Open Letter To MCCC Senior Management

Mr Vinnie Codrington (cc: John Embury, Phil Edmonds.)

Middlesex CCC

Lord�s Cricket Ground

London

NW8 8QN

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 September 2006

 

 

Dear Vinnie,

 

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MCCC SENIOR MANAGEMENT

 

As a life member of the club and also as editor of the MTWD Middlesex Supporters� Web Site under my nom-de-plume �Ged Ladd�, I am writing to the senior management of the club to express my views and suggestions for the future of the club.� This letter and the opinions in it are my own, although I owe a debt of gratitude to many of the contributors to MTWD whose thoughts and suggestions have helped to shape my opinions.

 

You are probably aware that I am one of the more optimistic and upbeat members of the club, so I hope that my comments and suggestions are recognized for what they are; heartfelt and solely intended for the benefit of the club.

 

Context

 

Even before the season ends, it is fair to state that Middlesex has had a very poor season; indeed one of the very worst that I can remember.� This poor performance comes on the back of a great many seasons of indifferent performance in most competitions.� Whilst we have gained promotion to the first division in both divisional competitions, we have only seen occasional glimpses of potential success for many years, with mediocrity being the more regular position in all competitions.

 

I have chosen to write this letter before the season has concluded, but relegation in at least one of the divisional competitions is highly likely.� In particular the County Championship, which I and a great many others hold dearest, has been heartbreaking to follow this season.

 

I am delighted that so many Middlesex players have been selected for England in the past couple of years and see this as one of the few truly great highlights for Middlesex.� I am also pleased to see the progress made by several of our young batsmen.� Nick Compton in particular has had a breakthrough season at First class level.� Eoin Morgan and Billy Godleman look like the real thing to me on the few occasions I have seen them play.� I have yet to see Malan and Levy but their second team returns look very promising on paper.�

 

But the bowling talent is simply not coming through.� Peploe still looks below First Class level to me, as does Wright.� Whelan I have seen only once (a year or two ago) but his absence from the first team, even with all the injury problems we have had, speaks volumes.� I have not seen Finn play live but by all accounts (and a quick look at an U19 game on TV) he should be a fine First team bowler within two to three years.�

 

I shall set out my thoughts and suggestions under four headings:

�      Production line for bowlers;

�      EU Law players;

�      Short term hot picks;

�      Longer term finance.

 

Production Line for Bowlers

 

I have seen several suggestions for improving our production line for bowlers, including the hiring of a specialist bowling coach, the use of specialist bowling academies off-season and using different methods for selecting the young talent.� I am not an expert on this subject and feel unqualified to advise.� However, whatever it is that we have been doing these past few years simply cannot be the right methods.� We have a very large catchment within Middlesex and ought to be producing a significant number of home grown First Class bowlers regularly.�

 

I believe that the club should review its methods in this area and implement changes (possibly radical changes) promptly to ensure that the younger age groups (Finn�s age and younger) are well nurtured and have the maximum opportunity to flourish because of and for Middlesex.

 

EU Law Players

�

Middlesex should end its policy of excluding players qualified to play as domestic players by virtue of EU Law (sometimes referred to as �Kolpak� players although I know that the term is often misapplied).� To my knowledge, only two teams have made an overt statement of policy not to use such players; Glamorgan and Middlesex.� The former has more or less sunk without trace and our own beloved club is going in that same direction at the moment.�

 

Personally, I disapproved of that Middlesex policy when it was first overtly stated in my hearing at a Middlesex Forum last year.� I find the policy discriminatory (there are my principles coming out).� I also find it self-destructive for Middlesex; we are hurting ourselves without helping English cricket.� In an environment where almost all clubs are utilizing those resources, these players are a fact in English cricket whether Middlesex use them or not (pragmatism and principles.� Whatever next?)

 

With the agreement to reduce the number of genuine overseas players from 2 to 1 from 2008, continuing with this �no Kolpak� policy will be even more self-destructive than it has been up until now.

 

Middlesex should scrap this senseless policy immediately.

 

Short term Hot Picks

 

As I have done in the past, I attach a schedule of clubs and players I think might be worth targeting for experienced players.� I am not publishing this list as part of the open letter.� Part of the purchasing thinking for 2007 should cover captaincy; we do not have a home-grown candidate other than those likely to be in the England set up for at least a while.

 

[Note to MTWD Readers: MTWD readers wishing to see that appendix should e-mail a request to me at gedladd@hotmail.co.uk including a statement that you would not disclose the contents of the Appendix to anyone else.� I shall exercise my personal and absolute discretion in considering such requests].

