Comedy of errors - View from the Lumley End
3:42pm Friday 11th July 2008
UPON completing the column last week, I considered how this week's would write itself, what with the thrills and spills of the FPT semi-final and the Twenty20 quarter-final.
Although potentially disappointing, it would be easy and an uncomplicated affair, adding celebration or commiseration to the previous weekend's events.
While the immense disappointment and the baffling way in which the bowling attack went missing in the FPT were enough for more than one column, the collective nonsense of Monday could perhaps create a script for a farce whereby ECB chief executive David Collier would be played by Gordon Kaye, a man most famed for his role as Renee in 'Allo 'Allo.
It would have been a particularly nerdy cricket fan outside of Yorkshire who'd heard of Azeem Rafiq prior to Monday, but suddenly his young man's lack of eligibility to play for in a country he'd captained at a junior level is all that seems to matter.
There is of course no doubt there'd been an administrative error on Yorkshire's part when failing to register Rafiq and they've been men enough to admit it, but for the ECB to take until the day of the game is amateurish to say the least.
Their defence has seemed weak and the need for Durham to clarify the events of the day speaks volumes about the fudge made from on high.
The now infamous press release from Durham acts like particularly slow moving episode of 24, including the baffling "4.45pm - Durham CCC is asked by the ECB to consider playing an exhibition match."
Which other governing body would consider such a thing? Would Manchester United and Liverpool line up for an FA Cup quarter-final only to be told half an hour before that there may be something of a problem, so would they mind awfully playing a friendly?
At the time of writing there is a sense that even with finals day just over weeks away, the whole proceedings could get litigious and drag the competition into chaos.
Avarice dictates that this is almost inevitable with the promise of millions of pounds in the forthcoming Champions League and the perhaps the individual chairmen could not be blamed for trying to exploit every avenue available to be part of that.
Whether the counties would feel under such pressure had this volume of money not been available remains to be seen, but there is a sense that cricket could just be about to get cutthroat.
Whatever happens, Durham could well be without Pollock and Morkel for a Twenty20 quarter-final, disadvantaging them for that game and indeed the potential fatigue of having to fit another game into what is already a packed July schedule.
One of the likely dates for such a quarter-final would be the Monday before finals day itself, making it complicated to say the least for Durham, the county furthest from Hampshire, to make arrangements to get their fans to the game, find somewhere to stay, take time off work and all manner of other considerations.
That would seemingly not be a matter of concern for the ECB with money in the bank and a guaranteed sell-out.
If the ECB want to be part of a multi-million pound domestic event to rival the IPL, they must get the basics of the administration of the domestic game in order.
For all the furore over Collingwood's decision over the run-out against New Zealand, the ECB have done far more this week to alienate fans, never mind spurious claims of a destruction of the 'spirit of the game.'