ROUNDUP RANT: Cricket’s first mercenary
The brilliant but forgotten Phil Mead, Stokes’ debt to NZ, & remembering BAN’s first Test in 2000.
Good morning!
There’s a really interesting story today about Phil Mead, one of the heavy hitters from the golden age of English domestic cricket between the wars. Because he was just steadily average at around 50 an innings, he never got the recognition of his peers who hit the big centuries that made headlines. And so, his career meandered along until he was forgotten.
Along the way, to pay the bills, Mead kept switching teams - potentially becoming the first high value mercenary in the game. Which made me think about how we discuss today’s “mercenaries”.
Modern cricket’s a funny game. It feels like there’s so much money in the game that to actively choose the franchise life is a dereliction of duty and a slap in the face of every fan’s face. Which may be a fair assessment when you talk about the likes of Kane Williamson and Quinton de Kock.
But what about Tim David? He’s played 68 T20Is for Australia, up to and including their most recent loss to India last week. At the same time, his ESPN profile looks like the research notes for an obscure trivia question with 16 franchise teams from 10 leagues (I think - it’s a really odd list).
He’s an unforgivable mercenary right? But, on the flip side, neither Cricket Australia nor a single Australian state have given him an annual contract in the last two years. What would you do in his situation? Travel the world and make a chunk of money, or sit at home and hope the cricketing overlords take pity on you after 68 (!) T20Is?
If Cricket Australia (or any other administration) aren’t interested in paying a fair salary, how is Tim David supposed to make a living? Cricket has supposedly come a long way in the last century, but we’re still stuck in a world where an established international at a big three nation can’t get an annual contract.
I think (balanced) Test cricket is more fun than franchise cricket, but it’s really hard to blame the cricketers for choosing to improve their T20 techniques while prioritising franchise contracts. Athletes have a very short career window, and they need to maximise it.
On the other hand, we don’t talk enough about how cricket administrators are screwing over…everyone. The Kolkata Test between South Africa and India is sold out. Half a million tickets - sold out. The players are going to get paid a relatively measly amount, the fans are going to get substandard facilities (if they get any at all in India), the broadcasters are going to struggle to break even, and the BCCI is going to get rich.
But, the players are the problem right?
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ENG’s leadership was forged down under
🏏 Cricket Roundup: Stokes’ debt to NZ, BAN’s first Test in 2000, & IND-W’s great culture.
The Ashes:
👉 Cameron Ponsonby on Ben Stokes’ childhood in - and debt to - NZ.
👉 Matthew Henry on Joe Root’s failure to score down under.
👉 Steve James on AUS’ strong influence on Brendon McCullum.The Cricket Roundup:
👉 Ashfaq-Ul-Alam remembers the excitement around BAN’s first Test.
👉 Tanishq Vaddi with Arundathi Reddy on IND-W’s dressing room culture.
👉 Probuddha Bhattacharjee on why CSK will regret the Jadeja-Samson trade.
👉 Somshuvra Laha on the Eden Gardens awaiting IND & SA.
👉 Abhishek AB remembers Vijay Merchant and his impact on IND cricket.
👉 Daniel Cherny on the AUS players who see more value in franchise cricket.
Cricket’s first mercenary
📚 Best Features: The brilliant but forgotten Phil Mead, & the professionalism of IND-W.
“Phil Mead and the Battle with Poverty”
✍️ Giles Wilcock remembers the statistically brilliant but forgotten Phil Mead, whose lack of eye-catching highs and lows forced him to become one of cricket’s first mercenaries just to make a living.“India’s professional World Cup win”
✍️ Jarrod Kimber & Shayan Khan put together a comprehensive look at India’s squad to determine the history that won them a World Cup.
🗞️ Quick News: CSK’s other Jadeja trade, & the Women’s WC saw 446M viewers.
Venkata Krishna B reports on the CSK-GT trade for Washington Sundar that fell through because of the Samson trade. They really want to get rid of Jadeja.
The Women’s World Cup final saw 185 million viewers, matching the numbers from India’s successful win in the Men’s T20 World Cup in 2024.
The Guardian have announced a new comprehensively assembled list of the 100 best Ashes players ever. If their previous lists on the best footballers are anything to go by, this should be a really great collection. I’ll keep you guys updated.
The advantages of training your broadcasters
📺 A/V: Modern broadcasting, Brasil’s future, & debating the WPL retentions.
“Commentary, Podcasting and Managing Social Media”
📽️ Sam Perry & Ian Higgins host Mark Howard to discuss cricket broadcasting in Australia, how it differs from India, & how he’s faring in the digital world. [YouTube]“Um, dois, três, Cricket Brasil!”
🎤 Adam Collins has the second part of his conversation with Cricket Brasil president Roberta Moretti Avery about the future of the sport in the country. [Apple/Spotify]“WPL Retentions Explained!”
📽️ Cricket by JB looks at the five teams’ choices to determine who goes into the WPL auction (and the season) with the biggest advantage. [YouTube]
That’s it for today!
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