Gidney

[lancsdes]

I agree with the assessment on other thread by Ross ( to whom I enjoyed speaking ) that he was impressive on Wednesday. Some here who were on the old forum may remember I posted a letter to him and his reply on the Forum. That letter impressed me . It was thoughtful, considered and he offered me the chance to spend a day with him at OT. I didn’t take him up on that as I had already decided I no longer enjoyed watching cricket at Old Trafford. I didn’t and don’t blame him for that ; I would like to have seen something more akin to Trent Bridge and that ship had sailed by then.

There was a lack of modern b….s in his talk and answers the other day. The amount of content was very high. He came across to me as a high calibre individual of integrity with a genuine passion for the club and for cricket about which he was honest enough to say he didn’t have previous background.

There was too much content to go through in depth here but if anyone wants to ask a question about what he said, I will do my best to answer ; maybe Ross will assist?

[John W]

Oct 21, 2023 9:38:47 GMT lancsdes said:

I agree with the assessment on other thread by Ross ( to whom I enjoyed speaking ) that he was impressive on Wednesday. Some here who were on the old forum may remember I posted a letter to him and his reply on the Forum. That letter impressed me . It was thoughtful, considered and he offered me the chance to spend a day with him at OT. I didn’t take him up on that as I had already decided I no longer enjoyed watching cricket at Old Trafford. I didn’t and don’t blame him for that ; I would like to have seen something more akin to Trent Bridge and that ship had sailed by then.

Good to hear that when you wrote a letter to Gidney you received a reply Des. Unfortunately I didn't have the same response. Last August I wrote a four page letter to Gidney and at the same time a four page letter to Andy Anson, writing both letters took a fair bit of time. The content of the letter(s) was about the constant and frustrating failure of the ticket system, I highlighted the many issues I'd had over an eight year period. I handed the letters in at reception to make sure they would land in the right place, the receptionist assured me this would be the case. In the letter I gave my mobile number, email address, home address and also the offer to meet with either of them at any home Lancashire fixture. Three weeks passed and I had not heard anything so when I was at Old Trafford I went to reception and asked if Gidney and Anson had received my letters, I was told they had and I would be receiving a reply shortly. Three more weeks passed before I received a reply, not from Gidney or Anson but from one of Gidneys lackkies, somebody called Gaz Morris. In a short bog standard response he said Gidneys secretary had passed on my letter and the ticket system was being revamped in preparation for the 2023 season when everything would be fine - it isn't, there are still major flaws with it. I have never received any acknowledgement from Anson regarding my letter/issues and my letter to Gidney was passed on to an understudy who had no idea about the failed ticketing system. This is one of the reasons why I have a deep distrust of the present hierarchy at Lancashire.
Earlier this year I was sat with John Abrahams for a good half hour chatting about past times and cricket in general, he asked me about Lancashire cricket in 2023 so I put the question back, do you want me to be nice about it or do you want the truth, he wanted the latter so I told him exactly what I thought. He was speechless. If the hierarchy stepped out of their ivory towers and actually communicated and listened to senior members maybe they would gain more respect from said members and not almost permanent doubt.

[lancsdes]

Sorry to hear that JohnW . I do think that poor replies to letters to senior management is a very good indication of dysfunctional organisations.

Ross has already covered the answer about Liverpool. Expanding it a bit, the question was put by Sue Grainger, ex committee and very pro Aigburth like me who said that she had already spoken to DG about this but asked for the benefit of audience. DG said that we should not believe all we read on social media. Story I had heard was that Liverpool’s chairman/ president ? , having gone to quite a bit of trouble to put the last game of 21 on at short notice, objected to being asked to bid the following year. DG said that Chilton said Liverpool said they were just too busy with other sports , weddings etc and gave the impression Lancs was an inconvenience. As Ross indicated , he said the next move was for Liverpool to contact Mark Chilton.

There were plenty of probing questions I could have asked (I’d forgotten about the ticketing but my experiences with it have not been good) but largely speaking, I’m beaten. I’m just content to watch the odd away game at a nice venue, the odd out ground day and get my real pleasure from watching timed League cricket. I’m sure the ECB will eventually “ close off that avenue of pleasure” ( Fawlty) . I’ve been worn down in most of my main interests ; sport, wildlife and the environment, politics in general and now I just feel that my mental health demands no longer fighting the battles but just accepting that moneyed interests virtually always win over quality of life.

[anyportinastorm]

Oct 21, 2023 9:38:47 GMT lancsdes said:

I agree with the assessment on other thread by Ross ( to whom I enjoyed speaking ) that he was impressive on Wednesday. Some here who were on the old forum may remember I posted a letter to him and his reply on the Forum. That letter impressed me . It was thoughtful, considered and he offered me the chance to spend a day with him at OT. I didn’t take him up on that as I had already decided I no longer enjoyed watching cricket at Old Trafford. I didn’t and don’t blame him for that ; I would like to have seen something more akin to Trent Bridge and that ship had sailed by then.

