Yorkshire fails?
Yorkshire has never been more powerful or prominent in cricket than today. ECB Chairman Yorkshireman Colin Graves will this week be officially in situ though when he was not he still labelled the West Indies “mediocre” ; half the English side could bear the white rose (Lyth, Root, Ballance, Rashid, Plunkett) and acerbic critic Geoff Boycott stops short when it comes to criticising his own county.
I am not convinced this is a good thing for cricket. Little was served by castigating opponents in advance . One of the reasons many , including me, prefer cricket to football is that there is still some decorum in the game and this includes showing respect for the opposition. . Remember a few years back Tony Greig’s unfortunate remark that England can make the West indians grovel.
Dressing rooms can be cliquey at the best of times but if half the team come from one side all the more so. I hear that the players were behind Peter Moores , with Pietersen posting 326 his inclusion will become as big an issue as devolution to Scotland and this will not help the esprit de corps any. I can see Strauss standing up the media and populist onslaughts . In his early days as Middlesex skipper he was tough on another wayward talent Phil Tufnell
When Yorkshire were preeminent in the sixties, only Geoff Boycott and Fred Trueman were regular in the England side. I can see one consequence of the Yorkshire national domination that their supporters will not like , namely the benefit to the opposition. I was down at Sussex to watch their top of the table clash with Midllesex. Both teams will lose far few players centrally contracted than Yorkshire. Conversation turned to Olly Robinson who has in his first two games scored a century and had 2 four wickets hauls. He was at Yorshire and like many has adapted quickly to the sea air and more relaxed life style of Brighton. Not so long ago the Yorkshire committee was a standing joke in cricket for its capacity to implode in acrimony . Andrew Strauss will have his work out as I have a strong feeling this will all end in tears.
