A couple of days ago I was musing about how let down I felt by Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Their tame exit from the Friends Provident Trophy at the hands of Essex was a disappointment to say the least. Yet today they have gone one better.
Due to play Durham in the quarter-finals of the Twenty20 Cup this evening, Yorkshire were ordered not to play by the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) after it emerged that they had fielded an ineligible player in an earlier round. Seventeen-year-old Asim Hafeeq was not registered to play for the Yorkshire first team against Nottinghamshire on June 27, and what's more he does not have a British passport despite captaining England at under-15 level two years ago.
While Yorkshire have to take most of the responsibility for their shoddy administration, the ECB have showed once again why it might be better to let a herd of elephants run English cricket from now on. Somebody at the ECB must have known about the problem within a day or two of the Nottinghamshire match, yet it was not until an hour before play was due to start at Durham that the players were notified of the problem. Worse than that, the fans who had travelled to Chester-Le-Street were kept waiting in the rain for a game that was never going to happen. The fans were the last to know, with the news flashing up on the big screen some 40 minutes after Sky Sports viewers were told that the match would definitely not take place.
The ECB quickly released a statement promising to discuss the matter at an urgent meeting. That coming together of not so great minds will determine whether to replay Durham v Yorkshire, or else replay Yorkshire's offending clash with Nottinghamshire from 10 days ago. Muddying the waters further are Glamorgan, who could build a case that they should be involved again since the result of the Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire match had a direct effect on their failure to make the last eight. Another possibility is that all three will lose out, and that Durham will be given a bye to finals day at the end of July. Complicated? You bet.
Saving Sky's bacon was the fact that they had scheduled two Twenty20 Cup quarter-finals for Monday night. Following the Yorkshire fiasco, Essex entertained Northamptonshire at Chelmsford. Yet even that proved to be a damp squib, as Essex's total of 192 from their 20 overs was quickly followed by a minor deluge as the team's prepared for the Northants innings. By the time the teams got back out on to the field the umpires had decided that only 18 overs would be possible, with comedy duo Duckworth and Lewis setting a revised target of 175. Sadly, the rain and the effect of the floodlights conspired to make batting conditions vastly different from those which Essex had enjoyed. And so the match was never a contest, with Northants slumping to 3-3 and then 27-5 before finally being bowled out for 115.
Let's hope for better when Lancashire visit Middlesex tomorrow. Except they don't. The match is being played at The Oval rather than Lords because of the upcoming test match at the latter between England and South Africa. Fine, just as long as everyone is eligible to play.
The rest of my sporting Monday was spent waiting for Peter Crouch to finally leave Liverpool for Portsmouth. I've offered to drive the big man down to Fratton Park myself, if only he would just go. I don't know what else I can do, short of paying the £10million transfer fee myself. As the clock ticks past midnight, the transfer still has not officially been confirmed.
Finally tonight a bit of politics. The much-maligned G14 has been replaced by something called the European Club Association. Representing English football on this dubious Jedi Council are Liverpool's doddering Chief Executive Rick Parry and Chelsea hatchet-man Peter Kenyon. And yet they have the cheek to suggest that the new group is there to look after the interests of all clubs rather than just the elite. Hmmm. First suggestions at this brilliant meeting of minds include the re-branding of the UEFA Cup, which former West German star Karl-Heinze Rummenigge claims will make the competition more profitable and more attractive. So, still driven by money then in other words?
How will this be achieved? Why, by referring to the UEFA Cup as the Europa Cup from 2009-10 onwards, of course. Why didn't you think of that? Next on the agenda; How to stop teams from outside England, Italy, Spain, France and Germany winning the bloody thing.
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