The publication of the long-awaited and (un)shockingly damning report into discrimination this week has coincided with the start of the second Ashes Test.
Among many criticisms, the report highlighted the ECB’s conflicting roles as both promoter and regulator. These were in evidence first-hand at Lord’s, where, within hours of one another on Monday, press calls with players vowing to stick to their cricketing guns and administrators promising change were hosted.
The cynics could spin the timing of the report in any direction, the story soon to be either swallowed or amplified by the Ashes circus. Either way, Lord’s this week, with all its airs and graces, will provide an uncomfortable backdrop to a bleak assessment of elitism still rife in the game.
The vast majority of tickets for this match cost more than £100 (as, in fairness, they do at all this series’ venues), making Martin Lewis a surprising attendee. Money Saving Expert? Best of luck this summer.
Zak’s proverbials hit right note for Stokes
Zak Crawley turned up at Lord’s this week and informed head coach Brendon McCullum he had something to share with the group. It was a Chinese proverb, which skipper Ben Stokes found particularly relevant to his side’s injury strife in the bowling ranks.
A rough outline: a farmer has only one horse to help tend his land which escapes. A week later, it returns with a whole herd. Training the new steeds, the farmer’s son suffers a broken leg. A week later, the army turn up and conscript every able-bodied man in the village. The son gets to stick around. Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?
Free food a hit with Aussies
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, unless you’re playing a Test match at Lord’s — and don’t the Aussies know it. Between interviews given by Travis Head, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, the Home of Cricket’s grub has had almost as many mentions as Ollie Robinson this week.
Leach concerns over Brook
Injured Jack Leach has never seemed a more valuable member of the England side, but has been at Lord’s this week and already begun to fret about how he might get back in. “[Harry] Brook has taken my job of making a funny little speech,” Leach said. “That’s the only reason I was in the team!”
