Last-Wicket Stand

Searching for Redemption, Revival and a Reason to Persevere in English County Cricket

Richard Clarke

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• eBook ISBN:
  9781785317125
• Year: 2020

Last Wicket Stand is an honest account of one man's search for meaning, purpose and reinvention, both for himself and the sport he loves. At the start of the 2020 season, English county cricket faced radical change. The Hundred was coming, introducing new 'franchises' playing a new format in the hope of attracting much-needed new audiences. Its inception was controversial. Advocates argued only drastic action could halt the decline of cricket in the UK. Opponents feared it would undermine the very fabric of the much-loved county game. One devoted Essex fan set out to document the last summer before the big change. He toured the country in 2019 chronicling this often-ignored sport, from the gentle lullaby of the County Championship to the bawdy singalong of T20 Finals Day. Richard Clarke was in his 50th year, at a personal crossroads and fearing his best days may be long gone. Change vs tradition, growth vs security, money vs meaning - these perennial struggles lie at the heart of this absorbing and revealing journey of redemption.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword by Ryan ten Doeschate
• Introduction
• 2017 (and the worst of a wonderful season)
• Cambridge MCCU v Essex (and the unbeaten two)
• Hampshire v Essex (and the friend indeed)
• Surrey v Essex (and the blazing blue bats)
• Essex v Nottinghamshire (and the first impression)
• Essex v Kent (and the power of story)
• Yorkshire v Essex (and what are we really angry about?)
• Essex v Hampshire (and living life like you play cricket)
• Essex v Somerset (and The Grumbler)
• The Hundred (and why many cricket fans fear it)
• Nottinghamshire v Essex (and the lady in the way)
• Essex v Yorkshire (and absence of ice-cream)
• Essex v Warwickshire (and missing the World Cup Final)
• Kent v Essex (and the hollow half-century)
• Warwickshire v Essex (and the soulless meeting)
• Essex v Surrey (and the death of a thousand ‘nos’)
• Twenty20 Finals Day (and the important apology)
• Somerset v Essex (and the idiot)
• The Moment
• The Winter (and discontent)
• Conclusion (and then the world changed)
• A Message from Opening Up
• Select Bibliography
• Photos