Rain dampens spirits as well as county coffers
WHEN the June heatwave hit counties were licking their lips at the prospect of a T20 Blast bathed in sunshine and long, hot July evenings for thirsty fans to spend their hard-earned at the bar.
What has transpired has been rather different. In fact, while June was flaming hot, the weather in July was something flaming else entirely.
As the Blast enters what Sir Alex Ferguson once famously described as squeaky bum time, the inclement weather over the past five weeks has laid waste to 15 matches, matches that have either ended in no result or been abandoned without a ball being bowled in anger.
That has represented a considerable blow to the counties involved, with Glamorgan particularly badly hit.
The Welsh county – who ironically have enjoyed a highly successful summer away from home – have endured four washouts at the SWALEC Stadium, the kind of scenario that would have been unthinkable as the mercury soared in June.
Hampshire suffered a similar fate after their potentially money-spinning clash with Surrey fell victim to the weather on the dampest of South Coast Sunday’s in July.
And the county’s chairman, Rod Bransgrove, tells The Cricket Paper that despite plans designed to mitigate the vagaries of the Great British summer, the weather will have taken its toll on domestic cricket finances this summer.
“In case of a rained-off fixture, we insure the game,” says Bransgrove. “In fact, if a game is rained-off, although there is a financial implication but it’s not a huge headache. The real problem comes if there’s continually inclement weather because that does have a serious impact on attendances.
“On a cloudy day, people are far less likely to come up to the ground on the offchance of seeing some cricket. That’s a very difficult one to plan for.
“It’s also obviously the case that the more people you have inside the ground, the more beers, pies and cups of tea people are buying and that makes up a significant part of a county’s income.
“Those factors are very difficult to manage but now counties like Glamorgan will be looking to a home-tie in the quarter-finals, which is potentially one of the most lucrative matches a county can host.”
The scheduling of the T20 Blast throughout July, generally, has been greeted enthusiastically by county chief executives and players alike. It’s just a shame that the weather hasn’t played ball.
“What can you do?” says Bransgrove. “We have tried the T20 in June before but then you have additional complications, like schools still being in term. The intention was really to try and attract as many people as possible in the school holidays, and you wouldn’t normally expect late July and early August to be so bad and have the kind of weather that we’ve been experiencing.
“I would put it down to the exception rather than rule.”
Glamorgan are no stranger to being hampered by the weather. Back in 2012, the county’s then chief executive, Alan Hamer, said he believed the appalling weather in Olympic year cost Glamorgan upwards of £100,000.
It could be a similar story this time around.