Viva La Manga

The Tom Maynard Trust do some excellent work supporting young cricketers who are benefitting from the monies raised. Having been involved with them in the past where a raucous night in Newport hosted our Pushing the Boundaries show, their tireless work continues. This weekend numerous cricket clubs are flying out to La Manga in Spain, where they will have a fantastic time and raise a few quid for a wonderful charity, helping cricketers. If you want to support it, the link is at the bottom and even a couple of quid will help...

Congratulations to Mighty Middle

Middlesex became County Champions yesterday with a dramatic hat-trick from Toby Roland-Jones to beat Yorkshire in a thrilling finale. A season of dramatic twists and turns ended in victory for the pace setters as they sealed their first crown since 1993. Having gone unbeaten, it is nothing less than they deserve but there is more to this Middlesex team than just being excellent cricketers. They are a top bunch of blokes and I for one, am extremely proud of them.

Champions

Farewell Dizzy

So tomorrow marks the last day at Yorkshire County Cricket Club for Jason Gillespie. And what a ride it has been. The man known as Dizzy will go off to coach the Adelaide Strikers, swapping Ilkley Moor for the Barossa Valley. Gillespie has been nothing short of sensational during his time in Leeds. His track record is truly remarkable and there will be a tear in the hardened eye of many a Yorkshire fan when this genial South Australian departs.

Farewell Dizzy...

An open letter to the ECB

Dear ECB,

As a county cricket fan and someone that has played, followed and write on the game of cricket, I would like to say on behalf of 90% of cricket fans in England and Wales, what a monumental cock up you have made by voting for the City based T20 competition.

Obviously there are some people in the media with a vested interest - generally those who work for broadcasters or those with links to Sky or the Murdoch empire. They have been outspoken in the quest for the competition. Naturally, I don't have to be a psychic like Doris Stokes or even Ben Stokes to work out which broadcasting corporation is going to win the rights to it.

It's the Final Countdown...

And so there are three sides battling it out. Yorkshire, Middlesex and Somerset - or in alcohol terms a pint of bitter, a lager or a cider. The Specsavers County Championship is going to give us the most exciting finish for years and there are no doubt many more twists and turns in the seven days still to play. Here we look at the potential pitfalls that all three face.

Yorkshire lift title at Lord's in 2015