M
Marty
Guest
I know how extremely lucky I am to be able to commentate on county cricket.
The season starts tomorrow and many people would love to do my job.
This is a massive season for BBC coverage. Back in October, with the DQF cuts coming in and stations losing between 15% and 20% of their budgets the cricketing future looked grim.
Managers across the country informed their commentators the chances of covering games in future were grim. Then through the winter talks took place and out of the ashes - in an Ashes year ironically - came a new dawn none of us thought possible.
Now every game, in every competition, at every county will have commentary. Durham Cricket begin the season tomorrow at home to Somerset and I will be bringing you commentary of all their games this season online via BBC Newcastle.
If you want to get on the mailing list for commentary links and match notes then email [email protected]
I also know this is not my money. It is money from the ECB and the BBC and for that I and the other commentators are truly thankful and we will give you our best service as we have done for the last few years. We love what we do.
It will be successful with your help, so tune in and make it work. They can see where you are and how long you listen for and there's no international block on match commentaries either. If you are clever the boss may not even realise what you are doing if you are having a sneaky listen at work!
This is a massive development. Cricket has not been covered on this scale by the BBC before, so cherish it and make the most of it. Be part of it too. You can message me @Martycricket on Twitter or via the yahoo address above.
And quite a lot of the matches will also make it onto 5 Live Sports Extra giving you a chance to hear them in glorious DAB.
Interestingly The Times have decided to cut back their county coverage this season, which came as a shock to many. Cricinfo will still be at games, as well The Guardian, and one or two local papers, but the only place to catch every game live will be via the BBC website.
The link for tomorrow's game is here http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/22065809
It is also available on Tune In Radio on smartphones - free - by searching for BBC Live Event 6.
The plan is to try and keep people on the same feeds all season as well!
Interestingly The Daily Mail has tipped Durham to finish bottom of Division One. The funny thing is I can't remember seeing a Mail reporter at a County match and I have been covering the sport for 14 seasons.
The Sun, in its season preview, describes the county championship as "the best domestic cricket competition in the world". Strangely I don't expect to see any column inches devoted to the sport there either. It's not footy and it's not trendy.
So spread the word. Share this link. Tell your mates. Tune in and enjoy. The more the merrier! Sermon over.
Thanks for reading this and keep the faith, as they say. Marty.
The season starts tomorrow and many people would love to do my job.
This is a massive season for BBC coverage. Back in October, with the DQF cuts coming in and stations losing between 15% and 20% of their budgets the cricketing future looked grim.
Managers across the country informed their commentators the chances of covering games in future were grim. Then through the winter talks took place and out of the ashes - in an Ashes year ironically - came a new dawn none of us thought possible.
Now every game, in every competition, at every county will have commentary. Durham Cricket begin the season tomorrow at home to Somerset and I will be bringing you commentary of all their games this season online via BBC Newcastle.
If you want to get on the mailing list for commentary links and match notes then email [email protected]
I also know this is not my money. It is money from the ECB and the BBC and for that I and the other commentators are truly thankful and we will give you our best service as we have done for the last few years. We love what we do.
It will be successful with your help, so tune in and make it work. They can see where you are and how long you listen for and there's no international block on match commentaries either. If you are clever the boss may not even realise what you are doing if you are having a sneaky listen at work!
This is a massive development. Cricket has not been covered on this scale by the BBC before, so cherish it and make the most of it. Be part of it too. You can message me @Martycricket on Twitter or via the yahoo address above.
And quite a lot of the matches will also make it onto 5 Live Sports Extra giving you a chance to hear them in glorious DAB.
Interestingly The Times have decided to cut back their county coverage this season, which came as a shock to many. Cricinfo will still be at games, as well The Guardian, and one or two local papers, but the only place to catch every game live will be via the BBC website.
The link for tomorrow's game is here http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/22065809
It is also available on Tune In Radio on smartphones - free - by searching for BBC Live Event 6.
The plan is to try and keep people on the same feeds all season as well!
Interestingly The Daily Mail has tipped Durham to finish bottom of Division One. The funny thing is I can't remember seeing a Mail reporter at a County match and I have been covering the sport for 14 seasons.
The Sun, in its season preview, describes the county championship as "the best domestic cricket competition in the world". Strangely I don't expect to see any column inches devoted to the sport there either. It's not footy and it's not trendy.
So spread the word. Share this link. Tell your mates. Tune in and enjoy. The more the merrier! Sermon over.
Thanks for reading this and keep the faith, as they say. Marty.
