Hello and welcome to Stumped. Your intercontinental hit of news features and debate from the quirky world of cricket.
I’m Alison Mitchell in London where there’s a special coronation around the corner! Coronation week! And a special mention to
our part-time presenter here Elly Oldroyd who sometimes fills in for me on Stumped who will be commentating on the coronation
for BBC radio. What an immense honour and privilege that will be so good luck to you Elly. In the meantime though we know
that rain stops play, swarms of bees have even stopped play, but men's and women's domestic cricket will continue on Saturday.
It won't be paused for the coronation in any way. But there will be a moment at the start of each match where the national
anthem will be played. So a little air of solemnity to mark the occasion and then there will be lot of celebrations across the UK
and it is a long weekend as well! So another day off for everyone on Monday.
We all need some holidays yes, well no one does pageantry like the poms! They’re the best. Absolutely the best and even though
there are a few Republicans in Australia, I think, well, you won't have any choice actually here on Saturday night at 7.30pm.
as every television station free to air will be airing the coronation! So get ready to be, what, coronated.
Hello. It's Jim Maxwell in Sydney dribbling on here. And yes, I think cricket continues despite the coronation.
Hi I’m Sunil Gupta in New Delhi for All India Radio and besides the weather, which has been completely unsettled in New Delhi
I think the big news, obviously, besides the coronation, the IPL spats between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir, which are now
sort of almost mandatory, there's something that nobody's talking about that I thought is an absolutely huge achievement.
There is this Indian naval sailor called Abhilash Tomy and he has, let me read this out to you, because I think it's really worth a
read. He has won the Golden Globe sailing tournament after sailing 236 days in his boat all alone, across the globe, to come
second in this race, which ended in France. It started way back in 2022. I really wish that a lot more people were talking about it,
but unfortunately it clashed with the IPL, So the IPL always takes precedence as you know.
Well, there you go, we tip our Stumped hat to him. I hope he had some company – well he was on his own so I hope he had some
Stumped podcast episodes for company. We’ll have to find out Sunil, that’s your task!
I will do that! I will do that!
Right, first on Stumped this week, we are going to talk about short form cricket. Is there a breaking point for it? Or will it be
another part of the sport that breaks in order to accommodate the plethora of lucrative T20 leagues that are popping up all over
the world? The men's Indian Premier League continues to flourish and the richness of that tournament and of the
franchise owners has already spread into other parts of the world. We have IPL owners running all six franchises in the SA20
in South Africa. They own three of the six teams in the ILT20 in the UAE, a number in the Caribbean Premier League and four of
the six teams in the USA’s new Major League Cricket, which starts in July. All these leagues offer riches that simply a lot of
international boards can't match. And there's talk of IPL owners wanting to offer year-round contracts to players, even multi-year
deals who would then have to be released to play internationally. So, Jim and Sunil, we’ll come to international cricket in a
moment, but firstly do you think that tournaments that don't attract private ownership are going to be left behind because
the pay cheques that say the Big Bash offers, the Hundred, the Pakistan Super League, even, just cannot match what's on offer
when these big commercial entities are involved and particularly if they are going to be contracted to IPL teams?
Sunil, if we start with you.
Oh yes, I certainly think so, I mean, at the end of the day, what drives tournaments like the IPL? Not just the spectators in the
stadium. It is the media rights which have sold for an astronomical sum, I’m sure you must have read about it, some
billion dollars. And of course then the sponsors. Right, and that’s where the money really comes from, you can see. We were
talking about people, the first Irish cricketer to play in the IPL, for half a million dollars. That is not chicken feed and so, when we
talk about these things and where these tournaments are going. Yes of course, the tournaments will flourish and I think that's a
good thing, but I think the important thing to understand is that the boards themselves can not in any way compete with private
sponsors and we are talking about really big conglomerates who are sponsoring these teams.
Jim, do you reckon the likes of Cricket Australia, the ECB will get left behind, find themselves on the outer if they can't compete?
They will because India will run the game. That's where all the money is. And it’s a worry for the game with all this commerce
around the game of cricket. It's all about T20. Test cricket is sort of over there, but continues to be viable and I think the format of
the game that a lot of people still respect and a lot of players want to play. But at as we move on, T20 is going to become
more of the mainstream and it’s going to be around the commercial aspects of T20 and ownership, whatever it may be.
We're talking about the United States getting involved now. We’re also talking about trying to proselytise the game through
the Olympic Games in Los Angeles and I just don't think there's any stopping this juggernaut of momentum that's with T20. It'll
overrun the English thing, the Hundred, because the Hundred's a no-no really. It doesn't exist anywhere else but in England.
