The Wicked Cricket Column

northfan,

I am puzzled. I have re-read through the All Out Cricket article several times and the only other quote relating to Durham and becoming
a TMG is this: "When Durham were accepted as a first-class side, it was contingent on them developing a ground able to host
Test matches." Obviously, the word "able" is not the same as "had to."

Can you kindly point out the quote from the feature that I am missing? My eyesight is, no doubt, letting me down.

www.alloutcricket.com/blogs/durham-nightwatchman

Presumably the difference is temporary and permanent facilities.
One way or the other Durham have made some poor business decisions that have come back to haunt them and, as is often the way, those who suffer are the ones outside the decision-makers - the players, members and fans.

Fb,

I am with borderman on this one.

The dictionary meaning of capable is: having the ability, fitness, or quality necessary to do or achieve
a specified thing. So, you create a ground which has the ability to become a TMG ie. morph into one
if needed. My question being: Was the Riverside actually needed by the ECB to be a TMG with 4 others
in a three and a half hour travelling distance?  Or did the club hierarchy decide upon themselves to turn 
it into a TMG. This is not semantics but how you interpret the word 'capable'.

You can say that someone has the capability and fitness of running a marathon but it doesn't mean they
will then run a marathon. It just means they have the ability if they want to.

The sooner I gain a response from the ECB media office the better. 

PS: I have just done some fact finding ie. the distance from Durham/the Riverside to the other 4 TMGs
in their area using the AA Route Finder.

Time of travelling by car

Headingley: 1.40'
Old Trafford: 2.31'
Trentbridge: 2.39'
Edgbaston: 3.19'

Given that football fans regularly travel such distances to away games, I question again whether a TMG was
required by the ECB at Durham.

s&f's quote about a ground ''capable'' of staging international cricket I think comes from a claim that this was discussed by the working party set up by the TCCB to liaise with Durham prior to the drawing up and submission of the business plan.

However, it was not a committee made up of TCCB employees. It was made up of other county chairmen - Chris Middleton from Derbys, Jim Woodhouse from Kent, Bob Bennett from Lancs and Steve Coverdale from Northants. The only direct involvement from the TCCB was that Tony Brown (ex-Glos) acted as secretary to the working party.

If the working party did indeed want Durham to be "capable" of hosting international cricket, why were representatives from three non-TMGs in Derbys, Kent and Northants making such a demand?

I've certainly come across nothing to justify the claim of Dave Brooks that "Durham were forced to Test Match status by ECB" - and as they did not achieve test match status until 2003, eight seasons after the Riverside opened for first-class cricket, I'm not entirely sure when this "enforcement" is alleged to have taken place. The ECB did not come into existence until 1997, by which time Durham had been a f/c county for five seasons and had been playing at the Riverside for two of them.

Still, Sussex can claim vindication. When the 17 f/c counties first voted on whether to allow Durham to even pursue their application, it went 16-0, with one abstention. Guess who the abstention was?

"THE VLOG BLOG"
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Brighton is becoming the 'New Media Valley' of Britain and one such growing centre is the Hove County Ground where the recently built offices in the North East corner are a magnet for such enterprises. One such building is called New Work Training where part of their business is holding classes on different aspects of the new media. A strong trend is vlogging which is blogging via a camera and where Youtube is the primary platform. 

Mi Elfverson



I was invited to attend a beginners vlogging class last week by the founder of The Vlog Academy, Mi Elfverson, who set up her company two years ago. She hails from the TV/Film Production arena and worked for 25 years in the corporate and brand commercials world. After living in Sweden, New York and London, Mi moved to Brighton in 2007. 

Her class was a fascinating insight into this exponential growth market where some vloggers are the new rock and roll stars of the internet. While, it may be just another appendage to Twitter, Facebook, Periscope, Snapchat, Vimeo, Instagram and the rest, Brighton is now a major hub where top vlogging stars like PewDiePie and Zoella live. 

