The end of the cricket establishment?
Alan Gibson
The judgment of Mr Justice Slade, assuming it is upheld in the event of an appeal, Will have unpredictable consequences in the world of cricket. Well, perhaps 'unpredictable' is the wrong word since everybody has been very busy predicting them but, as all the predictions are different, they do not take us much further. It can be said, however, that it marks the end of an era at Lord's, and this would remain true even if the judgment were to be reversed, and even if Mr Packer's World Series turns out to be a flop. I say 'Lord's' rather than MCC or the Test and County Cricket Board, because Lord's has always been the seat and symbol of authority. Sir Robert Menzies called it 'the cathedral of cricket', and now here are a hunch of sacrilegious tourists who won't take their hats off, who even thumb their noses at the high altar (not to choose a more offensive analogy) and get away with it.
It is for this reason that most of the cricketers I spoke to, in the days immediately following the judgment, irrespective of Where their sympathies lay (and down in Gloucestershire there was widespread woe at the thought that Procter, who unlike some overseas cricketers is immensely Popular in his adopted county, might not be able to play again), had a slightly stunned, flabbergasted look. It had been clear enough from the court proceedings that, forgetting the declamations and the attitudes struck, there was no certainty on how the law on restraint of trade should be ■ nterpreted. It was also clear that even natural justice' was not all on one side, for the attempted ban by the TCCB was what the judge was to call 'essentially retrospective legislation'. But there was still a feeling that Lord's must win, a feeling derived partly from a genuine, traditional respect, and partly from an instinctive expectation that the Establishment would stick together. When in 1927 the question of whether a cricketer's benefit should be taxable came before the House of Lords, it was said (no doubt libellously) that the treasurer of MCC, the mighty Lord Harris, threatened to blackball his fellow-peers front their clubs if they favoured the tax. Benefits were duly declared, and remain, tax-free — which was not the case with the unfortunate footballers. It all seems a world away now.
It was about that time that Lord Hawke, Who succeeded Harris in the treasurership, made his famous remark that he prayed God no professional would ever captain England. Too much was made of what was scarcely more than a throw-away line in replying to a vote of thanks, but there is no reason to doubt that Hawke meant it. It seemed to him an obvious view. Now Harris and Hawke would claim to be friends and admirers of the professional cricketer, and so they were. Harris backed them up in the House of Lords. Hawke's reforms when he was captain of Yorkshire gave the professionals a far higher degree of security, and incidentally of self-esteem, than they had had before. They were both, in their ways, benevolent men, but theirs was a benevolent despotism.
Their style has long since vanished, but the system under which cricket was run in this country, until last week, was much the same as theirs. The changes which had previously taken place — the reduction in the powers of Marylebone, the establishment of the Cricket Council and the TCCB —should not be dismissed merely as cosmetic ehanges, but it remained a paternalist system. It is surprising, as the judge pointed out, that nobody has challenged it before. Whether or not Mr Packer is ultimately successful in his plans, he will not be the last challenger. By no means everybody is pleased. Indeed, I am not yery pleased myself, for I am fond of the old three-day, jog-along county championship, and find exhibition matches, however skilled the participants, unutterably boring. There will be plenty of run-of-the-mill county cricketers who fear that under the new dispensation the rich will get richer and the poor get poorer. At best, we are in for a confused few years while we see how things work out. There will be some bitterness around the county circuit. Sussex will not be very popular, but then they were not exactly loved as it was. I would hazard that one indirect consequence of it all has been a change in attitude towards overseas players in county cricket. There is no particular logic in this, but public opinion, unlike Mr Justice Slade, does not operate exclusively by logic. They are not personally unpopular. In some cases — Procter is not the only one — they are felt to be as much natives as any lad born just up the road. But they are bound to seem somehow now a little set apart and counties may not be in quite such a hurry to take up their quotas.
That, like so much else, is speculation. The possibilities arc endless. Suppose Mr Packer, or one of his successors, changes the laws? I do not mean just the playing regulations, which vary widely already for dif ferent competitions, but the laws them selves, the sacred tablets, of which MCC is still the repository. Suppose he abolishes the lbw law, or doubles the number of stumps, or declares that every batsman reaching his century must bend over, pre sent his bottom in the direction of Lord's, and break wind? He says he has no intention of doing any of these things, and I believe him (though the third would make great television, especially with on-the-field microphones.) But when the Rugby Union split over the question of broken time payments, the northern seceders had no intention at the time of abolishing the line-out or the loose scrum, and founding a different game. It just happened, once the established order was gone.
Lord Hawke would doubtless have been gratified that among the defenders of the old order were the present Yorkshire manager and captain. There are some southern cynics who suggest that their views were not unconnected with Yorkshire's anxiety to win another championship, but in fact Yorkshire was an appropriate quarter to express disapproval since they, alone among the counties, have persisted in good times and bad in playing only Yorkshiremen born. If they were, despite the judgment, to win next year, it would be their most popular win ever, even in places far from Pudsey and Driffield. Otherwise, Hawke would probably feel that cricket is past praying for. i It s a question, however, whether cricket is worth praying about and this is the consolation for those of us who cannot help feeling a little sad to see the old pattern fade. As we sit back and watch events unfold, our motto will have to be the advice given to young Benedictine priests before they take their first confessions — well, Bishop Butler told me, though it is conceivable he was teasing — 'Try not to sound too surprised'.
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