As usual the pen of cricket hits the media for six. Remember the days when we got both the district and sub-district scores in the paper every Monday and even Saturday night in the Pinkie? At least my local paper the Sunraysia Daily has not lost the art of cricket scores. Every Monday and Tuesday you can see them in all their glory from the under 12's through to the oldies. By the way "War Crimes" I still cover Oz Tests at home in depth in the highly estemeeded The Footy Almanac but that is another story.
Taking a catch at square leg off a full blooded pull shot is different from taking one at point off a full blooded cut shot. No time to think and just instinct, but the angle of view is different as is the spin on the ball. Force of inertia in the hitting of the hand is roughly the same. Different mechanics in motion, hopefully the same result. In context…reading about something I have seen (or better yet haven’t) is the pursuit to fill in the items of note I have missed to the more learned eye. If it lets me down regarding a certain standard, then I should adjust. Just as I would if I dropped the ball I was calculating would be catchable. However, to my middle aged mind, there is too much to consume regarding cricketing opinion than there has ever been. There are too many hackers hitting the ball up in the air to catch. Which ones will I hold onto? Which wicket will I value the most? Where is the quality? Well here obviously, but full disclosure, I subscribe to the quirks of the Final Word as a cricketing nerd, and I played casual touch footy with Ben Horne inside of and outside of a decade ago. Additionally, the facts in the article I don’t doubt, yet I am more focused on the bowler’s approach and release, the batter’s stance and how the bat is held, to try and better understand the angle the bat blade and the game inside each delivery, is coming at me with.
It is a pity that cricket writers are disappearing from newspapers but they do pop up elsewhere, like Pete and Gid on Substack. I'm new to this platform and still sorting through the wheat from the chaff, but I have subscribed to or follow a couple cricket writers including Neil Manthorpe and John Hotten. I'm sure there are others equally deserving of my eyeballs, if not my money. I like that you get a perspective from other countries, which wasn't always the case with our newspapers (at least the Oz still gives us regular Mike Atherton columns, which are a treat).
Good luck with your paid subscriber drive - we need your stuff more than ever.
Cricket Australia's 'distinction' of employing the most cricket journalists of any organisation in the country does not bode well for the future of independent cricket journalism.
Fascinating read Gideon. The irony of more cricket but fewer cricket writers is a nice observation. Apart from your good selves, I fondly remember Bill O'Reilly being a wonderful observer of the game while Peter Roebuck was a great loss as a commentator.
Apart from the tragic demise of cricket news, figure 4.6 shows an extraordinary downwards trend in the consumption of all news sources. From 254 units in 2016 to 202 units in 2024; a decline of approximately 20% in 8 years. At this rate, news will be extinct altogether in a few decades. Is this decline explained by a decline in journalism or by the Murdoch-Trump-Musk (i.e. our) era's complete loss of faith in all news sources?
I like the irony that we can’t read the story about “the cult” because it’s paywalled…
As usual the pen of cricket hits the media for six. Remember the days when we got both the district and sub-district scores in the paper every Monday and even Saturday night in the Pinkie? At least my local paper the Sunraysia Daily has not lost the art of cricket scores. Every Monday and Tuesday you can see them in all their glory from the under 12's through to the oldies. By the way "War Crimes" I still cover Oz Tests at home in depth in the highly estemeeded The Footy Almanac but that is another story.
Taking a catch at square leg off a full blooded pull shot is different from taking one at point off a full blooded cut shot. No time to think and just instinct, but the angle of view is different as is the spin on the ball. Force of inertia in the hitting of the hand is roughly the same. Different mechanics in motion, hopefully the same result. In context…reading about something I have seen (or better yet haven’t) is the pursuit to fill in the items of note I have missed to the more learned eye. If it lets me down regarding a certain standard, then I should adjust. Just as I would if I dropped the ball I was calculating would be catchable. However, to my middle aged mind, there is too much to consume regarding cricketing opinion than there has ever been. There are too many hackers hitting the ball up in the air to catch. Which ones will I hold onto? Which wicket will I value the most? Where is the quality? Well here obviously, but full disclosure, I subscribe to the quirks of the Final Word as a cricketing nerd, and I played casual touch footy with Ben Horne inside of and outside of a decade ago. Additionally, the facts in the article I don’t doubt, yet I am more focused on the bowler’s approach and release, the batter’s stance and how the bat is held, to try and better understand the angle the bat blade and the game inside each delivery, is coming at me with.
It is a pity that cricket writers are disappearing from newspapers but they do pop up elsewhere, like Pete and Gid on Substack. I'm new to this platform and still sorting through the wheat from the chaff, but I have subscribed to or follow a couple cricket writers including Neil Manthorpe and John Hotten. I'm sure there are others equally deserving of my eyeballs, if not my money. I like that you get a perspective from other countries, which wasn't always the case with our newspapers (at least the Oz still gives us regular Mike Atherton columns, which are a treat).
Good luck with your paid subscriber drive - we need your stuff more than ever.
Cricket Australia's 'distinction' of employing the most cricket journalists of any organisation in the country does not bode well for the future of independent cricket journalism.
So am I! And thanks for the nod…
You're much missed, Mal. See you next week.
Fascinating read Gideon. The irony of more cricket but fewer cricket writers is a nice observation. Apart from your good selves, I fondly remember Bill O'Reilly being a wonderful observer of the game while Peter Roebuck was a great loss as a commentator.
Best wishes to you. We've encouraged all our members to subscribe.
Apart from the tragic demise of cricket news, figure 4.6 shows an extraordinary downwards trend in the consumption of all news sources. From 254 units in 2016 to 202 units in 2024; a decline of approximately 20% in 8 years. At this rate, news will be extinct altogether in a few decades. Is this decline explained by a decline in journalism or by the Murdoch-Trump-Musk (i.e. our) era's complete loss of faith in all news sources?