The Cricket Paper

Root can lead band of cricket Corbynista­s

The editor of Cricket Statistici­an analyses recent events

- SIMON SWEETMAN

So, the Champions Trophy – how was it for you? Well, admittedly, it was nothing for those without Sky except for some (very) late night highlights on BBC2.

It was not in the end good for England as the vaunted batting superstars, having swaggered through the first half of the tournament, turned out to need an absolutely flat pitch to go.

Afterwards they said there would be no official complaint about playing on a pitch so difficult that Pakistan scored 215-2. Flat track bullies? England, of course, played in this tournament without Chris Broad, who was busy bowling ten overs and taking 2-83 against Somerset at Taunton.

Pakistan’s win is a blow to the theory that what you need is theory and endless planning. England, we are told, are planning for the 2019 World Cup, so will either bully the groundsmen involved into preparing paradises for batsmen or will have to learn to play the game when batting is slightly more awkward. Homeless Pakistan will probably just play as and when they can and see what happens when they turn up. What no fiveyear plan? No Stalinist direction of who might play where and when?

I have no idea how the Champions Trophy played with the public (or at least not with the AngloSaxon bit of the public), but I suspect it was getting less attention than the British Lions or the Canadian Grand Prix (which are also, of course, not on free to air TV and which only get much attention when football’s taking its minibreak).

But – as we have seen over the last year or so – public taste can change. Where is cricket’s Jeremy Corbyn? Corbyn has shown to everyone’s surprise that he comes over as a normal person with normal emotions in an increasing­ly roboticall­y on-message world.

There is a serious point here. One of the features of county cricket was – and is – that you can get much closer to the players than in most sports.You may even be able to stop and chat to them. But despite this, the game has for many people a stand-offish upper class type image (not altogether undeserved).

Listen to Test Match Special, watch Sky, read the more serious papers. Is there an English working class voice? Ian Botham was once English cricket’s working class hero, but has become a caricature, a sort of Mr Brexit. Where is grime4cric­ket? Clearly, Ben Stokes can be cast in the heroic role, but the problem is not just the players but the commentari­at. The discourse round the game is all middle to upper class (including, I suppose, this column) and if people are to depend on Test Match Special it is probably worst of all.

Sky’s two best commentato­rs from a technical point of view are Shane Warne and Michael Holding, who do not reflect the jokey/apologetic tone of some of the others.

Joe Root could be the answer here. Although he was “finished” at Worksop College on a sports scholarshi­p, he came from an ordinary family and went to an ordinary school.

He must have more appeal (and certainly a lighter touch) than the perpetual choirboy Alastair Cook or the rigid-styled Andrew Strauss. But will anyone get to see him?

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