Yeah, it's interesting isn't it. In terms of money, we've seen Cricket Australia increase their salary cap to try and ward off
competition for the Big Bash and keep their top talent, because they lost a lot of players last season to the T20 in the UAE and
South Africa, but whether that's enough to retain their best players, you wonder and particularly if they do get offers of
multi-year deals with, say, an IPL owned team. But, as a format, the Hundred is coming into increasing question, you’re right, Jim
and it has been in the headlines in the papers here in recent days. So as a format, it's coming into its third year, but
even last year it struggled to keep players for the duration and it has hit brilliant gender targets amongst its audience largely due
to staging double-headers with the women's game. Crucially though it has made a 9 million pound loss - 11.2 million
US dollars. That was a figure given in a recent report after the ECB had claimed to have made a 14 million dollar profit. So it all
depends on what columns you put the numbers into and the various costs and what you associate as a direct cost of the
Hundred versus a broader cost. But that loss doesn't even account, for a figure of over 30 million dollars, that was a
payment like a sweetener made to the counties and MCC in 2019 to actually back the idea.
So it's a money-losing competition at the moment.
That's the problem for the Hundred. If it's not being taped elsewhere in the world, what's the point. Just stick with T20.
And there's not much talk in Australia about the Hundred because if you want to watch it, it’s when we're most of us are
asleep. Even though the women’s side of the Hundred has worked very well, I see that.
But longer term, it just doesn't seem to be viable.
Well two players who will be going head-to-head in the World Test Championship final are in fact teammates over these next
next few weeks because Cheteshwar Pujara has been joined at Sussex County Cricket Club by Steve Smith. For Smith, it's a few
games ahead of both the World Test Championship final and the Ashes series. And Jim, Steve Smith has been doing
the media welcome, if you like, ahead of his stint with Sussex this week, and he has been asked specifically about something
Stuart Broad has been talking about. About whether the Aussies - well Broad is hoping they will get lured into playing the
"Bazball" style of cricket, trying to emulate what England are doing and find
themselves getting a bit unstuck at trying to score at rapid rates per over.
In some ways, this is the most exciting entrée to an Ashes series that we have ever had because the two top nations
are playing against each other in the warm up for the Ashes and it’s constant cricket. There’s never been an Ashes series where
the only cricket played for two months is a Test match. So it's going to be very intense and I think England's recent form,
as good as it’s been is going to be acutely examined by the efficiency, resilience, discipline of Australia’s cricket. So we will
just see what happens with dear old "Bazball", but I think Smith will just play it as he did before. He got a lot of runs here last
time as I recall, it was Jofra Archer who knocked him off his perch. I have a very strong feeling
that Jofra Archer will not play one test match this summer.
I tend to veer towards that opinion as well, Jim, it would be quite a thing if he does. I think the test team is quite well-established,
the bowling unit is quite well-established now without him, even. Yes, he could bring an injection of pace, but could he and can he
sustain it over a test match when he is completely untested and not warmed up. Speaking of warm ups, Sunil, try telling
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli that the World Test Championship final is a warm up for the Ashes series!
I don't think they are even thinking about it right now, Ali, I can tell you! They've got the IPL in their heads. Rohit Sharma is in
dreadful form as you might have heard or read, Virat Kohli is in middling form and I think that they've got the IPL really in their
heads right now. Nobody is ready to give us the World Test Championship, unfortunately, except dear old Pujara who has
been there in England for some time, leading Sussex by the way, he’s the captain of Sussex right now, so that's the interesting
part. I do wish that India had allowed a few more players to go, who are not playing the IPL, but that's entirely up to them.
Most of them are playing the IPL which is a problem we talked about earlier. But, no, I don't think so. I don't think anybody is
thinking about that right now over here.
Yeah, I found it quite remarkable the amount of fuss that has been made about Sussex supposedly giving the Aussies a
helping-hand by giving Steve Smith some games. Where was the fuss around Marnus Labuschagne playing for Glamorgan over the
last three seasons because I'd be much more worried about the amount that Labuschagne has been learning through playing
English conditions over the last few years. Steve Smith has been there and done here in the UK. He has played Ashes series here
This would be, apart from a bit of an appearance, Labuschagne came on as concussion sub, didn't he, in the last series, but I
think Labuschagne has the propensity to be a hugely damaging player for the Aussies in this particular Ashes series.
Finally, on Stumped this week, we are joined by a woman who is breaking barriers on the field in a different sort of way.
New Zealand-born, Meg Lay is the only female member of ground staff working at an international venue in England. She
works at the County Ground in Bristol, which is where Gloucestershire play in the County Championship, and she joins
us on Stumped now. Meg, great to have you on. One of the reasons you are able to join us today is because Gloucestershire
actually have a week off in the County Championship. So just how busy are you normally?
