonight’, and I’m just like ‘Oh, right!’ and you’re just gone. And it’s like, well sport moves on. That’s you done. So it was obviously amazing to watch that particular Test match, and then I flew home and I watched the guys with a lot of pride because I’d been involved in a lot of the build-up and everything. I still felt part of the Ashes win, I just didn’t play a part in the last three Tests.”

But although for the rest of us it was uncomplicatedly joyous to watch things unfolding in Australia that incredible winter, what was it like for Broad? Could he really enjoy it? “It was great, because I knew how happy the guys would be, I was still getting texts from the guys, I was obviously texting to say congratulations and stuff . But I had a new challenge in my life by then which was to try and get fit for the World Cup. I remember the time we won the Ashes in Sydney I was running down the river Trent in the freezing cold – it was two degrees or something. I couldn’t have been further away.

“It was also a realisation that sport just moves on. Yeah, you want to be involved, you want to play, but also when you’re not there it gives opportunities for other people, so you’ve just got to really cherish when you do have the opportunity.”

Enjoy it while you can, in other words. Not a bad philosophy. Since that injury there have been lukewarm periods as well as red-hot streaks: he was criticised for profligate short stuff against Sri Lanka in 2011, but followed it up with 25 wickets in four Tests against India, then a faultless winter on placid pitches in UAE and Sri Lanka, when all England’s bowlers deserved so much more than their batsmen were able to give them. But thereafter niggly injuries have disrupted: he was left out after two Tests in India and departed early with a heel injury, then all the bowlers found it harder than anticipated to break the back of New Zealand on some flat pitches. There is still plenty to prove and much on offer for England this summer. Broad, as we’ve come to expect, will likely be at the heart of it.

And us? We just get to sit and watch. You could argue we’ve got the best job of all.

Click here for more information and tickets for ICC Champions Trophy.

As any Dutch cricket fan will tell you, PJ Bakker was the first from his nation to play county cricket, enjoying a successful career with Hampshire in which he took almost 200 first-class wickets between 1986 and 1992. I once asked a Dutch fan how good a player he was. “He attended David Gower’s wedding,” came the reply, summing up just what an inspiration he has been to aspiring Dutch cricketers.

After making a late decision to become a professional cricketer he made his county debut at 29, in the spring of 1986. Later that summer he made his international tournament debut for his country at the ICC Trophy, forming an effective partnership with former Glamorgan seamer Roland Lefebvre. Unsurprisingly, the pace and movement that troubled county players proved too much for Associate amateurs. He took a five-fer on debut and claimed 27 wickets at an average of 13 in 11 ICC Trophy games.

Unfortunately he played in an era when fixtures to play and opportunities to shine were few and far between for Associate players. But finally, at the age of 38, he achieved a dream of representing Holland at their first World Cup. He was past his peak but took two Kiwi scalps on his ODI debut. We can only imagine the international accolades he may have enjoyed had he played in the tournament structures of the modern era.

In 2007 he was made temporary coach of the Dutch national team, succeeding Peter Cantrell. He remains the leading Dutch first-class wicket-taker.

Tim Brooks is an expert on non-Test playing cricket nations and can be found @cricketatlas. To read the criteria and rationale behind his top 50, click here.

The winner of our competition will join two AOC staffers and a collection of England players including Sarah Taylor and Danni Wyatt for a morning on the Nursery Ground at Lord’s on Friday June 7, with a strength and conditioning workout followed by a full fielding session, both with England Women’s specialist coaching staff. We’ll also be joined by some of our chums from the Cricket AM crew, for what should be a fun and – quite possibly for AOC’s own participants – embarrassing morning in a brilliant setting.

For your chance to get involved just answer the following question:

Who is England Women’s highest ever ODI run-scorer?

Send your answers to comps@alloutcricket.com with ‘Train at Lord’s’ in the subject line, including your name, age, and a brief summary of your cricket experience (so we know what level to pitch the session at!). The competition will close at 12pm on Friday May 31, and the winner will be notified that day. Good luck!

Last year we produced our first ever 68-page women’s cricket special issue. In February we released a special digital edition for the Women’s World Cup. Look out for continued in-depth coverage of women’s cricket across our website and magazines this summer.

Click here to find out about Girls On The Front Foot, a project from cricket charity Chance to Shine aiming to give more girls the opportunity to play cricket.

Jimmy Anderson became the fourth player to reach 300 Test wickets for England during the first Test win at Lord’s and Slazenger – who provide Anderson with kit and equipment including his new V100 Ultimate bat – have developed a limited edition ‘Slazenger JA 300′ ball to celebrate his achievement. They’ve only made 300 of them, so this is a rare opportunity to get your hands on one!

All you have to do to enter the draw to win the ball is answer the following question:

Who was Jimmy Anderson‘s first Test wicket?

