Wed 2 May 2012
Posted by Yates under IPL, T20
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Yates has already tweeted about the IPL’s “Orange Cap” and how it sounds like some kind of contraceptive.
Now the mercurial ubercoolness of Chris Gayle holds the “Orange Cap”. It didn’t take long for the Yates mind to merge these ideas together. How did the IPL merchandisers miss this idea?
Sun 1 Apr 2012
Posted by Yates under Cricket, Photos, Surrey
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The first day of the season for Surrey supporters saw the sunny weather of previous days disappear in favour of windier and far chillier conditions. Fortunately the flask of hot Orange Barley Water served Yates well throughout a day which did little to offer any answers to the questions about Surrey’s batting order.
Fri 30 Mar 2012
Posted by Yates under County Championship, Cricket, Surrey, Thoughts
[2] Comments
And about time too! The sight of a sun-drenched Kia Oval outfield yesterday evening was truly a pleasure to behold, lowering the blood pressure and reminding Yates that it won’t be long before the County Championship starts. Ah, the County Championship. Where cricketers from England and all over the world have started, continued and completed their cricketing education, many going on to perform with honours and records at the highest level.
You know, the one that’s supposedly watched by a few men and their dogs.
Woof.
Sun 18 Mar 2012
Posted by Yates under County Championship, Cricket, Surrey, Thoughts
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Yates is getting twitchy. The kind of twitchy that has him testing bowling actions in the empty canteen with an orange. The kind of twitchy that comes from seeing Surrey CCC on his bank statement, showing that the upcoming season’s membership has been paid. The kind of twitchy that comes from seeing @surreycricket’s photos and videos of pre-season training.
It won’t be long and the first games of the new cricket season will be upon us. Yates has still to decide whether to drop by the University game at the Kia Oval but will be going to the first day of the County Championship season, the home game against Sussex.
As the weather can be somewhat variable – from freezing one’s nether regions off in the morning then by end of play having the start of a suntan – Yates is contemplating what will go in his cricket box this season:
Sat 18 Feb 2012
Posted by Yates under County Championship, Cricket & The Law, ECB, Essex, Fixing
[10] Comments
Yates writes this entry with a heavy heart and a sense of dread. When Yates says that Essex are a club which he had supported for 30 years until moving south of the River Thames you may understand why.
Yesterday’s sentencing of Mervyn Westfield will be remembered more for the explosive revelations made in the run up to lunch more than the fact that Westfield got a 4 month sentence. Those following Richard DJ Edwards’ excellent live Tweeting of the sentencing saw bombshell after bombshell land which must surely have a devastating effect on Essex cricket in particular.
Sun 29 Jan 2012
Posted by Yates under Cricket, England, International Cricket, Pakistan, Thoughts
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Congratulations to Pakistan on their test and series win over England. Misbah-ul-Haq’s calm captaincy has helped unite and shape this Pakistan team into a cohesive and, more importantly consistent unit. It used to be said that the only thing that was consistent about Pakistan was that you were never sure which side would turn up. Perhaps that is changing, and about time.
The departure of Iajz Butt from the PCB could not have come soon enough. That he had never arrived there in the first place must be the wish of many more than just myself. With continued calm captaincy and leadership, provided that the retards are kept from positions of power and influence at the PCB, this Pakistan team could become a very very good side indeed.
Yates likes Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal in particular and enjoys watching Umar Gul and Younis Khan too. Make no mistake, this series win is well deserved and a rocket up the backside of the England batting. So while Yates raises a mug of Darjeeling to Misbah and his team, the attention must now turn to the England batting.
Thu 26 Jan 2012
Posted by Yates under BBC, Broadcasting, Cricket, ECB, Fixing, Thoughts
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Yates had some strong words about David Morgan’s review the other night so it would be wrong of me to allow Giles Clarke’s latest utterances to go without a response. Giles needs to stop taking whatever pills he’s been on and wake up. Or perhaps someone would be kind enough to introduce Giles to a clue stick in the form of the Mongoose MMi3. Yates is surprised that someone with the business acumen of Giles Clarke has ended up spouting rubbish and looking like a puppet. Which is exactly what has happened here.
