Live sport in UK offers differing fortunes for Lancashire and Blackburn Rovers

With the Ashes out of the way and safely back in English hands, it’s time to look ahead to what is in store on the sporting agenda. From a personal point of view, it would have been good to see England win the final Test at The Oval to earn a 4-1 margin for the series. It was not to be as Australia pulled off another lop-sided success in a topsy-turvy clutch of clashes. The one-day encounters now take centre-stage but it’s hard not to think that the main business has been concluded. I touch down on English soil for a lightning trip to the homeland next week and my cricketing focus will be set on the conclusion of the county season. That means a couple of trips to see what the campaign will bring for Lancashire. The Red Rose crew have already lifted the Twenty 20 trophy on finals day at Edgbaston. Now they need to hopefully seal promotion in the serious stuff – instant elevation from Division Two. They could have it all sorted before I touch down at Heathrow as they take on Kent at Canterbury this week. If that goes to plan, the home game against Surrey at Old Trafford could become a virtual title decider. My mate Pete Wilson’s mob have been stalking Lanky for some months and the meeting in Manchester looks intriguing – weather permitting. The English cricket season seems to go deeper into autumn each year so we have to hope for some “Indian summer” sunshine. Pete will be making his way north and hopefully the watching contingent just down from the Wetherspoons pub on Chester Road will include ex-Telegraph colleague Dave Keenan and Rossendale Valley cricketing guru Jim Chadwick. After that, the final game of the season will be in Chelmsford when Lancs take on Essex. Again I’m looking forward to former Telegraph mates such as Gordon Wright and Gareth Williams joining the throng. If things are looking potentially rosy on the cricket-viewing front, it’s not so promising from the football point of view. Blackburn Rovers are winless after five games and mired towards the foot of the Championship table. I was able to see just how dire things have become when the home game with Bolton Wanderers was beamed live to Aussie shores last weekend. The goalless stalemate made grim viewing but it was about all the game deserved. A paltry crowd of just more than 14,000 bothered to turn up for such a drab affair. The commentator summed things up perfectly when he mentioned that these two teams were playing each other in the Premier League not too long ago. Back then, he added the stadium would have been virtually full for such a Lancashire derby. That all seems a long time ago. The hapless Indian interlopers who now own us have presided over a decline of stunning ineptitude. I am just praying for survival this season. That’s not being over-dramatic. I wonder if the Indian clowns realise that relegation is possible from the Championship as they thought we were a protected species in the Premier League when they began their ill-fated tenure. For my watching pleasure, I will witness two London games – at Fulham, then QPR. After that, it’s more capital opposition when Charlton Athletic visit Ewood. Is it too much to expect a win from one of those matches? I don’t care if it’s not pretty to watch, just three points from somewhere will do. The Fulham game has been switched to midday so it may have to be a refreshing cider on the train from St Albans with fellow long-suffering loyalist Ivan Hickmott. At least we will have plenty of time to mull over events in the pubs by the Thames afterwards. Live sport. It has to be done. Heathrow here I come.

Kevin Pietersen mess highlights English sport’s failure to accommodate genuine class

