English cricket's momentous summer deserved a better curtain call than a farcical Championship decider

NICK HOWSON AT TAUNTON: Do not allow the bout of late drama mask over what was a shoddy end to the 2019 campaign

Taunton (fourth day of four): Somerset 203, 0-0 v Essex 141 & 45-1 - Match drawn

Scorecard

Essex have won their eighth County Championship, a second in three years. They have become the first club to do the Division One-T20 Blast double. Somerset are second for a sixth time. Their desperate wait for a first title goes on. Simon Harmer's stunning season gets a fitting finale. Marcus Trescothick's retirement is tinged with another domestic disappointment.

At least, alongside some late drama, these should be the central narratives. We should be celebrating success, bemoaning misfortune, heralding performance and lamenting departing heroes. Instead, the climax to English cricket's greatest ever summer is full of regret, blighting by absurdity and consumed by nonsense.

Following the thrilling climax to the World Cup, a memorable Ashes series and an epic finale to the Blast, this was the County Championships' big moment. A red-ball season which began on April 8 was set for an almighty and fitting finale in keeping with the rest of the international and domestic summer.

But the weather has had other ideas. Substantial bands of rain which left large swathes of the outfield unplayable meant this game developed into little more than tick box exercise.

Many of the spells of play that did occur - we went 44 hours and 17 minutes at one stage without a ball - felt irrelevant and worthless set against the inevitability of the final outcome. Somerset's late charge only worked to emphasise what a thrilling contest this should have been. Such a glorious summer deserved better.

^{Frustration was rife on day four}

To totally blame the inclement conditions, however, is to ignore the salient point. Essex have won nine matches, losing fewer than any other. They have the leading wicket-taker in Divisions One or Two.

Three of the top 14 run-scorers in the top flight can call Chelmsford their home. Meanwhile, no Somerset batsman has averaged 32. And with two games to go, their destiny was in their own hands. The final result might be unedifying but there is nothing unreasonable about it.

Fifteen entire days out of 36 from the final round of Championship matches were lost to a combination of rain, wet outfields and bad light. And why should we expect anything else when the longest ever English cricket season is extended into the last full week of September?

Of course, the unpredictability of the English summer means it can rain at any time - we lost 23 perfectly placed Blast matches to rain - but staging a match closer to Christmas than mid-summer is only going to one way. It is a disgrace.

It is hard to feel a sense of disappointment after a summer in which cricket had seemingly made so much progress. One million children were engaged in the World Cup. The free-to-air broadcast of the final between England and New Zealand lured more than eight million viewers. Nearly 1.5 million fans watched live county cricket this season. The Blast enjoyed record-breaking ticket sales.

^{Day four saw a delayed start and the players taken off twice for rain}

Yet, behind the numbers, the sport remains in an existential crisis. The accommodation of county cricket's cash cow, the T20 Blast, has seen the red-ball format go from an afterthought to an utter irrelevance and moved to the fringes of the campaign. Indeed, in many ways, it is now an inconvenience. And despite the obvious decline of the England Test team solutions are not being sought.

And don't be fooled into thinking this is the fault of the World Cup. At least initially, there is little sign that anything is about to change. If anything, things are about to get worse. In 2020, the ECB will be accommodating a fourth competition, The Hundred. Such is the faith the governing body have in the 100-ball format it will even relegate the Blast into second place on the list of priorities.

What we already know about the calendar suggests this exhaustive and chaotic summer will be repeated. The final of 50-over tournament, which will become a development showcase, will be played at Trent Bridge on September 21, with at least one round of Championship games likely to follow.

Meanwhile, integrity will be sapped from Division One, which will swell to 10 sides next year, and an asterisk attached to every future winner. Each side will continue to play 14 fixtures, ending the round-robin home and away format. You could end up winning the title without having to play the reigning champions twice while taking full advantage against the teams will reduced resources. England director of cricket Ashely Giles has even suggested some matches could be played with reduced points.

^{Alastair Cook's half-century was critical in holding Somerset off}

Most metrics regarding ticket-sales, remarkable online streaming figures and TV viewing numbers suggest there remains plenty of interest in cricket. Attendances across the sport next year are likely to remain excellent. The initial allocation for an eighth straight T20 Finals Day at Edgbaston has already sold out, for example.

But the authorities are testing the patience and faith of their public, a fate they do not deserve. They appear happy to undermine most of their competitions, even at the expense of the national team. It is a baffling strategy which defies logic.

By the time Essex lifted the golden County Championship title the autumnal sun had long dipped behind the clouds, never to be seen again. It was a fitting analogy for the season. For so long shining brightly, it stunk slowly into the abyss. It is scheduled to re-appear in six months time, but who knows if it will possess the same twinkling quality.