Posted by All eyes on the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground from tomorrow. Is this funnier or less funny than the previous sponsorship which made it sound like Essex’s nickname was Cloud County?
Overseas professionalism is a jaunty, unpredictable thing in the current County Championship era. Remember last year when Surrey went down to the deluxe temp agency and hired Shakib al Hasan for all of one game. A short visit it may have been, but it was enough for him to gather nine wickets and a six-month worldwide suspension from bowling for suspected chucking. (He passed his third assessment at Loughborough last month, having “successfully remedied his action” according to the BCB.)
Why didn’t Shakib al Hasan withdraw his appeal when Angelo Mathews was timed out?
This was an extreme example, but representative in its own way. The term ‘overseas pro’ used to mean something quite specific, but nowadays it spans a wide array of working arrangements.
Where once each county had full use of one (or two) superstars throughout the season, modern deals cover wildly varying combinations of formats and timespans. Some guys still come across as part of the furniture at their counties, while others are a lot more disposable. It’s pretty common to visit for a short busman’s holiday, playing some formats but not others, halfway through the season.
Nottinghamshire have at least five overseas players lined up for the various competitions by our count: Kyle Verreynne, Fergus O’Neill, Daniel Sams, Mohammad Abbas and Moises Henriques. This also increases the likelihood of further names being linked to the club because the plans of at least one of those players will almost certainly change.
The long-termers always feel most influential – but maybe that’s because repetition and a larger body of work aid the memory. Either way, that’s what stands out in tomorrow’s big match: Essex v Surrey.
Essex finished fourth last year. This feels low because they more than anyone have been the ones duking it out with the county that’s won the last three titles.
Last year we contrasted Essex’s same-old, same-old foundations for success with Surrey’s Borg-based approach, but perhaps that minimised the overlap in their respective strategies. Essex’s team may change little from year to year, but there’s an overall familiarity to Surrey’s big squad too.
Essex have quite understandably retained the services of comfy, reliable armchairs Dean Elgar and Simon Harmer as their overseas pros, but the champions are sticking with what works too. This will be the fifth year Kemar Roach has turned out for them. (We’re not sure what furniture item Roach would be. Maybe something a little more dynamic, like a door. Are doors furniture? Probably not. Maybe a cupboard then, or some kitchen drawers. Or do drawers cease to be furniture once they’re fixed in place? A chest of drawers that you can move around definitely feels like furniture, but we’re less confident about fitted kitchen units. Well, anyway, Kemar Roach is around again – at least for a few weeks.)
So far, so familiar. If you’re looking for exotic new names, there’s always the cricket ground.
Remarkably, the weatherman says the first day of the county season is going to be warm and sunny.
This is very much not the done thing and must not be allowed to stand. We demand conditions which call for five sweaters, hand warmers and flasks of tea at regular intervals.
So good is the weather forecast for tomorrow, I think I have persuaded Daisy to put in a rare early season appearance at Lord’s for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
Absolutely jealous of you from here in Perth, Ged.