It's been full on, we had 220ml of rain in March alone. Our deputy head groundsman has been here for 40 years and he
said he has never seen anything like it.
We don't speak to too many ground staff members on Stumped, but we will get into it in a minute
about how you got into it all, but what does your day-to-day role involve? Talk us through it.
This is what I love about the job, every single day it's different. There's different problems that come up, things you would never
expect to see. We do it all. We will cut the grass, we prepare the pitches, there’s maintenance on machinery, there's sight screens,
all sorts, as well as all the planning that goes into the background. There’s the pest control or the agronomy
side of things which I find really interesting.
What time does your alarm go off each day?
5.30am! I get the bus just after 6am.
And you'll be the last to leave on a matchday?
Yeah, we are, they are big shifts on match day and especially when you've got the four-day games.
Hi Meg, Jim Maxwell in Sydney. Tell us a bit about your history, growing up in New Zealand and your introduction to cricket.
I'm from a pretty rural part of New Zealand. I grew up on my grandparents' farm, so I have always had an agricultural
background. Both my parents played cricket, so, naturally, I got into it quite young. I still play now as well as doing a bit of
voluntary ground stuff. I never thought it could be a job. So it’s sort of given me the perfect background to end up and work like
this, combining my love of sport as well as agriculture.
So why groundkeeping? What was it that made you want to do that rather than something else agricultural?
I sort of always pictured myself playing professionally as a young kid that’s what I wanted to do, even though the structure
wasn’t really there yet, that’s what I envisioned myself doing. I realised I enjoyed sport much more when I'm playing for the fun
of it with a good social team and then this opportunity came up where I could still be involved in professional sport and bumping
shoulders with some of the biggest names in the game and still incorporate my farming background as well.
It's the perfect mix of everything I'm interested in.
Hi Meg, this is Sunil Gupta for All India Radio from as far away as New Delhi and I was fascinated by what you were saying
because when we’re watching a game or commentating at a game we talk about the grounds people, but they are very much
in the background and you know what you told me about getting up at 5.30am and doing all these things it is phenomenal.
We don't think about these things so thank you. In all the years that you've been doing this. What's the big highlight and what's
the one thing that you really remember, the pitch you prepared or something that you did that stood out for you?
I think the biggest one for me was when we had the England Women playing here and Sophia Dunkley got her first century for
England, that was amazing. I know Dunks personally and she's an amazing human and it was amazing to see her get that on a
pitch that I had help prepare. As much as I'm ashamed to say it as a Gloucestershire fan, last week, Pujara got 150 on a pitch
that we'd prepared which was a pretty special moment too.
There you are! Perfect preparation for the World Test Championship final. We were just talking about that.
you're the only lady at this level, first class cricket at an international ground. Why are no more women coming through
in this particular profession? I'm sure you'd like to see more of them, but why aren't they coming through? What is it that’s
holding them back? What would you say to them if they came and asked you for a bit of advice?
The good news is about a month ago, a new woman has joined, so there’s now a woman working at Headingly, Jasmine, which
is amazing. From the outside looking in, I think it's purely because there is no representation of women at all and it can
be intimidating when you see the industry is essentially older men, but from my experience there has been absolutely nothing
to worry about. They are the best bunch of guys I could ever imagine working with. Once you start the job, you're part of
the club and everyone will look out for you. It is essential that we do get women into the role and not just to tick boxes, it's
becoming quite critical in terms of staff retention and recruitment and, unfortunately, I think women’s sport will suffer
as a result. We have half the population out there that need to put their hands up so we can get women’s sports teams playing
on the biggest stages. We need to help prepare those stages and I think there is a lot of untapped potential there.
Sounds a bit similar to the commentary scene, Meg. When I first started, there were no women doing it. It’s brilliant what you are
doing, and that visibility will certainly have an impact, but just tell us briefly then, did you have to do qualifications? What
would be a pathway for somebody to actually get a foot into ground staff and grounds keeping?
Well, this is it, I assumed you would need a PhD to work at like an international venue, I really did. But my agricultural
background and my knowledge of cricket as well, I did study agriculture for a while. That all came into play but there are
qualifications that you can do through the Grounds Management Association website, which I'm currently working
through. But there are plenty of paths you can do whether it is soil science or agronomy.
That's good to hear. Meg, good luck, enjoy the rest of the season. I'll certainly keep an eye out for you and say hi if I get to
Bristol this season. Thanks again for coming on, Stumped. Thanks very much. That is Meg Lay who is making a name and
certainly being very visible, one of as we know only two female ground staff working at international grounds here in the UK.
Well, that's all we've got time for on this week's Stumped, so my thanks to Jim Maxwell and Sunil Gupta
and, of course, all of you for listening and make sure you do join us again next week. See you, then. Bye, bye.