Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2026

at the crease SPEAKERS 2024-25 by Andy Pack 6 Thursday 30 October 2024 Benjamin Bloom Freelance journalist/ Author The endless discussion of where English cricket is headed since the Strauss Review continues to frustrate and, to many (traditionalists?), the future looks misty and not just a little scary. In an attempt to penetrate the gloom, Ben, rather than further muddy the waters by adding his own judgement, researched opinions from numerous interested parties; the views of administrators, fans, clubs, coaches and members formed the basis of his book. Inevitably, franchise cricket on a global basis informed their assessments, being regarded as either the future or the deathknell of the game. Money, ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, contract implications, multi formats, greed, loyalty, self interest etc all get an airing. In our current game we have nine grounds that host Tests, eight are owned by counties, plus changes in structure of these formats. In effect there is a set of superclubs, largely with the bigger grounds, meaning half the counties could be on their way to becoming feeder clubs. So, is it just about making money? Aren’t the smaller counties community assets? If some clubs can strengthen, others become weaker. It has become imperative for clubs to generate absolutely vital non cricketing revenue; Surrey work hard to make millions but recently Derbyshire’s largest income generator was a concert by The Who . It seems ironic that Ben’s search for resolvement through clarity has highlighted the numerous reasons of exactly why there seems little chance of any… Thursday 21 November 2024 Jack Brooks Former Northants, Yorkshire & Somerset bowler A heartwarming story: an Oxfordshire lad doing well enough bowling at Minor County level whilst working full-time as a salesman. He hadn’t trodden the Academy route so didn’t dare dream of a cricket career. Trials came and went until Northants signed him - on less than his sales job paid - and England Lions recognition followed. Then everything changed, partly due to playing alongside Root, Ballance and Bairstow in Bangladesh, bringing wider awareness of his bowling and interest from 13 counties. Both Lancashire and YCCC, whose squads had very different age profiles, courted him for several weeks but the persuasive powers of Martyn Moxon and Jason Gillespie saw Yorkshire win the day … “Lancashire offered more money but I wanted the challenge of playing for Yorkshire. Choosing them was a great decision because we shared six glorious years, and had lots of fun playing in a top team.” There was an intoxicating pressure to win, driven by much praised coach Gillespie, which created ‘a special group’ that clinched the 2014 League title … “I cried like a kid. There was a lot of emotion from where I had come from to this.” The squad, frequently shorn by the absence of Internationals for most of the next season, used it as motivation and (unbelievably?) retained the title. This ‘headband warrior’ forged a great relationship with fans who delighted in him scoring his only century against … Lancashire. Poetry! Where do we go? Every dog has its day