INDEPENDENT VOICE OF CRICKET DECLARES TO GO DIGITAL

NEWSPAPER'S DEMISE

News that The Independent and its Sunday sister will cease printing is sad for Fleet Street … but also a shame for cricket writing.

The final print edition of The Independent on Sunday is published on March 20, with the Indy declaring six days later. Then the titles will plunge into the uncertain abyss of digital only. 

The titles used to cover county cricket thoroughly, and although that has subsided, comprehensive coverage of the England team has endured.

Four men have been the papers’ big hitters in their 30-year history.

Derek Pringle and Angus Fraser swapped England caps for the Indy laptop; Martin Johnson produced one of the most famous pieces of cricket journalism of all; and Stephen Brenkley carved out such a distinctive voice that he was even being touted as a possible for Test Match Special at one point.

Johnson was the Indy’s first cricket correspondent. He started on October 7, and the paper’s first tour, to Australia in 1986/87, began two days later. England, of course, won everything that winter, but the opening tour matches began poorly. “There are only three things wrong with the English team,” Johnson wrote. “They can’t bat, they can’t bowl, and they can’t field.” It was a great line, even if it did backfire. “It followed us around for the entire tour, including the players getting T-shirts printed,” said Johnson.

The Indy has never had the resources or readership to threaten the leviathans of Fleet Street. “It felt like the corner shop versus Asda, but it was quite the most enjoyable sports desk I have worked for.

“The other thing about the Indy was that they trusted their guys in the field to write the story. Nowadays, it is all too often someone having a bright idea at morning conference, and telling the reporter what they should be writing.”

When Johnson left in late 1995, Pringle moved from Sindy to daily, staying for seven years. “Correspondents were pretty competitive and there wasn’t the sharing of info that there is now,” said Pringle. “The Indy was a great paper, with top people to work for and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Fraser also loved the autonomy the paper gave him as correspondent from 2002–2009. “The sports editor left me to form my own judgments. It is sad, as news comes cheap, but the Indy tries to do things the right way, covering news responsibly, taking a sensible view. They don’t say something one day, then take a 180-degree shift next. It is a shame that didn’t translate into sales figures.”

Brenkley will go down in history as the Indy’s last (print) cricket correspondent. “Looking back over 20-odd years, I’ve had a hugely enjoyable time, working with top blokes,” Brenkley said. “I’ve always had the feeling it was all marvellously civilised … and on the road!”