Wedding venues and club pitches: where 50-over cricket went to die

A squadron of children swiftly gather in a forlorn attempt to locate the ball, while the Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper raises his bat to acknowledge the modest crowd’s ­recognition of his half-century. A victory for the undergrowth; a new ball is required.

Tucked away on the rural outskirts of Mansfield, the John Fretwell Sporting Complex is an unusual site, perhaps best known to locals as a wedding venue that promises an assortment of spaces “always dressed to impress”. Before the end of the year it will host audiences with former footballers Peter Beardsley, Robbie Fowler and Bruce Grobbelaar, an evening with the actor who played Boycie’s wife Marlene in Only Fools and Horses, and no fewer than three ABBA tribute nights. Over the past decade, it has also provided Nottinghamshire one of the more picturesque outgrounds for some of their white-ball fare.

On the same day as 26,013 spectators packed into Lord’s to watch London Spirit take on Oval Invincibles in the opening game of The Hundred, the once prestigious One-Day Cup also launched with rather less fanfare. Additional locations for the start of a tournament once deemed cricket’s equivalent of football’s FA Cup included various club cricket pitches, the home of Welsh rugby league, and two private schools. In fact, not one of the eight opening fixtures in this year’s competition took place at a county’s main ground.

Ask any longstanding English cricket fan and the chances are they will be able to recall a favourite moment from the Gillette Cup, NatWest Trophy or whatever guise the county one-day competition was then operating under. One of my fondest cricketing memories will forever remain watching my childhood idol James Kirtley rip through Lancashire’s top order – all five of his wickets claimed LBW – as Sussex successfully defended 172 to win the 2006 C&G Trophy final at Lord’s.

“The white-ball Lord’s final was the pinnacle of your one-day season,” former Gloucestershire opening batter and double C&G Trophy winner Phil Weston once told me. “It was the biggest game you could play outside of international cricket.”

How times have changed. Owing to The Hundred’s pervasive tentacles, the One-Day Cup – as the domestic 50-over competition is now known – has been downgraded to what is effectively a development competition. With the ECB’s franchise baby afforded pride of place, the forgotten grand dame of limited-overs cricket is contested only by those not deemed worthy of a 100-ball deal – county stalwarts and young hopefuls playing for a spot at Trent Bridge, where the final was shunted after The Hundred’s creation in 2021.

Mismatches are inherent in a competition forced into subservience to a lucrative other. This season, Surrey and Lancashire are effectively delving into what would be third teams after losing 15 and 13 male players to The Hundred respectively. Conversely, Worcestershire are currently only one man down.

“It provides cricket for 300 professional cricketers during the month of August, which is a key month in our summer,” said Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace. “But it really is just filling time. It’s not a tournament you set out to win. We all want to win the County Championship and we all want to win the T20 Blast.” County members would be forgiven for feeling short-changed when unable to watch their club’s headline attractions throughout a prime month. But plenty remain content.

“I like to see the young players coming through so it doesn’t bother me so much,” said long-term Nottinghamshire member Kevin Sisson, watching his side this week. “It gives you a window to see if the second-team players are going to be good enough.”

Fortunately for Nottinghamshire, the vastly experienced white-ball specialist Moores had not secured a franchise gig, freeing him to bail his side out of trouble from 74 for five with a thunderous match-winning 93-ball 148.

Shunted around the calendar like a distant family member whose presence must be accommodated at an annual gathering, the competition’s future is as uncertain as the 50-over format itself. The countries that ­featured in the last World Cup in 2023 played a combined 443 one-day internationals in the four years prior, compared with 757 in the same period before the 2019 edition.

Indeed, just one member of England’s initial 15-man squad for that latest World Cup had played domestic 50-over cricket in the cycle since the team’s spectacular victory over New Zealand at the previous Lord’s final.

Like sourcing travellers cheques and deciphering paper maps, 50-over cricket may be an obligation that professional cricketers will soon largely do without, leaving Mansfield’s rolling hills free for amateurs, footballing tales and giddy brides.

Photograph by Alan Keith Beastall/Alamy Stock