Lancashire to put matches behind paywall; Hampshire v Somerset, and more: county cricket – live
A couple of notes about Lancashire’s decision to put CC games behind a paywall have landed with a thud of disgust.“Lancashire, as everyone is increasingly aware, is the worst run club in the country, in my opinion,” writes Will Unwin.“The constant desperate cash grab is depressing to see.The viewing figures for games on YouTube are not exactly spectacular but it provides a fine service for hardcore supporters and makes it easily accessible for others.The platform will be more difficult to access; currently I can flick it on my television, not something I can say about LancsTV.
I have not spoken to a fan who has praised the move nor does it inspire confidence that the link the club points to is something that cannot be found.Anyway, good to have Jennings back and looking forward to seeing how Shetty does.”And Tim Maitland: “Looking at Lancashire’s figures for Blast and other limited overs fixtures on their Youtube channel (over 100,000 views for Blast matches against Yorkshire last year) I can understand that they might think going behind a paywall could work, but why include County Championship games? ”A quick and unscientific scan of their archive would suggest a day’s play gets around 40,000 views per, which, if we’re being generous might mean 10,000 people watching at some point each day.A proportion of those would be supporters of the visiting county, who of course now won’t be able to watch their team going on and off for the interminable breaks for rain that, from my experience, is always falling somewhere in Manchester.Let’s say 8,000 Lancashire sympathisers per day.
”I wonder what the conversion rate would be of those 8,000 faced with paying the 20 quid.As many as 1,000? I swear, it seems some of the counties are doing their darndest to kill off the long-form game.”I'’m a big fan of the free streams, for the same reasons as free-to air TV, and hope they will be able to sustain themselves with advertising and good will.But if this really isn’t possible, the suggestion BTL of a cross-county subscription for the season is an excellent one.And a debut Essex wicket for Zaman Akhter! The umpire’s finger loops upwards and Ed Barnard is not happy to be given out lbw, but must shuffle away.
The commentators aren’t sure if he got an edge onto pad – to be honest, I can’t tell.He’s out anyway and Akhter gets mobbed by his teammates.Warwicks 65-5.Also, I take it back, Akhter’s run-up isn’t dinky at all.Quite a solid acceleration.
Nice to see Zaman Akhter, a SACA graduate, bowling for Essex after moving across from Glos in the great winter raid on Bristol’s bowling stocks.He’s got a woodchopper’s build and gets good pace from quite a dinky run up.Warwicks 65-4.Another wicket at Southampton – this time for Lewis Gregory, fit and firing again.Hampshire 83-3.
Another catch for James Rew, who gets a mention in this piece about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and young talent:A delay at Bristol, where wicketkeeper Matty Hurst has hurt himself, but seems to be fit to continue after a bit of physio patchwork.No news yet on ASD or possible replacement.Mmmm, curious choice by Beau Webster to open his shoulders and tee off against Shane Snater.Stumps splattered, though he does play an excellent forward-defensive as he walks off.Warwicks 48-4.
Interesting that a couple of the states – Queesland and New South Wales - are resistant to selling stakes in the BBL franchises.Hampshire had the best of the first hour in Southampton, with Tom Prest tucking into Jack Leach.But Craig Overton has just sent him on his way, caught by James Rew for 17.A wicket too for the impressive young quick Alfie Ogborne.Hampshire, who won the toss and chose to bat, 51-2.
Not a huge surprise that Jamie Porter and Sam Cook are proving tricky April customers.Porter now has 3-16 from his five overs, Mousley the latest to be sent on his way, lbw for 10.Cook has had a catch dropped.Warwicks 26-3, Webster and Hain with the toolbelts.This is a great interview by Phil Walker with the idiosyncratic and brilliant Sarah Taylor.
Mighty Northants, flayers of Kent, have Middlesex 22-3, two wickets to Australia’s Harry Conway who has had a fabulous start to the season – 15 wickets and counting.Good morning Em Jackson!“Clearly, as an ex-Glos player, hoping that Ajeet Singh-Dale is OK after what looked like a horrible injury & what the subs rule was actually designed for."More generally, it’s’ the third week of three that schools around the country have had Easter holidays.So when the 4-day game is desperate for new fans, how have we only got 4 matches this weekend? Seems madness.”Anyway, hoping Glos.
are at the very least still in the game on Day 4 this week!”Good point on the holidays.I do have sympathy for those in charge of the schedule, it’s not easy, and counties can make various requests that we are not aware of.I’m not totally convinced Glos will be still going on Monday – their banker Cameron Bancroft has just been run-out going for a dopey single – Glos 22 for one.Bad news for Lancs at Bristol, where Ajeet Singh Dale seems to have done something nasty to his hamstring and has limped off.A real shame on his return to his old club.
Glos 8-0,A fascinating piece by Emma John, with a mention of Benny Howell of Hants, Glos and more,No mistake this time for third slip Walter, as the ball nestles in his midrift,A second wicket for Porter – Rob Yates gone for 8,Warwicks 12-2.
Looks a bit dank out there at Edgbaston.A slippery drop at third slip, saves Warwickshire from the doldrums of 12-2.Sam Cook the bowler, Dan Mousley the lucky batter.Alex Davies, keeping wicket for the first time this season, was out first ball to Jamie Porter.Warwickshire 12-1.
A big announcement from Lancs between rounds – they are going to start charging punters to watch TV coverage of all men’s matches, starting with the CC match against Middlesex at Old Trafford on Friday 8 May.This will be via LancsTV+.All women’s games will remain free via Lancs TV.For CC games, the first ten mins will be streamed and then viewers will be able to access radio commentary/scorecards.Members get access to the stream for free, otherwise it costs £20 for the season.