 

I have no doubt that we will need to buy in quality bowling resources to stand a reasonable chance of taking 20 wickets regularly and/or challenging for one-day silverware.� Strike bowling and spin bowling are our main deficiencies and should be our main areas to target.�

 

Without wanting to trawl over the past, the main reason that Louw was a poor choice in my opinion is precisely because he doesn�t fit into either of those two categories.� We also made a bad mistake by not employing vital early season cover for Styris (probably a strike bowler at that time); we must learn from such mistakes and not repeat them.� Silverwood was an excellent purchase in 2006 because he is a fine strike bowler.

 

Longer-term Finance

 

It is often said that we are not a wealthy club because we are tenants at Lord�s and therefore we are not a Test Match Ground club in financial terms � indeed we don�t really have our own home ground (as other clubs would define it) at all.� I agree that this is an issue but we must address it.�

 

I do not agree with those members who suggest that we try to spend our way out of trouble; that is a road to longer-term problems if it is done in a Macawber-like way.� However, I do feel that our current level of reserves is high in our circumstances; it does not reflect the one benefit we have in not having our own ground; we do not need to reserve �for a rainy day� when our buildings fall apart.

 

However, all of the above points are tactical detail whilst we have a profound strategic problem.� Unlike the Middlesex glory days of the late 70�s and early 80�s, in the modern game the poorer teams (i.e. those with less substantial finances) are condemned to being mediocre performers most of the time.� The game has become increasingly professional to the extent that success will correlate far more closely with what you pay for players and this correlation is likely to become stronger, not weaker, as time goes on.� Middlesex needs a different commercial model.

 

We need a sea-change commercial restructuring to avoid being perpetually mediocre with just occasional glory in the modern game.� There are possible sources of relief from this destitution.

 

My first port of call would be the MCC.� It is surely in the MCC�s interests that the team playing regularly at Lord�s is one of the better teams, not a mediocre team.� To facilitate this, the MCC and MCCC should radically revisit its commercial arrangements such that MCCC is left in a financial position to thrive.� I am not privy to the detail of the current arrangements but I believe that it is not possible for Middlesex to thrive within those arrangements.� I would explore a continuum of possibilities, including what could effectively be an acquisition of Middlesex by MCC through to a parting of the ways.� I expect the answer lies somewhere in-between these two extremes but part of the answer will probably emerge from some of the advantages of the most radical options, tweaked to remain as advantages in one of the somewhat less radical options.

 

My other port of call would be corporate sponsors and/or high net worth individuals who would be interested in investing heavily in the club.� To be clear, Hampshire (and to a lesser extent Sussex and Kent) might be interesting models to study but I suspect that the necessary deal at Middlesex would need to be different; probably more radical and ground-breaking than any of the other counties.

 

I suggest that the club follow up both of the above avenues in parallel; they are not mutually exclusive options; indeed the right model for Middlesex might well emerge as a combination of the two.

 

The current management and committees might feel uncomfortable about their own positions in some of the possibilities.� No-one is going to fund heavily without getting some power and influence in return.� But for the sake of the club the longer-term commercial arrangements for the club need to be improved markedly and injected money spent wisely by paying fair market rates for the best available players.

 

In the meanwhile, Middlesex needs to ensure that it has a squad for 2007 that it can be proud of.� So in the short term, look at those reserve levels again and reconsider what is really needed to ensure the stability of a club like Middlesex.� I believe you�ll find some room for maneuver there.� That, together with the �windfall� ECB payments for the England selected players should enable some good, solid player purchases for 2007 without jeopardizing the club�s finances.

 

Summary

 

In the short term, we need to buy some strong players in the market-place for 2007, in particular strike and spin bowling.� We need to drop the �no Kolpak� policy to ensure that we are choosing our purchases from a fair and full market.� We need to take a radical look at our arrangements for bringing on young bowlers and stop being �net importers� of bowling talent as soon as possible.

 

In the medium to long term, we need to take a radical look at our financial and structural support to ensure that we are not �one of the poorer clubs�, even if the current management and committees lose power, influence or jobs as a result of the necessary changes to ensure longer-term financial competitiveness as a club.

 

I am willing and would be delighted to discuss any of the above ideas further with you if you wish.� I am also, of course, willing to publish a reply from you on MTWD if you wish to reply publicly.�

 

Yours sincerely,