I originally wrote this article in 2021 for another site. The Hundred had just started and the One Day Cup had been marginalised. I’ll be honest with you – this is the second day of DocumentingCricket, and I’m loading it up with content, but I think this is even more relevant, four years on.
Photos are from Middlesex v Kent at Radlett and Notts v Surrey at Welbeck.
Relegated to development status, there is a subdued feeling about the Royal London Cup this year. As the ECB’s only 50 Over tournament for the 18 major counties, it does seem odd that the best limited overs players in the country are involved in the sideshow that is The Hundred.
On Friday August 6th, I travelled to Radlett in Hertfordshire to watch Middlesex take on Kent in the 2021 edition of the competition to see whether I could be inspired by watching what is, effectively, a 2nd XI competition.
Why so Strange?
It’s strange to adopt this stance because England are the reigning 50 Over World Champions. The team will travel to India to defend their trophy in 2023 and it’s conceivable that most of the squad will have played no 50-Over domestic cricket for three seasons.
There will be many ODIs in that time and it could be argued that the international players rarely feature for their counties anyway but this is why the attitude to the Royal London Cup is an odd one. If England are to compete consistently in the long form of the 50 Over game, why is this a development competition?
Hit and Giggle
The counter argument is that England still has the T20 Blast and we’ve now seen the belated introduction of The Hundred. I have seen a game in the Hundred (I can explain) and also two matches in the 2021 Blast this season. I’ll go into those experiences in a later article but that’s beside the point for now.
Clearly, a batsman constructing an innings in 50 Over cricket will go about things in a different way to an approach in The Blast or The Hundred. The long form offers a chance to build and maybe rebuild an innings after a collapse at the top of the order.
There is no such luxury in the shorter formats where the objective is to ‘tee off’ from ball one. Similarly, bowlers are restricted due to their smaller ratio of deliveries: four overs in the Blast and 20 balls in the Hundred as opposed to ten overs in One Day matches.
The ECB, not that any representative is likely to read this, could maybe argue that their batsmen take an aggressive approach to the 50 Over game. Since the debacle of the 2015 World Cup, Eoin Morgan’s men have passed 400 on a number of occasions and have set new records for team totals in this format.
Those are the arguments against the Royal London One Day Cup becoming a development competition. Do the counter opinions stand up? It’s open for debate but let’s now move on to the game that I witnessed.
Middlesex v Kent at Radlett: 06th August 2021
Let’s start with a positive: It’s good to see the counties making use of their outgrounds and it was nice to be back at Radlett Cricket Club. The last time I watched a game here was in 1999 when a strong Lancashire team took on Hertfordshire in the old Nat West Bank Trophy.
On the same day, Yorkshire were hosting Nottinghamshire at York while Notts themselves have made use of Grantham and Welbeck this year. It’s good for cricket tragics to visit new places and, naturally, there is important revenue available for the hosts.
As for the game itself, Kent batted first having been inserted by Middlesex. The start was delayed by rain and, when the teams eventually took to the field, the match had been reduced to 50 Overs a side.
There are many first team players taking part in the competition and even some internationals. Middlesex were led by Australia’s Peter Handscomb while the scorecard indicated that Kent would be fielding Darren Stevens. The veteran all-rounder didn’t take part as the visitors were led by former Yorkshire batsman Jack Leaning. The majority of players were, however, likely to be completely unknown outside of their own counties.
The basic numbers show that Kent won the game by 21 runs having made 217/9 on first innings. Middlesex’s late order briefly threatened to chase the target down but they ultimately fell short.
Josh De Caires, Michael Atherton’s son, top scored for the home side as he built a solid partnership with James Harris. The two put on 57 for the seventh wicket and, at that stage, it seemed as though the hosts might just scrape through.
De Caires had also bowled some useful overs of spin and it occurred to me that I had seen his father’s first ever first class game for Cambridge University back in 1987. I suddenly felt very old but I digress.
The star in the Kent camp was Nathan Gilchrist with 5-45 from 6.3, admittedly expensive overs. Gilchrist is 21, reasonably rapid and I think he could be one to watch.
RLODC Passes By
One issue that I’ve found with the Royal London Cup this year is that the tournament seems to have passed me by. I don’t know if anyone else has felt like this but I had to check the competition on Cricinfo to find out the semi finalists for the purposes of this article.
For the record, Middlesex and Kent occupied the bottom two places in Group 1 so I hadn’t exactly picked the glamour tie of the round. In all honesty, while I enjoyed the game, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see them rooted at base camp.
Essex and Durham progressed and they were set to face Glamorgan and Surrey respectively.
I noted that the final of this competition will shift back to Saturday from Thursday in 2022. I’m not sure if that’s progress but it seems like a logical step. Meanwhile, if the Hundred is here to stay then there’s unlikely to be a change in personnel for the foreseeable future.
I can see both sides of the argument here but I can see one more than the other. This competition has produced great memories and some stunning performances and it’s slightly puzzling to see it relegated in this way.
All photographs © Matthew Harris