The facts are extraordinary.

PewDiePie is Swedish and registered his Youtube account in 2010. His forte was reviewing computer games, offering tips and tricks on how to reach higher levels. The youngsters loved him and within two years he had gained over 1m subscribers. Today, he has 47m subscribers and his Youtube account has attained over 13 billion views! This year Time Magazine named him one of "The World's 100 Most Influential People.” PewDiePie is now a multi-millionaire from the Youtube monetisation and is often stopped in the Brighton streets for his autograph.



en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PewDiePie

Zoella is English and started her first vlog in 2009. Her forte was reviewing handbags, women’s clothes and beauty products. Today, she has various different vlog channels alongside a large social media following. The Telegraph described Zoella in 2013 as “one of Britain’s most influential tweeters”. In December 2015, Zoella aka Sugg, main YouTube channel had over 9.9 million subscribers and attracted more than 663 million video views. It is the 50th most subscribed channel on the website. Her second channel ‘MoreZoella’ has over 3.4 million subscribers and more than 290 million video views. She also has over 4 million Twitter followers and 7 million on Instagram. She too is now a multi-millionaire.



en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoella

Meanwhile, Mi’s beginner course lasts either 3 hours or 5 hours depending on the class and covers the basic groundwork on how to carry out a vlog. Words and phrases like “authentic” and “a deep connection” are integral for a successful vlogger alongside camera confidence, a comfortable-looking appearance, a likeable personality, and a passion for the subject covered.

For example, Cricinfo had a disastrous attempt at a form of vlogging during 2015 when they asked their journalists to review county cricket matches via camera. Some looked like the Addams Family ‘Uncle Fester’ and most had little experience or knowledge on how to speak to camera. Only George Dobell shone. The experiment was quickly stopped and fortunately for Cricinfo readers, the written word remains intact.

Subjects covered in Mi’s class include what camera equipment to buy (a modern smart phone or i-Pad is quite sufficient); how to light yourself; the prime microphone to use; the best-looking studio environment; the length of vlog; watch out for those ‘ums' and ‘arrhs’; how to edit your vlog via i-Movie; and how to join Youtube, market yourself and gain subscribers. Most importantly, it is imperative to vlog about a subject you understand, are knowledgable and feel passionate about, otherwise your ‘connection’ with the viewer may not be sufficiently strong or ‘authentic’.

While Mi enjoys her public classes and is an impressive teacher, she is discovering a growing call from the Corporate world where business vlogs are being increasingly used as a sales tool. She travels the world and is soon to deliver a Vlogging course in Mumbai. Her next beginner classes at the Hove County Ground New Work Training office are on: November 2nd and 29th.

To learn about Mi’s other classes as well as full serviced production packages including video strategy, filming and editing high quality videos for more established businesses, click on her website as well as the link below.  

www.vlogacademy.com/course-calendar/

Contact Details

website: www.vlogacademy.com
email: mi.elf@mac.com
twitter: twitter.com/thevlogacademy
phone: 01273 640045/07968 715469 
____________________________________

Absolutely! Grubby should immediately book himself onto the November 2nd course. Mi will expertly put him into shape. 

"That Was The Special Sussex CCC Week That Was"
_____________________________________________

County cricket is abuzz over the harsh penalties placed on Durham CCC by the ECB for using them as a lender of last resort yet, there is so much else happening in the cricketing world and one excellent example is Sussex CCC where celebrations off-the-field are presently aplenty. This week has seen several notable achievements for the club.



First off, is our President, David Bowden, who won the ECBs Natwest OSCAs ‘Lifetime Achiever Award.’ I first met David in 2012 when I was commissioned by All Out Cricket Magazine to carry out an 18 part series entitled ‘The Great Unknowns’. These were people who tirelessly work behind the county scenes gaining little or no recognition from the public. Naturally, Sussex was No.1 in the series and David an obvious choice. We met at his house in Hove and chatted for several hours where it became clear, he is the engine-room behind the proliferating off-the-field club activities.

