Achieving Water Cooler

Middlesex 136 all out (19.1 overs)
lost to
Hampshire 137 for 4 (17.3 overs)
by 6 wickets

T20 Blast Southern Group

Played at Lord’s

Thursday 3 August 2017

Twitter @ball_sup

Let’s start with the good news. A crowd of 22,822 in Lord’s tonight. I’ll say it again. To be successful in terms of bums on seats, T20 needs to have a sense of occasion. People go because it’s the place to go. You go because your mates go. You go because your next door neighbours go. That is the Holy Grail that is being chased. It is what Big Bash t20 has achieved in Australia. It is what our American Cousins would call a Water Cooler Event. The next day, at work, stood around the water cooler, everyone is all “oohh did you go to the cricket last night….”

My bias is. The smaller, non Test Match Counties achieve Water Cooler because there are few other events to challenge T20. Your Tauntons. Your Chelmsfords. Your Worcesters. Big places. No League football. T20 is by default The Event. Salute the Sold Out Signs.

My bias is. The London grounds. Lord’s & The Oval. Achieve Water Cooler because they are in London. Old University chums, their husbands & wives, people from their golf club, their kids & school friends, the Network. All hoovering up Rover Tickets for the new Warner Stand, The Tavern & the Upper Allen. Raid Waitrose. Raid Selfridge’s Food Hall. Raid the Wine Cellar. Get yourselves down to Lord’s on a Thursday.

Up at six thirty. Check the markets. Try & wash last night’s hangover out of your hair. Into your City Office. Four screens in front of you. Buy. Sell. “Were you in the Braying Buffoon last night?”. Buy. Sell. “That new Wine Bar does Champers for under a ton”. Buy. Sell. “Have you checked out the new guy in overseas derivatives with the blue suit & beard?”. Buy. Sell. “What you doing tonight? We’re going to get half pissed at the Cricket at The Oval. Couple of Taxis booked for five downstairs”. “Yep, I’ll have loads of that….”.

My bias is. Headingley. Old Trafford. Edgbaston. Trent Bridge. They’ll have their moments. Game Of Roses, etc. But, you’ve got football, you’ve got International Cricket. You’re not London. Achieving Water Cooler is never going to be easy. I personally don’t think new ECB Franchised T20 will change that landscape much. But, I’m biased.

In other good news. I’m still ploughing through my BrewDog Hazy Jane free Equity For Punks loyalty tins at 7.2%. So, those were my drink of the day.

That was actually quite a flat and disappointing game. Afridi pulled out. He’s always worth a look. The Middle Saxons seemed to lose wickets consistently. Some good knocks. But no one really taking it downtown & home. Only one six. 135 for 7 to 136 all out hasn’t helped. And then, Hampshire just looked in control. A sixty from Roussow anchoring them. They didn’t lose wickets. And brought it home easily. But, the 22,822 were there. At The Event. That is a marvellous crowd.

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