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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 17h

Hi @elizabethammon.bsky.social
From your interview with Richard Thompson — any word on ICEC progress?
It’s a year since the last update, and I’ve seen nothing on the new coaching training & education programmes, nor (beyond the hubs) on work with harder-to-reach communities, state schools & clubs.

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 18h

Keep up the good work!👏🐑🐑🏏🐑🌋

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 1d

The ECB wants to build 40 new “domes” — but is this really enough?
Does “making the game more inclusive” need mire than pitching new “tents” in fields?
#cricket #ICEC

The ECB wants to build 40 new domes — but will this be enough?

A couple of weeks ago, Richard Thompson, chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), was interviewed by Dan Roan of the BBC at the opening of the country’s second all-weather cricket “dome” in Darwen, Lancashire. With the (understandable) focus at the time on playing schedules in the County game and player workloads, the main story from the interview was how players were “exhausted” by an “unrelenting” schedule.

theteesra.com

Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 2d

Sir Alastair on the front cover!

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 2d

Fascinating from Beyond the Headlines on #IndvPak : India’s No.2 & No.3 can’t play with each other, and why Richa Ghosh is a fire starter, not a fire fighter (and why holding her back in the batting order is so much more effective, illogical as it might appear).

#cricket #cwc2025

Beyond the Headlines: IND's batting order is brilliant but disjointed

Beyond the headlines; IND v/s PAK, 6th game of the Women's World Cup.

open.substack.com

Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 3d

It’s red, it’s round…and it’s in the next County…

Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 3d

3/3
…so what might have been a “clunk” with a traditional bat would carry much further off a modern, larger bat.
Viv Richards, with a modern bat, would probably have smashed to ball even further!

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 3d

2/3
But I also recall, at the time when the limits on bat size were introduced, discussion about the importance of the bat’s coefficient of restitution (“ping” off the middle); bigger bats (by volume) have (potentially) bigger sweet spots…

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 3d

It’s a long time since I finished with A level physics, but F=ma says that acceleration (how fast the bat is swung) is equally important. And a lighter bat can be swung faster.
1/3

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 4d

Isn’t this Bazball?
England didn’t suddenly learn new skills, post-Silverwood — they changed the algorithm - if <this> do <a different that>

Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 4d

2/3
Rather than identifying in advance potential wins in a failed project, perhaps it is going to be more effective to instil a “learning mindset”? “Whatever happens, we will learn from it.”

Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 4d

2/3
I wonder how much this can actually be planned? Yes, a (Kahneman) “pre-mortem” might well identify potential (future) breakdowns, but that process should also include mitigation of those threats? So the project won’t fail.

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 4d

So unless a project is designed to fail (occasionally, some coaching activities _might_ be), can you actually predict (plan for) likely benefits from failure?
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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 6d

They could have used the excavated soil to level out (some of) the Lord’s slope!

Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 6d

Interesting. I wonder if this might also start to explain the numbers of hy1 in Lions & Test squads - players are being earmarked for international honours earlier in their careers, before RAE balances out.
Performance in the County Championship is no longer a primary selection criterion.

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 6d

Exactly this.
And the CAG system only amplifies the bias — bigger, more mature players get picked earlier, spend longer in the system and become “better” characters (or find themselves dropped from the programme).

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 6d

It might be interesting to see how the County game has changed/stayed the same across the two time periods.
Perhaps no coincidence that Lions RAE shows the same progression as the Test team? Broadly similar hy1/hy2 in the earlier period, for both groups, strongly skewed to hy1 today.

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 7d

The link via acast doesn’t want to work, for me (takes me to a content creators’ page?), but the audio is available via e.g. Apple Podcasts.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/r...

Rewriting Sport and the British: A discussion on the revised edition of Richard Holt's Sport & the British

Podcast Episode · Sport in History · 30/09/2025 · 1h 34m

podcasts.apple.com

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 7d

A very interesting event, thank you.
Thanks also for posting the audio file.
A question, for you or @ihr.bsky.social - a member of the audience mentioned (the apparent absence of) speedway and there was a hint of an academic publication. Has something been published on the history of #speedway?

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 8d

Interesting, from a selection of contributors to Tarutr Malhotra’s Best of #Cricket substack — in-depth analysis of today’s first match in the #CWC2025, going beyond the headline stats to identify where the game was won & lost.

More to come, over the course of the tournament.
#WomensCricket

Beyond the Headlines: IND forget how to sweep, SL's risky bet, & Rawal's big weakness

Beyond the headlines; IND v/s SL, 1st game of the Women's World Cup

open.substack.com

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 9d

The IPL has their Impact Player rule — much closer to baseball’s pinch hitter than putting a “slogger” in at the top of the order.

Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 11d

The cash from the 100 for the non-hosts will only be released by the ECB to pay down debts or to fund “sustainable” projects, not for paying player salaries.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricke...

The Hundred sales: First-class counties to receive money from Thursday

First-class counties will begin to receive money from sales in the teams in The Hundred from Thursday.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 13d

A wonderful image, and a fascinating insight into Bedi’s technique.
“Finger” spinners traditionally tend to impart spin with two adjacent fingers; Bedi’s grip suggests that spin is being generated by his first and (bent) third fingers.
#cricket

Historic Cricket Pictures @picturesporting.bsky.social · 13d

This Ken Kelly picture of Bishan Bedi bowling in the nets before the 1st Test at Edgbaston in July 1979 is one of my favoutites - and was also one of Kelly's - and captures the elegance and poise as he prepares to bowl

Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 13d

btw - you can add the text from a screen shot as alt text (2,000 characters)...and bluesky has a trick to auto scan the content for you.
Simply “add alt text”, then select from the image.
It is fiddly, and doesn’t always seem to be available (perhaps the file format of the image?), but it does work.

It's been an unsettling season with a review of the county system being (quite rightly)
undertaken. I know that many of you will feel reassured & delighted that a decision in favour of keeping 14 games has been reached.
I want to say two things - firstly - those that suggested & fought for a 13 game championship did it with the survival of the tournament at heart. They truly believe that greater jeopardy will give the competition more relevance & help those that have been in the second division for years to have something more to fight for. They also - and this is really important - believe that it would ultimately maintain the survival of the championship. They are not enemies of the championship & should not be treated so.
Secondly, keeping the championship as it has been for the past few years does not address the issue of 10 of our clubs having only 4 days of cricket in August & the gulf that this exacerbates. We also do not know if some of the counties that voted against the 13 games did so because they actually want only 10 & feel this is the best way to achieve it.
People will say members have won at the detriment of players & the good of the county system. I don't think it's nearly as simple as that but nor do I think there is an obvious solution - which has been proved by the vote. Each county has its own reasons for their decision which have hopefully taken their players and their members wishes on board but also their survival chances.
Thank you to those that have worked so hard to find a solution.

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Andrew Beaven @theteesra.com · 13d

I think you are correct - the cash from the 'dred is a one-off, to pay off debt & (if there’s any left over) re-capitalise Clubs; (non-host) Counties will have to find new ways to fund themselves in future (or revert to non-professional/National County status - a bigger debate for another time).

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