Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2023

by Andy Pack & Mike Gibson at the crease SPEAKERS 2021-22 5 Kevin was as entertaining, and his views as thought provoking, as ever as he gave his earnest opinion on the state of the game today. But as always his frustrations are always tempered by good sense and hope for the future. The Hundred tournament, he felt, was divisive, and brought about by a worldwide decline in Test cricket. On the plus side, it had brought cricket back to the BBC which drew a ‘terrific response’ from the public so shouldn’t the counties ‘play the game’ and not complain? Another negative element identified was that the competition had impacted negatively on fixture scheduling, which in turn caused a general weakening of the England side. The County game naturally featured Our guest was a principal mover in setting up ‘The Sporting Statues Project’ which can be viewed at http://www. sportingstatues.com, and an absorbing talk about cricketing statues around the world was his topic on this occasion. The evening was enhanced by Dr. Stride’s Powerpoint presentation which added colour and interest to his account. It included references to how the notion of statues began, Changing face of statues 7 October 2021 Dr Chris Stride Senior Lecturer, University of Sheffield and how the choice of figures selected over the last few decades has changed. Royal, religious, military and political statues were the norm for centuries, but commissions for sporting and cultural figures have largely overtaken them in popularity. They differ in scale, material and accessibility and, in the sports world, offer an opportunity for stadiums and clubs to immortalise their heroes in solid form, often in action poses that resonate with supporters at the venues they saw them perform at. Does 100 spell doom? 19 October 2021 Kevin Howells BBC Cricket broadcaster heavily and particularly its relevance to the game in general. One way of strengthening its position would be for all 18 counties to share the positives from each format to make the red ball version an even better product. But, of course, that doesn’t mean wholesale adoption of the worst of white ball cricket… There was disbelief on his behalf that all the counties voted to accept the Hundred knowing the damage it would cause the County game. There was noticeable, grim concern when Kevin said: “I give the County game another ten years to survive, with a possible reduction in their numbers within that timespan.”