You have to wonder how everyone’s favourite candidate to take over the coaching job of the England cricket team must be feeling. Why would one of Adelaide’s hallowed sons, Jason Gillespie, want to bother? He has worked wonders with Yorkshire, the team from the wrong side of the Pennines, and now the England job is apparently his for the taking.  He would be walking into a madhouse. Little over a week ago, England dismissed coach Peter Moores. There was no warning. I know Jim Chadwick, cricket-loving guru of the Rossendale Valley, would have approved. Jim never liked Moores from his days as Lancashire coach. Too much time behind the computer, said Jim. Not enough common sense. And perhaps there is some merit in Jim’s opinions. Maybe Moores was totally out of his depth at international level. But since then we have had the Kevin Pietersen saga. It is like the Moores sacking was over in an instant and forgotten. And what a mess. Pietersen may be hard to handle but he is box office. Between them, new ECB chairman Colin Graves, incoming chief executive Tom Harrison and director of cricket Andrew Strauss have sent out conflicting messages about what Pietersen had to do to get back into the England fold. A shambles. As Andrew Flintoff said: “Kevin may be high maintenance, but so was I.” Surely this backroom conglomerate could have worked something out. Never mind the British election, the main talking point all week has been Kevin Pietersen. Even the BBC’s highbrow current affairs/politics programme Newsnight had a studio debate about the Pietersen affair. Yet English sport has never had way of handling problem performers. As my old mate from my Sunday Times days Rob Steen recounts in his brilliant book The Mavericks: English football when flair wore flares the establishment has never got to grips with footballing genius. England failed to even qualify for the 1974 and 1978 World Cups yet had under-employed magicians such as Stan Bowles, Tony Currie, Charlie George, Alan Hudson, Peter Osgood and Frank Worthington. Rob was right. Add to that list Duncan McKenzie, who Big Jim rates as the best player ever to wear a Blackburn Rovers shirt. A big call as Duncan was only there for just over a season. But I well remember his back-flick goal at Mansfield in 1980 during our promotion run-in surge. Out of this world. Great day out. Thanks, Dunc. Beetroot butties on the coach down to the East Midlands courtesy of Shaun Gill. And while English cricket is messing things up beyond belief, never mind the Ashes. What about the Kiwis. It’s an insult to play New Zealand in a two-Test afterthought before the Aussies arrive. It’s greed, greed, greed. I would rather watch a five-Test series v New Zealand than a “hurried” Ashes renunion. Australia were last in England for an Ashes action two years ago. It’s supposed to be four. So what’s going on? After back to back series to accommodate the one-day World Cup it is diluting a great sporting rivalry. Meanwhile Pietersen will be sitting on the sidelines. It could have been such fun. Maybe Gillespie will sort things out. Good luck…