A) Heath Streak

B) Mark Vermeulen

C) Grant Flower

Send in your answers to comps@alloutcricket.com with ‘Slazenger 300’ as your subject title. The competition closes on May 31. Good luck!

From time to time AOC may send you information on offers, promotions or services that may be of interest to you. If you do not want to be contacted please include the words ‘no mailing’ in your email

For the latest news from the YB40 go to: https://www.facebook.com/YorkshireBankCricket?fref=ts

Yorkshire Bank have teamed up with Gray-Nicolls to ‘Give Bat To You’. For the chance to win a top-notch bat check out https://www.facebook.com/YorkshireBankCricket/app_347888292000514

On one side of cricket’s world, a fresh corruption scandal erupted in the newest, flashiest gig going. On the other, all was cosy, comforting and familiar. As three players were arrested on fixing allegations in the IPL (a depressingly modern, and modernly depressing, story to wake up to) the sun was out for the first morning of the English international summer at the Home of Cricket.

Just for the morning, just for today – the IPL stuff could wait, couldn’t it? Here at Lord’s, the contest – and the kits – were whiter than white. As England won the toss and batted first on the opening day of the first Test, nearly 30,000 enjoyed a little green oasis of innocence in north west London.

And it was all it should have been: sun hats, cool boxes and chinos; grey-haired men with tweed jackets, bacon and egg ties and copies of the Telegraph; the MCC youngsters shovelling mounds of aromatic cut grass at the Nursery End. With players, pressmen and ground staff milling around on the outfield, and expectant spectators filing in to their seats before the toss, before play, before lunch-time scotch eggs and before a mammoth summer of cricket taking in New Zealand, the Champions Trophy and the Ashes, here was expectation. And happiness.

If the setting was reassuringly traditional, there was a touch of the golden age about the batting scorecard, too. In the absence of Pietersen the home side have a damn solid collection of English heritage names – particularly the top five: Cook, Compton, Trott, Bell, Root – close your eyes and it might be England’s team sheet from a hundred years ago. And many of their batting styles befitted the ‘antidote to IPL’ feel of the day. Shorn of that exotically-named, extravagantly gifted Pietersen, England’s line-up is mainly solid – graceful in Bell and Root, yes, not destructive until Bairstow and Prior at six and seven.

Their start was steady and watchful but not fluent, on a pitch with few demons but also little pace – making the timing of attacking strokes tricky. The morning session saw just three boundaries, of which Nick Compton amassed zero. Pinned down by the left-arm spinner Bruce Martin, with the score on 43 the Somerset opener skipped down the track attempting a drive over the top, mishit and skied it to Tim Southee at cover for 16. Though Compton has had success in that vein against spin previously, hitting boundaries over the top, he tends to premeditate the shot and often doesn’t get to the pitch. This time he didn’t get away with it and it looked ropey.

He and Cook had seen off the new ball solidly while Trent Boult, Southee and Neil Wagner plugged away on a tight line and a full length, doing enough with it in the air, and when Martin was introduced at the Nursery End he was unafraid to toss it up and found turn down the slope. That was sufficient to see off Compton.

Continual probing bowling from the Kiwis – who were well marshalled by Brendon McCullum – meant England never got away, and eventually their persistence brought the wicket of their greatest century-maker. After surviving a close lbw shout after lunch Alastair Cook nicked a good one from the eye-catching Boult and was well caught behind by BJ Watling. England’s captain had managed just two runs from 35 balls against Boult’s nippy left-armers.

As the afternoon plodded on so did Jonathan Trott, who started to time a few off the front foot when the bowling erred too full, though that was rarely, and as sun gave way to cloud overhead the crowd sat through a delicate contest between ball and bat: attrition v accumulation. The hundred came up in the 50th over of the day, when just before tea Boult returned from the Pavilion End to nick off Trott for 39, snaffled well at third slip by Dean Brownlie. That brought Joe Root, the form man in the country, to the wicket for a further test of his talent, technique and temperament. Things aren’t moving all that quickly in this game, but they’re fairly racing along in the life of that young man.

Now, a day of workmanlike – ‘proper’ – cricket from both sides sees a Test match in the balance, and plenty more to come; the keywords not ‘greed’ nor ‘corruption’, but ‘discipline’ and ‘industry’. If anything, the mundanity was reassuring, the dullness wholesome. In front of a full house on a never-spectacular but pleasant and generally engrossing day at Lord’s, all was well, at least in this little world of ours.

For the latest news from the YB40 go to: https://www.facebook.com/YorkshireBankCricket?fref=ts

Yorkshire Bank have teamed up with Gray-Nicolls to ‘Give Bat To You’. For the chance to win a top-notch bat check out https://www.facebook.com/YorkshireBankCricket/app_347888292000514