Annie Chave

In the ECB laboratory, the domestic game is laid bare, its schedule trailing across the table as technicians busily fiddle with the formats.
It is like a jigsaw.
In a corner by the water-cooler, a group of men in suits tinker with the Dukes ball. They juggle between it and the Kookaburra, bouncing them off a virtual pitch. There is no grass in sight.
Despite – not because of – these experiments, the 2024 County Championship has been full of highs and lows. We have had tales of bravery, bitter defeats, and surprise results. It has been the kind of intriguing narrative that only ...