England’s schedule disrupted by Kevin Pietersen’s petty disclosures

England’s cricketers have plenty on their plates in the coming months. They visit Sri Lanka for a schedule of one-day encounters and arrive down under for the World Cup in the new year. After that, they jet off to the West Indies for a Test series, then there’s the little matter of a home Ashes showdown. So the last thing they need is to have their ambitions derailed by friendly fire. But that’s just what Kevin Pietersen seems to have done with the publication of his autobiography. The discarded maverick has cooked up a rare ol’ storm, slagging off his former colleagues left, right and centre. In the process he has been the subject of some stinging rebukes with every cricketer within sight having their say on Kev’s supposed exposes of a fractured dressing room and vicious cliques. If KP’s revelations are anywhere near the truth, no wonder England suffered a 5-0 pasting in the Ashes series of the last Aussie summer. But if the backroom was so rife with in-fighting, how did they ever manage three successive Ashes successes and rise to be the number one Test team in the world? There’s no denying that Pietersen is a special talent, but he seems to stir up spats wherever he goes. It’s like the joke about former BBC journalist Kate Aidie, who was always reporting from war zones – “That Kate Aidie, where-ever she goes, there’s trouble.” Right from KP’s junior days in his native South Africa through a falling-out at Nottinghamshire, then at Hampshire and rows with various England backroom figures and team-mates, it seems Kev could start a bust-up in an empty room. He was certainly under the cosh in Australia last summer when the natives were craving for revenge in the wake of numerous Ashes capitulations of their own. Every time Pietersen came to the crease, he was pressured because of the failings of the upper order. His carefree manner often came across as a “couldn’t care less” attitude. Such a shame. He wasn’t the only one to fall short. And such a shame that he may now be remembered as a disruptive influence and for the dirt he has dished out in his book. I guess Kev really just wanted to be liked. I remember watching on the box when he was starting out on his brief, ill-fated reign as England captain a few years ago. At the end of every over when England were in the field, Kev would be running round clapping his hands, patting bowlers and fielders on their behinds and generally yelling “C’mons” in all directions. It was like he was trying too hard. “Jeez, he’ll be knackered at this rate,” I remember thinking to myself. There are also other England players who don’t come across as being too edifying. Lancashire’s own James Anderson seems gentle as a teddy bear off the field but then gets into all kinds of strife when he walks across the boundary ropes. He’s not exactly best friends with Michael Clarke, had a set-to with the Indians at Lord’s last UK summer and has caused verbal commotions in a couple of Roses matches against Yorkshire in recent seasons. Stuart Broad survived a torrent of abuse from the Aussie media last time around but he isn’t even liked by some England fans because of his apparent aloof demeanour. Jim Chadwick, Rossendale cricket umpire and raconteur extraordinaire, routinely tells me that “if Broad walked down our street, I’d like to bloody hit him.” Straight talk as ever from Big Jim. But as everybody steps forward to speak out about KP – from Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Matthew Hoggard, Anderson himself and countless other team-mates – the one voice I would find positively fascinating would be another perceived self-centred enigma from yesteryear, Geoff Boycott. The Tyke opener was as fastidious as KP was flamboyant, but they could both win Test matches for England. Boycott came from the wrong side of the Pennines for me, but I always wanted him to do well for England. He came back from his strange, self-imposed Test exile in the mid-Seventies and was better than ever. But I always got the impression that, like KP, he just wanted to be loved. If things had gone awry, I always worried that he could just pick up his bat and walk away again. Such prickly characters, these players of genius. Nowadays I always look for Geoff’s comments in London’s Daily Telegraph, my former place of work. My most bitter-sweet memory of Boycott during his playing days was one I missed – the Roses game of August 1975 at Headingley. And as fate would have it, Big Jim Chadwick was one of the characters involved. Along with Al Denby, we set off from Ramsgreave in Johnny Young’s car for the championship encounter. Naturally JY was running late. We went to Leeds via the scenic route through Skipton which took an age. Then a wasp entered through a window which caused the brakes to be slammed on and an impromptu evacuation of the vehicle. The wasp was eventually disposed of but time was ticking by. “We’re gonna miss the start,” I yelled at Johnny. “If Boycott’s out for a duck, I’ll kill you.” We arrived at the turnstiles to be told by a gloomy Tyke gateman that Yorkshire were batting and had slumped to 13 for four. And guess what? Boycott c Simmons, b Lever 0. Aye, the Yorkshire nemesis had duly gone for a duck. It would have been one of my greatest sporting moments. Alas, I had to watch it on the TV replays. Yes, Roses games were on the telly in those days. But when Boycs played for England, I just wanted him to score plenty. So I wonder what he would think of the Pietersen situation. Totally different personalities but kindred spirits. If Boycs doesn’t air his views, maybe I’ll just get on the phone to Big Jim this week and see what he thinks. Might be fun to hear…