There was a lack of modern b….s in his talk and answers the other day. The amount of content was very high. He came across to me as a high calibre individual of integrity with a genuine passion for the club and for cricket about which he was honest enough to say he didn’t have previous background.

There was too much content to go through in depth here but if anyone wants to ask a question about what he said, I will do my best to answer ; maybe Ross will assist?

Couple of things des. Seeing the event you attended was in Southport did he give any indication Trafalgar rd would retain a county fixture next season? Also did he seem enthused about recruitment and improving the first team given how many have gone through the door and only a young raw injury prone bowling punt has come in to date? Thanks.

[lancsdes]

Anyportinastorm ; sorry for delay. Nothing was said about Southport retaining fixture but he was very positive about the efforts they had made to improve pitch and facilities, the fact that Southport was very pro Lancs, and the players liked playing there. I’d be astonished if they don’t play there next year. He said that he personally was very sorry to see both Rob Jones and Parkinson go but there are just too many players and too few championship games to keep everyone happy.

He did contrast our batting figures with bowling especially as he felt that Bailey and Williams were as good as any in the country and emphasised the desire to get the high profile overseas bowler. He did link the bowling problems with the Old Trafford pitch and said there was a big analysis being done as to what could be done to improve it. Lancs won three successive home games he said in April 16 and they were looking at what the factors were then which were missing now. A couple of pitches may be relaid.

Ross covered the question about whether they were looking externally for the new coach. He said they very much were but they were coming up against the problem of coaches being able to earn so much for a month’s trash cricket and identified the American cricket as a big threat there with both coaches and players.

[anyportinastorm]

Oct 24, 2023 19:34:01 GMT lancsdes said:

Anyportinastorm ; sorry for delay. Nothing was said about Southport retaining fixture but he was very positive about the efforts they had made to improve pitch and facilities, the fact that Southport was very pro Lancs, and the players liked playing there. I’d be astonished if they don’t play there next year. He said that he personally was very sorry to see both Rob Jones and Parkinson go but there are just too many players and too few championship games to keep everyone happy.

He did contrast our batting figures with bowling especially as he felt that Bailey and Williams were as good as any in the country and emphasised the desire to get the high profile overseas bowler. He did link the bowling problems with the Old Trafford pitch and said there was a big analysis being done as to what could be done to improve it. Lancs won three successive home games he said in April 16 and they were looking at what the factors were then which were missing now. A couple of pitches may be relaid.

Ross covered the question about whether they were looking externally for the new coach. He said they very much were but they were coming up against the problem of coaches being able to earn so much for a month’s trash cricket and identified the American cricket as a big threat there with both coaches and players.

Cheers des.

[chris]

Oct 22, 2023 8:59:05 GMT John W said:

Oct 21, 2023 9:38:47 GMT lancsdes said:

I agree with the assessment on other thread by Ross ( to whom I enjoyed speaking ) that he was impressive on Wednesday. Some here who were on the old forum may remember I posted a letter to him and his reply on the Forum. That letter impressed me . It was thoughtful, considered and he offered me the chance to spend a day with him at OT. I didn’t take him up on that as I had already decided I no longer enjoyed watching cricket at Old Trafford. I didn’t and don’t blame him for that ; I would like to have seen something more akin to Trent Bridge and that ship had sailed by then.

Good to hear that when you wrote a letter to Gidney you received a reply Des. Unfortunately I didn't have the same response. Last August I wrote a four page letter to Gidney and at the same time a four page letter to Andy Anson, writing both letters took a fair bit of time. The content of the letter(s) was about the constant and frustrating failure of the ticket system, I highlighted the many issues I'd had over an eight year period. I handed the letters in at reception to make sure they would land in the right place, the receptionist assured me this would be the case. In the letter I gave my mobile number, email address, home address and also the offer to meet with either of them at any home Lancashire fixture. Three weeks passed and I had not heard anything so when I was at Old Trafford I went to reception and asked if Gidney and Anson had received my letters, I was told they had and I would be receiving a reply shortly. Three more weeks passed before I received a reply, not from Gidney or Anson but from one of Gidneys lackkies, somebody called Gaz Morris. In a short bog standard response he said Gidneys secretary had passed on my letter and the ticket system was being revamped in preparation for the 2023 season when everything would be fine - it isn't, there are still major flaws with it. I have never received any acknowledgement from Anson regarding my letter/issues and my letter to Gidney was passed on to an understudy who had no idea about the failed ticketing system. This is one of the reasons why I have a deep distrust of the present hierarchy at Lancashire.
Earlier this year I was sat with John Abrahams for a good half hour chatting about past times and cricket in general, he asked me about Lancashire cricket in 2023 so I put the question back, do you want me to be nice about it or do you want the truth, he wanted the latter so I told him exactly what I thought. He was speechless. If the hierarchy stepped out of their ivory towers and actually communicated and listened to senior members maybe they would gain more respect from said members and not almost permanent doubt.



Mentioning John Abrahams....
Reading the Black History Month article on the club website and thinking just how few home grown locally produced Black and Ethnic Minority players Lancashire have ever brought through their age groups and into the first team.  Probably countable on one hand since the club formed.