As a frustrated sports reporter now condemned to writing about the pitifully precious watch business, it is a thrill to find an excuse to scribble about the greatest contest in history, The Ashes, thanks to the landmark sponsorship of the England cricket team by Rado.
I was at Edgbaston for day one of the first test, hosted by the delightful Ben Callegari, Alya Kepa, Liz Arber and Rico Steiner, VP of international marketing from the brand’s head office in Bern.
I wish I’d been a fly on the wall when ECB officials were describing how Rado could be on the big screens as the decision review system splashes its Out or Not Out conclusion.
The ECB clearly advised them well, because advertising on the sight screen and digital boundary billboards was brilliant.
In the ground, and on the telly, it looked amazing, and with three years of this deal to run, home and away (Rado is massive in India), this is a partnership that will be in the face of cricket fans worldwide.
The beauty of cricket, as I hope millions will discover this summer, is its peerless spirit between players and fans, and the Rado team twigged this immediately as the overwhelmingly British crowd cheered not only Joe Root’s day one century, but also the wicket-taking skills of the Australians.
You don’t get that at the footie, where open hostility is more the order of the day.
England lost the first test by two wickets, when Pat Cummins, comfortably the most pleasant captain Australia have fielded in my lifetime, used the long levers of a a fast bowler to score a quickfire 40 in the final half hour of a five day epic.
Handshakes all round, and then the debate turned to how England might have turned a dominant performance into a victory.
Fine margins.
Was Ben Stokes right to declare with Joe Root going gangbusters on 118 with half an hour to go on day one? Since he was seeing the ball like a melon, and dispatched his final over for 20, I’d have liked to have seen a little more of that. We might have had 450 by the close.
But I also liked the intent of the declaration, and it will take a run of defeats for me to be pushed off the believe that Baz Ball is the wrong approach.
Dropped catches and a stumping in Australia’s first innings were costly, which will ignite a debate over whether Ben Foakes should be given the gloves at Lords.
Bairstow is undroppable, in my opinion, which makes it hard to find room for a specialist keeper, particularly as I would like to see Mark Wood’s express pace come into the side.
I liked the Moeen Ali selection for Edgbaston, but he wasn’t up to the standard of Nathan Lyon, despite what fans in the Hollies stand may have thought.
Ultimately, we ended up with only three, rather tired, bowlers to choose from at the end of day five, and this is probably why England lost. Stokes was clearly reluctant to bowl because of his dodgy knee, and Ali’s spinning finger was in tatters.
But this was a victory for test cricket, a match that will live long in the memory. I hope England come back to win back the urn this summer, but I will be enjoying every moment even if we don’t, and I hope to see the Rado team again.
If they learn nothing about googlies and reverse ramps, I know they will be steeped in the joy of a great sporting summer.
