Outs-rage: the dumbing down of cricket

So wickets are out and outs are in for the new Hundred competition. But why? The language of sport is a beautiful thing, even in the hands of a pub bore. Why is it a try in rugby, when you have to touch the ball down, and a touchdown in American football, when you don’t? I know why it’s the leg side, but why is it the ‘off’? The purpose of the Hundred is to grow cricket, and the language of cricket is part of the game. It’s not hard. It’s not Cornish, or Welsh, or Etruscan.

‘Outs’ feels like a complication too far, inventing a problem where there isn’t one. Trying to dumb something down that’s easily understandable is the work of people who don’t want to understand, the kind who own funny tea towels explaining cricket in the most complicated way possible. If kids today can load and play Fifa and Grand Theft Auto, they can work out what 87 for 2 after 9.3 overs means.

Meanwhile, having been put into a Covid-induced slumber last season, the county championship showed hearty resilience when reawakened into an Arctic chill last week. What made it all the better was that cricket fans, having had little free-to-air live TV coverage over the past several seasons, were able to watch it all on the counties’ own live streaming service. In other words, stuff you BBC for ignoring the great game.

The best armchair sporting excitement came on Sunday afternoon when the only place to be was sitting in front of the live feed from Lord’s. Up in the stands the commentators wore woolly hats and held their mics in gloved hands.