Ashes diary: northern mayors call out ECB as Mike Gatting relives that ball | Ashes 2023

Mayors on a mission

Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, rang the five-minute bell on Friday and then attempted to also sound an alarm. He and Tracy Brabin, mayor of West Yorkshire, wrote a letter calling on the ECB to reconsider its decision not to allocate any Tests in the next home Ashes series to grounds in the north of England. “It feels remarkable that an area so passionate about cricket, with a population of over 15 million people, misses out on a men’s Ashes Test in 2027 whilst the south hosts three,” they wrote. “We urge you to think again.” The ECB responded to say it would do no such thing: “In 2027 there will be an Ashes Test in the north – a women’s Test at Headingley,” a spokesperson said. “There will also be a men’s Test match against another opponent at Old Trafford. With seven grounds eligible to host men’s Test matches we recognise there will always be disappointment.” Their response won’t end the controversy, but really all cricket-related press releases should end with the phrase “there will always be disappointment”.

Gatting gets that ball again

At each ground throughout the series fans have been able to face six notable deliveries from the past 30 years of Ashes history in a specially developed simulator, paying to do so with money raised going to the Net Gains fund, which supports the creation of public net facilities. One of the deliveries is Shane Warne’s ball of the century, and on Friday – 30 years after he got out to it and five years after he last picked up a bat – its original victim, Mike Gatting, had another go. “It’ll be very interesting to see whether or not I can actually get a bat on it, because it did spin quite a long way,” he said. At lunchtime the former England captain braved potential ignominy and a vocal group of Australian hecklers, and this time calmly nudged through midwicket. “It’s nice,” he surmised, “when you know where it’s coming.”

Plastic fantastic

Precisely 13 minutes were lost to rain in the afternoon, with groundstaff rushing to haul plastic sheeting on to the wicket when the more hi-tech hover cover refused to budge. A big sheet is certainly less impressive but sometimes, as the old advert for the Qualcast Concorde mower put it, it’s a lot less bovver than a hover.

Caught off guard

Every morning a different group of flag-waving children have formed a guard of honour for the players as they enter the field of play, and on Friday it was the turn of junior members of Rochdale cricket club. For half an hour they practised their formation near the Lightning Stand before moving into position, where for nearly 10 minutes they patiently stood in two neat lines. Finally the players emerged from their respective dressing rooms and walked on to the pitch – the Australians 20 yards to one side of the young cricketers, the English 20 yards to the other. The completely ignored flag-bearers were quietly led away.