Lancashire have to lose Peter Moores for cause of national good

I have mixed feelings about England putting their cricketing future in the hands of a man from their not-to-distant past. The appointment of Lancashire coach Peter Moores to the top job caught me by surprise. Of course, I want the best for England but I also fret about the fortunes of my Red Rose county. Moores has done well at Old Trafford and restored his reputation, which was somewhat tarnished by his messy departure from his first spell in charge of the national team in 2009. That episode followed a supposed spat with, surprise, surprise,  Kevin Pietersen, who at that time had been England captain. It seems that it doesn’t take much for people to fall out with Pietersen. But with the South African-born enigma now seemingly removed from the England ranks for good, the coast should be clear for Moores to make a smooth return.  So where does that leave Lancashire? The current four-day match against Warwickshire at Old Trafford will be Moores’ last at the helm. Since taking charge Moores has overseen a long overdue county championship success in 2011, presided over instant relegation the following season, then engineered a stroll to the Second Division title last year. It’s been a topsy-turvy ride but the pluses have outweighed the negatives.  Moores has earned himself the eternal gratitude of Lanky fans for that title euphoria in 2011, the first outright success for 77 long years. I was at Taunton the day that Lancashire’s victory over Somerset, together with Warwickshire’s draw at Hampshire, made for the perfect ending. It will forever be etched among my treasured sporting occasions. The west country venue is always one of my favourite away trips thanks to my carefully orchestrated agenda  of basing myself in the village of Trull, a wee wander of a mile and a bit from the city centre, in the delightful Winchester Arms. The pub setting is idyllic and the title evening was made extra special. Yet only 12 months earlier, there were plenty of questions being asked about Moores’ methods as Lancashire’s mentor.  I had been at Old Trafford on the final  day of the 2010 season to witness another title decider. Only this time it had been Nottinghamshire at the summit. Somerset had seemingly wrapped up their first-ever  crown earlier in the day at Durham. However, a feeble batting display by Lancashire’s upper order gifted Notts the necessary bonus points to snatch the glittering prize. There were plenty of frowns among the Lancashire crowd after an embarrassing finale to the summer and many seemed to disapprove of the Moores doctrine. I was based in the Rossendale Valley that evening at the home of great mates Jim and Philippa Chadwick.  Jim speaks his mind – and as a practising umpire in the Lancashire League, knows his cricket.  Upon my return from witnessing the Nottinghamshire celebrations, Jim had his say.  He reckoned Moores was too clever by half, with his modern coaching mantra. “Computer says…” intoned Jim, endlessly, mimicking the Little Britain sketch as a summation of Moores’ perceived over-elaborate leadership. Yet 12 months on Moores had changed things totally around with the unexpected title surge by a bunch of home-grown battlers. The relegation season was just as seismic an experience with constant batting frailties undermining the campaign. The yo-yo effect went on with a convincing platform built for comfortable promotion. Lancashire’s return this year to the elite has opened with a brave four-day  loss to Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. So there may be more uncertain times ahead.  I can only wish Moores well in his England return. He would certainly have got my vote ahead of the other candidates, notably Ashley Giles.  The former England Test spinner and Warwickshire supremo apparently had the job for the taking after running the national one-day outfits.  But the recent embarrassing defeat by The Netherlands in the Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladash seems to have worked against him.  He certainly didn’t strike me as a leader with much gusto after his feeble speech following that sorry showing.  As a player he seemed to be a soft touch.  Even when he was part of England’s victorious Ashes team in the vintage home series of 2005, my one memory of his contribution is not a happy one. England had shown fighting spirit in the series opener at Lord’s but still been beaten by Australia.  For many onlookers it seemed like the same old story. Giles felt harshly treated by the critics and used his column in The Guardian, to tell the press to get off the team’s back. And in particular, to leave him alone. He did not come across as a strong character with that moan and groan outburst. With England’s shambolic Ashes surrender in Australia still all too  fresh, Giles hardly appeared to me to be the man to build a foundation for better things.  England’s misplaced arrogance was exposed horribly in Australia yet Giles was still talking about “complacency’ after The Netherlands debacle. His excuses just carried echoes of the same failings in the ranks being allowed to continue unchecked. Some of England’s bloated self-importance needs shooting down. Moores could be the overlord to do just that. Let’s not forget, he also won a first County Championship  in Sussex’s history as coach in 2003. He repeated the feat in 2006 in a double success with the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy coming after a win over, of all people, Lancashire in the one-day final at Lord’s. That hurt. I know because I was there.  Moores made up for that in the Red Rose realm with the stunning title treat in 2011. Perhaps “ Big Jim” will soon be looking on in Rossendale saying:  “Computer says… Moores is the man.’  Let’s hope so.  If Lancashire’s loss can be England’s gain, then I can live with that. Just…