Whether it is the Academy Ground at Blackstone, the outstanding Sussex Cricket Foundation or Sussex Cricket PLC, without David none of this might have happened. For, it is difficult to quantify just how much influence he’s had over the years on the club, but every noteworthy off-the-field achievement that’s happened to Sussex CCC during the last 20 years has been touched by his hand. The Club, Members and supporters owe him a debt of gratitude and his Award this week was richly deserved. David is one of the good guys and is a special man. Sussex are very fortunate to have him.

sussexcricketfoundation.co.uk/david-bowden-wins-lifetime-achiever-award-at-natwest-oscas/

Another special person at the Club is Honorary Archivist/Librarian, Rod Boddie, who celebrated his 70th birthday on Wednesday. It is fitting his party took place at the Museum. What can one say about Rob?

A favourite Uncle to the players; respected and loved by all; his jolly personality infects the museum like a smile from heaven. Known as the club-getter, if a father seeks a player’s autograph for his son or a piece of information about the club’s history is required, Rob’s your man. He too is the engine and has overseen extraordinary developments of the Museum in recent years. Given it was once a discarded port-a-cabin, the transformation that’s occurred over the last 5 years is amazing. The museum is now the envy of many a cricket county and is a worthy resting place for the club’s rich history.




Rob and I had a fascinating chat a month ago in the Spen Cama Pavilion. I learnt about his Mod background; the 1960s scooter rides to Brighton; an early life as a roadie for music groups; his love of The Who; memories of the legendary London Marquee venue - being a music man myself, it was a fun trip down memory lane.

This week has also seen the birthdays of two Sussex stalwarts. First is former Captain, Alan Wells, who celebrated his 55th birthday on Sunday. One of his claims to fame is after being Captain for 5 years, he left to join arch-rivals Kent. Rumours abounded of his mistreatment by the Sussex hierarchy, and Wells departure was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Members and supporters which led to the infamous Members Revolt at the Grand Hotel in April 1997. It is great to see the Wells genes remaining at Sussex with his son Luke.

The other is one of the most controversial players ever to grace Hove, whose 70th birthday is today. Well, it should have been today. None other than Tony Greig.

A claim to fame was meeting and interviewing him at Ditchling CC in July 2012. The club had invited Greig to Hove to look around the ground redevelopment and afterwards he drove to Ditchling where a Sussex XI were playing a charity match against the village club.



An overriding memory of Tony Greig was his grumpiness. I was lucky because he rarely did impromptu interviews but because the club had kindly asked him a few minutes before, he agreed; but when a photographer friend took some pictures without gaining his permission first, Greig wasn’t happy and then stipulated the interview could only last 15 minutes. In fact, he kept looking at his watch and when the 15 minutes was up, that was it! At least, I managed a selfie with him. 

Tragically, his untimely death arrived 5 months later and I believe, I was the last British cricket journalist to interview him. Given our conversation has never been published after being let down by several cricket publications in the past, to celebrate his 70th birthday, I will disclose it on the Wicked Cricket Blog as an exclusive.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Greig

Meanwhile, one wishes every success to Lewis Hatchett whom after retiring from cricket is trying his hand at motivational speaking. His debut ‘gig’ occurred this morning at the AMEX during a ‘Networking Breakfast Meeting’. I hope his car didn’t break down on the way there. (Stop it - down boy!)

And finally, we cannot end this recent news without speaking of Ed Joyce. The club have given him a deadline to make a decision whether he wishes to remain at Hove or leave. Mark Davis says in the Evening Argus: “We’re not 100 per cent sure what Ed is doing yet. We have asked him to give us an answer by the start of next month as it is quite tricky to plan ahead until we know whether he is going to play or not." Davis continued, "We’d love him to stay because he is a quality player but we don’t want to miss out on somebody else while we are waiting for his decision.”

Over to The Clash

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMaE6toi4mk