It's A Batsman's Haven Compared To The Old Days

THE wickets, like the recent rain, tumbled in the opening round of Championship matches but the batting carnage of last week was still nothing like that witnessed during the golden age of uncovered wickets.

- Richard Edwards

It was the summer of 1981 – much to the chagrin of traditionalists – when uncovered wickets were scrapped. As predicted, it proved to be a move that changed the face of the English game.

And although batsmen could have been forgiven for pining for the warmth of summer as the 2018 season kicked off, the fact remains that most batsmen from the 1950s, 60s and 70s would have given their right arm to play on the kind of tracks that welcomed players this month.

Just ask the Worcestershire players who took to the field at the Oval to take on Surrey in 1954. They were skittled for 25 and 40 and, with Surrey posting a score of 92-3 declared in their first innings, the game was over in just five hours.

Former England opener, Geoff Cook, now busily developing the next generation of talent at Durham, played for nine seasons on uncovered wickets and saw at first hand the impact they had on technique and entertainment levels in the county game.