Chris Waters: Battle against fixture list for players echoes through the decades

Last summer, Yorkshire’s cricketers were scheduled to play on 92 days out of a possible 156 – discounting potential one-day knockout games.

Fifty years ago, Yorkshire’s workload was 117 days out of a possible 140 and, one hundred summers ago, they had 96 days of cricket crammed into 118 days.

The schedule, if anything, has actually got better.

Life was harder in the old days, tha knows . . .

The reality, of course, is not so simple.

In effect, one set of problems has merely been exchanged for another.

Whereas county cricketers of yore undoubtedly played more cricket and undertook more travelling (not only more travelling, but laborious road and rail journeys in days before motorways), the present crop play one-day as well as first-class games, which means they can never get into the right rhythm, and have to undertake more fitness training.

In 1961, Fred Trueman’s idea of a warm-up was to smoke his pipe and twirl his arms a few times.

In 1911, George Hirst probably warmed up by pulling on his sweater and putting on his cap – and why not?

Not only was cricket different back then, but the world was different too.

Nowadays, as the plague of professionalism has ripped the soul from sport, no season is complete without innumerable fitness drills, gym sessions, practice routines, ice baths and sundry shenanigans that would have made Trueman expostulate: “I don’t know what’s going off out there”.

Comparisons, of course, are notoriously difficult to make across the generations but the contrasts are striking.

In terms of travelling, there is no doubt you would rather have been a member of Andrew Gale’s current side than Everard Joseph Reginald Henry Radcliffe’s Yorkshire team of 1911.

Consider this: in 1911, Everard and his troops started their season by going from Lord’s to Leyton to Sheffield to Taunton to Worcester to Chesterfield to Headingley to Cambridge to Old Trafford to Edgbaston to Bradford to Lord’s to Sheffield to Dewsbury to Headingley to Nottingham and back to Bradford during a run of 17 three-day fixtures in 59 days.

Yorkshire ended their Championship campaign that summer against Sussex at Hastings and, the next day, were in action against MCC at Scarborough.

In 1961, Yorkshire played 39 three-day first-class games, including 32 in the Championship.

Incredibly, they had a fixture every day between April 29 and September 5.

Although that schedule included the odd rest day thrown in, it could not have been much of a rest when they were on the road most of the time.

So, what have the modern brigade got to complain about?

Well, not as much in terms of the volume of cricket, certainly, but one of the biggest problems today is the constant switching between tournaments.

There wasn’t any one-day cricket in 1911 and 1961 (oh, it must have been heaven), whereas today there is far too much of it as administrators seek to milk the cash cow.

Consequently, players are having to flit between four-day games, 40-over games and 20-over games to a point that can only have a deleterious effect on standards.

The physical demands of cricket may or may not be harder in the modern era, but they are undoubtedly different.

Although the fitness side of sport has developed beyond all recognition, it is a moot point whether we are breeding cricketers who are gym-fit rather than cricket-fit.

Some scoff when reminded that the likes of Trueman bowled more than 1,000 overs a season, but that is a truly remarkable achievement when you think about it and one made possible only because Trueman was fit for the specific rigours of fast bowling – as opposed to the specific rigours of a bleep test.

Ultimately, the only way to sort out the fixture logjam is to tackle the problem from the top.

There are far too many international games and, in particular, meaningless one-day fixtures, which has a knock-on effect further down the line, while the likes of the Indian Premier League have further saturated the calendar.

One-day cricket is steadily squeezing the life from the game.

Not in a financial sense – for it remains by far the most lucrative format, but in the sense it has led to a systematic destabilisation of the fixture schedule.

Indeed, one must have sympathy for those charged with organising the county fixtures.

Why, the poor souls are having to cram in more matches than the makers of Swan Vestas.

The stark differences between today, 50 and 100 years ago reflect not only a changing world but that sport, in the old days, was more about providing fun and entertainment.

Nowadays, it is just as much – if not more – about the financial bottom line and hard-headed professionalism.

A century of change - How Yorkshire’s fixture list evolved

1911 – May 8-10: MCC (Lord’s) First-class match; 11-13: Essex (Leyton) County Championship, 15-17: Derbys (Sheffield) CC; 18-20: Somerset (Taunton) CC; 22-24: Worcs (New Road) CC; 25-27: Derbys (Chesterfield) CC; 29-31: Somerset (Headingley) CC; June 1-3: Cambridge Uni (Fenner’s) FC; 5-7: Lancs (Old Trafford) CC; 8-10: Warks (Edgbaston) CC; 12-14: Leics (Bradford) CC; 15-17: Middx (Lord’s) CC; 19-21: Kent (Bramall L) CC; 22-24: Northants (Dewsbury) CC; 26-28: Surrey (Head’y) CC; 29-July 1: Notts (Trent Bridge) CC; July 3-5: Worcs (Bradford) CC; 10-12: Indians (Hull) FC; 13-15: Hants (Hudds) CC; 17-19: Essex (Sheffield) CC; 20-22: Northants (Northampton) CC; 24-26: Sussex (Head’y) CC; July 27-29: Warks (Harrogate) CC; 31-Aug 2: Notts (Hull) CC; 7-9: Lancs (Sheffield) CC; 10-12: Leics (Leicester) CC; 14-16: Middx (Bradford) CC; 17-19: Surrey (Oval) CC; 21-23: Hants (Portsmouth) CC; 24-26: Kent (Canterbury) CC; 28-30: Sussex (Hastings) CC; 31-Sep 2: MCC (Scarborough) FC.

Total: 32 matches.

1961 – Apr 29-May 2: MCC (Lord’s) FC; 3-5: Cambridge Univ (Fenner’s) FC; 6-9: Australians (Bradford) FC; 10-12: Oxford Univ FC; 13-16: Glamorgan (Swansea) CC; 17-19: Notts (Hull) CC; 20-23: Lancs (Old Trafford) CC; 24-26: Hants (Head’) CC; 27-30: Leics (Bramall L) CC; 31-June 2: Warks (Middlesbro) CC; 3-6: Worcs (New Road) CC; 7-9: Essex (Harrogate) CC; 10-13: Glamorgan (Head’y) CC; 14-16: Middx (Bradford) CC; 17-20: Surrey (Oval) CC; 21-23: Gloucs (Bristol) CC; 24-27: Northants (Middlesbro’) CC; 28-30: Derbys (Bramall Ln) CC; July 1-4: Somerset (Hull) CC; 5-7: Northants CC; 8-11: Derbys (Chesterfield) CC; 12-14: Somerset (Taunton) CC; 15-18: Sussex (Bradford) CC; 19-21: Gloucs (Scarboro) CC; 22-25: Surrey (Head’y) CC; 26-28: Sussex (Hove) CC; 29-Aug 1: Leics (Grace Rd) CC; 2-4: Kent (Scarboro) CC; 5-8: Lancs (Bramall Ln) CC; 9-11: Notts (Trent Br) CC Aug 12-15: Australians (Bramall Ln) FC; 16-18: Worcs (Bradford) CC; 19-22: Essex (Southend) CC; 23-25: Kent (Dover) CC; 26-29: Middx (Lord’s) CC; 30-Sep 1: Warks (Edgbaston) CC; 2-5: Hampshire (B’mouth) CC; 9-12: MCC (Scarboro) FC; 13-15: Hants (Scarboro) FC.

Total: 39 matches.

2011 – Total: 45 matches (16 CC; 1 FC; 16 T20; 12 CB40).