But before I do, what is it about sports administration and governance that attracts or turns people into retards and halfwits? That could be one hell of a long discussion:
Septic Blatter, Numbnuts Srinivasan, Ijaz Butt, Justin Vaughan, now Giles Clarke – all apparently successful yet responsible for some mind blowingly stupid acts and utterances over the years. Yes, there are plenty of others but to catalogue such halfwittery would take time that Yates doesn’t have right now. Don’t forget the chaos within Sri Lankan cricket either.
Anyway, back to the issue at hand. Cricket faces a number of threats. Match fixing is the most discussed issue at the moment. The ACSU’s failure to apprehend corrupt players is an indictment on the ICC. Match fixing has now been confirmed in the English domestic game and could have massive repercussions. The ICC itself doesn’t seem to have any clue how to progress the Associate nations towards test level and was massively rebuked by boards and fans for its initial desire to discount them from the World Cup. Its governance structure is outdated and cannot pass any description of real impartiality and having the interests of the game at heart. It is open to misuse and bad influences by vested interests.
Which leads me nicely onto the greed of the BCCI, which is well known, as is its bullying attitude whenever something it doesn’t like comes along. Like the ICL. Oh yes, Yates will alwsy remember the behaviour of the BCCI and Justin Vaughan. The Board for Control of Cricket In India throws its bloated, greedy weight around every chance it gets.
Meanwhile in England, the vagaries, strangeness and vested interests of local councils threaten our first class counties. Well meaning but ultimately flawed ideas are being mooted to change (and weaken IMO) the domestic structure. More counties are reliant on getting a test match during the season and face financial troubles if they do do not get one; such a business model cannot expand and continue to work. Finally the BBC is considering cuts which would render its radio county cricket coverage only marginally better than that of Planet Rock.
So, what does Giles think is the biggest danger facing cricket? No, it’s not him looking like a sack of faeces tied up with string whenever he’s on television, it’s….
Tue 24 Jan 2012
Posted by Yates under CB40, County Championship, Cricket, ECB, Rants, T20, Thoughts
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The Morgan review generated much discussion before its eventual publication. Now it has been published, not only are Yates’ and others criticisms shown to be valid, the report itself is one of the weakest documents Yates has ever seen.
Yates has seen plenty of poor efforts at documentation and reports in his time but this has to be one of the poorest to ever sully his monitor with its presence. Were Yates a CEO in receipt of this document he would throw it back at David Morgan with a demand for a fuller document with detailed and substantial evidence.
Wed 11 Jan 2012
Posted by Yates under County Championship, Cricket, ECB, Rants, T20, Thoughts
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The news that David Morgan’s review into the county season is to be accepted by the ECB comes as no real surprise. Coming on the back of England’s number 1 test side status, this effort by Morgan seems a bit odd to say the least. Yes, we’re the best test side in the world so let’s cut the first class cricket that made us so and bend over for the Champions League.
Currently we have two Championship divisions of nine teams. 16 games is the sensible, logical and balanced approach to have – each team plays the others in its division home and away. How is a cut to 14 games per season going to work? Which teams miss out on playing each other, why and under what process is this determined? The idea is fundamentally flawed.
Sun 6 Nov 2011
Posted by Yates under Fixing, ICC, International Cricket, Pakistan
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The trial is over. Though we still have the inevitable appeals to come. The fixer and the three cricketers are now spending their time at the invitation of Her Britannic Majesty as sentenced by Mr Justice Cooke, whose comments are worth reading.
This whole thing has been bemusing, bewitching, infuriating, confounding but above all deeply saddening. As revelation after revelation was reported on Twitter by @Cricketer_RDJ, Yates could be seen going about his work with looks of all those feelings on his face. The game Yates loves, the game which stood as a byword for everything right and proper, the game Yates has spent years of his life watching, discussing and following has been betrayed, vilely soiled upon from a great height.
And it may never be the same again.
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