County Cricket…It Matters –
Rallying Cry from Annie Chave
Although she admitted herself that her analysis of the current state of County Cricket – the traditional, long-form red-ball game – was likely to ‘be a bit depressing’, writer, editor and podcaster Annie Chave gave the January meeting of the Nottingham Cricket Lovers Society (NCLS) a rallying cry of passion and support.
Anxieties about the spread of franchise cricket and the apparent preference of cricket’s hierarchies for the lucrative, more easily marketable, white ball formats (she was particularly scathing about The Hundred) did not deter her from declaring that ‘County Cricket Matters.’
Indeed, Annie is the editor of a magazine with just that title that celebrates the characters and characteristics of Championship cricket. She is also a regular contributor to a range of social media platforms on cricket and speaks for the die-hard county cricket fans at meetings and forums across the county. (Though, curiously, this was her first visit to Trent Bridge).
She has been able to lobby the ‘top table’ of the game and is more positive about the present leadership at the ECB than she was about previous regimes. In particular, she felt that downgrading the 50-over competition immediately after England had been crowned World Champions in that format was an error of judgement. “I understand the financial pressures”, she said, “but making The Hundred a priority right at the time when the audience was primed for the 50-over game sent a strange message, particularly to the younger players”.
She cited one commentator who had predicted a dismal future for the county contracted player. “There is a view that we could see cricketers become like tennis players or golfers”, she told her audience, “self-employed and with their own coaches and support staff, crossing the world in search of competitions and contracts but without that ‘home base’ of a county like Nottinghamshire or Somerset.
“I hope it never comes to that but it is a credible direction unless we marshal all our forces to argue for and promote County Cricket”.
This meeting of the NCLS was the first to be held in the afternoon, a decision that proved wise as a combination of bitter winter weather and a premium pair of speakers – Annie Chave was joined by Somerset, England and TMS stalwart Vic Marks – produced one of the biggest attendances in years.
They were treated to Annie’s passionate defence of county cricket, a game she fell in love with during her childhood in the South-West of England with visits to Somerset and the ground at Taunton to fan the flames.
She set out the case that the four-day championship fixture gives time and space for all the elements of cricket to feature and gives players – and their loyal spectators – time to absorb the subtleties and fluctuations of the game. Annie also said that, whilst the ‘Bazball’ approach to the England Test side has been exciting and rewarding, it was founded on players that had learned their craft in the county game.
Annie expressed a concern, echoed by Vic Marks (of whom more elsewhere), that the plucking of young, almost untried, cricketers into the England set-up – including, of course, her home county’s Shoaib Bashir – could act as a disincentive to county cricketers to hone their craft over years of four-day games.
Although her analysis was ‘a bit depressing’, Annie Chave was positive about the quality and potential of the County Championship to engage and enthuse.
She spoke warmly of the Live Stream commentaries that each county offers – she and Vic are regulars on the Somerset feed – and the fact that those streams draw tens of thousands of subscribers, especially when games go down to the wire as evidence that, with the right promotion and goodwill at the highest levels of the game, there is still an appetite for the four-day red-ball game.
Indeed, as she would say forcibly, ‘County Cricket Matters’! 
Membership of NCLS is £15pa, or entry on the night for £5 per session.
The next meeting on 6 February will revert to a 7pm start; speakers are Kathryn Bryce of The Blaze and Scotland and Steven Mullaney, county captain turned coach.
Full details of the 2024/25 programme from https://nottinghamcricketlovers.co.uk/
January 2025
Copies of County Cricket Matters can be found in the Wynne-Tomas Library at Trent Bridge and Annie Chave can be (should be) followed on X (formerly Twitter), BlueSky, Facebook and other social media platforms.
Podcast, subscriptions and further information: https://www.countycricketmatters.com/