Cricket Diary: T12B The Next Cricket Franchise

I have been trying to watch the IPL whilst I continue my rehab. In theory it should have been a perfect break in the day: breakfast, walk the dogs, rehab, lunch, IPL, rehab, bath, dinner, sofa & bed but I have really struggled to the extent that I have yet to watch a whole game, and my desire to watch any form of white ball cricket diminishes by the day.

Now to be fair to the IPL I have never been that interested in watching sport, having always much preferred playing, and when I do watch is is because I want a team (or individual to win) so over the years I have watched less and less. Truth is with the IPL and in fact all franchised cricket I couldn’t care less who won, in fact I could not name all the sides playing in any of the white ball competitions around the world.

I will admit that the few games I have caught the end of have been exciting but the rest of the game has been slow (too many advertising and sponsorships breaks), identical (have a bash and see if it comes off, if it does carry on, if it doesn’t then carry on) so I have created what I think could well be the next generation of white ball franchised cricket: a twelve (12) ball challenge.

1. Toss the coin to see which team bats.
2. Pick from a hat one of three game scenarios for the last two overs e.g. how many runs needed and wickets left
3. Bowling team have already submitted picked their last two bowlers so they have to deal with the set scenario
4. Batting team have submitted their batting order so the batters are determined by the number of wickets left i.e. if 4 wickets have fallen then batters 5 and 6 are at the crease.

Yes I know this means that teams will second guess and structure their respective orders accordingly but they do not know if they are going to be batting or bowling or what the scenario will be.

The ‘game’ is then a 12 ball match: the most exciting part of the game anyway!!??

In ‘other’ news the rehab is going really well and I have more optimism now than ever before. Not quite pain free in the knees (don’t think will ever be) but so much more movement and strength. Thighs again seem to be pretty much pain free and only really by left hamstring and right hip that cause any kind of discomfort. Now it has to be noted that I have done no running or cycling for three weeks now – apart from a few jogs of around 20 yards with the dogs to see what it felt like – and I have not picked up a bat of ball in three weeks.

I hope to play a game this Sunday as a batter to give the body a bit of test and start nets on Monday as part of my new role with the Birmingham Unicorns. Then if all goes well I will play a full game for the XL Club on the 17th May before heading off to Spain to get some sun and warmth into the old bones, and all being well do a lot of running.

Will also give me some time to carry on thinking about how cricket can address the issues of diversity and inclusivity that it says it wants (and needs to) and in particular how as the more I see the more convinced I am that cricket alone can’t address crickets issues as too many people are too entrenched and unable (not unwilling) to make the changes needed. Is why No Boundaries have set a range of commercial services and why I am so pleased to have been contracted to help the Unicorns.