It follows fast on the heels of the decision to end the agreement with production company Badger and Combes.The latest issue of the fat yellow book is out, the launch dinner at Lord’s on Tuesday.The Five Cricketers of the Year are: Haseeb Hameed, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jajeja, Rishabh Pant and Mohammed SirajLawrence Booth, the original Spin correspondent, who was once my work experience kid and has been annoyingly brilliant ever since, is unsparing in his Editor’s notes.Brrrr.Damp and chilly here in Manchester.
The Met Office says:A band of rain will gradually move eastwards across the UK today, although not reaching the southeast until evening.Largely dry, bright and warm ahead of the rain, with blustery and occasionally heavy showers following.Gary Naylor’s talking points.DIVISION ONESouthampton: Hampshire v SomersetEdgbaston: Warwickshire v EssexDIVISION TWOBristol: Gloucestershire v LancashireNorthampton: Northants v MiddlesexGood morning! We’re already rolling through the the weeks, picking up pace as the spring starts to blossom.Just four rounds this week – for reasons I can’t explain – but we’ll be able to keep a close eye on events at the RoseBowl, Edgbaston, Bristol and Northampton.
Pull up a chair and join us, play starts at 11am BST.
How to turn old bread into a brilliant Italian cake – recipe | Waste not
Old sourdough is my secret ingredient. To stop it going mouldy, I take it out of any plastic packaging and keep it in the bread bin with plenty of airflow around it – that way, it will dry out slowly, rather than turning mouldy. Any odds and ends, meanwhile, I store in a cloth bag to use in various dishes, from pangrattato (or poor man’s parmesan) to strata, a savoury bread-and-butter pudding.My new favourite recipe discovery for using up stale bread is today’s torta paesana, or village cake, from Lombardy. The best way I can come up with to describe it is that it’s a bit like a firm baked custard
Roast chicken, cheesy scones and a genius cocktail: Ravinder Bhogal’s recipes for cooking with lime pickle
I’m obsessed with lime pickle. It’s savoury, sour, funky, spicy and full of bold personality that enlivens anything it’s smeared on. It’s made by salting and fermenting limes with chillies and spices for a fierce, flavour-packed condiment that’s traditionally eaten as a side to poppadoms or with simple dal and rice. Over the years, I have also folded it into grilled cheese toasties, marinades for fat prawns to barbecue in the summer or made compound butters with it to smother over sweet potatoes before roasting. It’s an instant flavour bomb and my pantry is never without a jar
Vegemite is recognised globally – but how many people know Milo was invented in Australia?
The chocolate malt powder is sold in more than 40 countries, and Australian cafe owners say there’s ‘jingoistic pride’ in serving it on their menusGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailWhen I order the jumbo-sized Milo Godzilla at Ho Jiak in Sydney’s Haymarket, it arrives as advertised – it’s comically large. The Malaysian restaurant prepares the drink by swirling Milo powder with hot water, adding sweet drizzles of condensed milk then chilling the mix with ice. Scoops of ice-cream are added and extra choc-malt powder is showered on top. Served in a one-litre jug, it’s so big I can’t finish it solo: staff hand me three takeaway cups to transport the leftovers.Like many beloved Milo drinks, the Godzilla is native to south-east Asia
What can I do with leftover rice? | Kitchen aide
How do I store cooked rice safely, and what can I make with it the next day?Michael, by email“It’s a bit of a running joke with rice, because I think of all the people in China who aren’t spreading their leftover rice immediately on to a tray to cool and are still alive,” says Amy Poon, of Poon’s at Somerset House in London. “But I have to be responsible and say: cool the rice as quickly as possible, within the hour, and put it in an airtight container and pop it in the fridge [or freezer] straight away.” The reason being, as food science guru Harold McGee notes in his bible On Food & Cooking, “Raw rice almost always carries dormant spores of the bacterium Bacillus cereus, which produces powerful gastrointestinal toxins. The spores can tolerate high temperatures, and some survive cooking.” In short: good storage practices will prevent bacterial growth, not to mention open a whole world of dinner opportunities
José Pizarro’s recipe for nettle (or wild garlic) and goat’s cheese tortilla
When I was growing up in the small village of Talaván in Extremadura, Spain, we never ate nettles. They were wild plants that grew along the edges of the fields, and the sort you tried to avoid: like many children, I learned about them the hard way, brushing against them while playing and getting stung. It was only when I came to the UK that I first saw nettles used in cooking, which surprised me: suddenly, this wild plant had a place in the kitchen. Now, whenever I visit my mum, Isabel, I see them everywhere. It makes me smile to think that at this year’s Spring Garden at the Chelsea flower show, I will be cooking among a world of magnificent plants and gardens
Gone from shop shelves, but not forgotten | Letters
How lucky for Adrian Chiles that he didn’t live in the German Democratic Republic (Rose’s Lime Marmalade? Gone. Dark chocolate Bounty? No more. But what about their heartbroken fans?, 8 April). After reunification, there were street markets selling the last of products from the old days, and there was an exhibition in a national museum – memorably called “They’ve even taken our tomato ketchup” – lamenting the loss of many food products and other features of former times, such as children’s TV programmes.Derek JanesDuns, Scottish Borders Can Adrian Chiles tell me where to find Halls’ chocolate sour lemons? Maybe they stopped being made because they turned your tongue black, but they tasted great
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