INSIDE GRASSROOTS SPORT
Tim Murtagh reflect son dark times away from the sport he loves
TIM MURTAGH thought he had seen it all in cricket until coronavirus struck. Now he hopes players, from the top to the bottom of the game, do not have to do without their beloved sport again. The long-serving Middlesex bowler saw the 2020 season shortened, with the Bob Willis Trophy introduced later in the summer after counties had put their players on furlough.
Thankfully, a full calendar has been restored this year as the country attempts to battle back to normality but Murtagh, who has been at Lord’s since 2007, revealed how hard it was not just in his professional life but also at home.
Speaking to support Metro’s Inside Grassroots Sport campaign, which has shone a light on the fight for survival endured by clubs, organisations and activities during the pandemic, Murtagh admits it was an eye-opener. Cricket, in particular, suffered badly at all levels from England to the village greens.
‘It was the toughest period of my life,’ he tells Metro. ‘My wife Karina, who is chief executive of the Ruth Strauss Foundation, was working full-time and I was on furlough and the kids were off school so it was me and the kids at home full-time, trying to home school.
‘There were some dark times and it got to a stage where the kids were bouncing off the walls. It was brutal and it took me time to get over that.’
Murtagh has friends who were unable to play cricket at all last year with sport falling foul of the Covid clampdown and the 40-year-old sympathises with the grassroots of the game.
‘They had to spend a lot more time at home than they usually would have. All players want that Saturday out on the cricket field,’ he says.
‘It was fine for us as counties because they have some money but there was no money there for clubs to put Covid restrictions in place on a local level. For us, it’s been great to have crowds back. It was quite eerie at Lord’s without them. As players, we missed out on a couple of years of proper Lord’s lunches too!’
The England and Wales Cricket Board’s new Hundred competition finished last month after a year’s delay and its success, with big crowds and good
viewing figures on terrestrial television, represents a sign of progress as well as a comeback for cricket, believes Murtagh.
‘I thought it was great,’ he adds. ‘I went into it with an open mind and enjoyed it. There was a lot of pressure on it after the money that had been spent on it. It’s here to stay and we have to embrace it. There’s no point being stuck in the past.’
One side-effect of The Hundred’s introduction is how England’s batsmen have suffered from a lack of red-ball action in the middle of the season, with the County Championship shunted to the beginning and end of the campaign.
England’s Test batting order seems to be struggling accordingly and, as a player predominantly focused on the four-day game, Murtagh sees an issue. ‘It is a concern,’ he says. ‘It has to be looked at carefully. Whether there is room for four competitions (The Hundred, T20 Blast, One-Day Cup and County Championship) is for the ECB to decide. We don’t want to see the championship just played at the start and end of the year.’
Murtagh could have called time on his career with cricket curtailed last year but he insists: ‘You can’t often pick and choose, but I didn’t want it to end on that note. I wanted a proper crack at a full season.’
Murtagh has been offered a contract for 2022 by Middlesex but recognises their form across this summer has been sub-standard.
In their championship group, they sit bottom with two victories and they were second-bottom of their One-Day Cup group – a position they also finished in during the Blast.
‘Results haven’t been good enough. We’re looking forward to the last month of the season and trying to finish on a high,’ he adds.