To our readers, at this most difficult Christmastime

SAM MORSHEAD: It would be wrong to end in celebratory fashion, because 2020 is not to be celebrated. All I can hope is that, in some small way, The Cricketer has given you a moment’s solace, or a laugh, or light relief; distraction from the gloom

I’m finding this hard to write.

Reviewing a year is not a particularly attractive prospect in normal times – humble self-congratulation is a dark art – but, with all that has gone on in 2020, the task this year is doubly difficult.

I am tremendously proud of what our small team – which has fluctuated in size between three and five – has achieved in trying circumstances.

Like many editors in our little corner of the industry, the prospect of running a cricket news website in the absence of cricket news for a quarter of the year filled me with dread, yet in the face of this challenge we have produced a rainbow of projects, initiatives and stories which have supported our three core principles in 2020: community, consistency and quality.

The day after the prime minister told the nation to stay at home in March, we sat down as a group and discussed how we, as the online representation of one of the world’s oldest cricket publications, would fill the void. Nine months on, I can reflect on that meeting and admit that I was incredibly apprehensive about what was to come, perhaps even a little scared: while we are ludicrously fortunate to be paid to do what we do, there were and still are livelihoods at play; families and food bills to consider.

It is a point of personal pride that my team is heading with me into 2021 intact, that we have been able to resume our internship programme, that we have been able to send work to at least some freelancers during the year, and that we will march through our isolated Hogmanays planning for the future rather than consoling ourselves about the past.  

We could not have done so without the support of the cricketing family: the players, so many of whom opened their hearts to us or played along with daft concepts masquerading as light entertainment; the press officers and media managers who serviced our random flights of fancy; and you, our readers, nearly 3million in all - up almost 1.3million on 2019 and 2.7million on 2017. 

While it was of little surprise to see more people finding ways of procrastinating during lockdown, the number of returning first-time visitors has been especially rewarding in a year where every smile raised is worth a round of thunderous applause.

"I am in the fortunate position to reflect on 2020 with a small measure of good spirits. However, I, and the rest of the team, are acutely aware of the hardship that has been suffered across these past nine wretched months"

For your sins, you were treated to the Quarantine Cup, an utter absurdity, and Lockdown Heroes, a wonderful celebration of the kindness, compassion and creativity of the cricket family during the UK’s toughest spring in decades. The launch of Cricketer Jobs in November – listing every job in the sport worldwide, for free – gave the website another strong string on its blossoming bow.

We have not shied away from the written word, however.

As I write, thecricketer.com is teetering on the publication of its 4,000th article of the year, quite a feat for a handful of hacks. Those stories have dealt sensitively with raw emotion: grief, mental health, addiction and cancer.  They chased down Maros Kolpak and England’s youngest player; they dug deep into the impact of Covid-19 on the cricketing world and celebrated what little onfield action 2020 allowed us to sample. We set ourselves the task of telling tales no one had previously told, or even conceived of telling, and with the library of articles in front of me now, I truly believe we achieved that.

Furthermore, we didn’t back away from a commitment to improving our diversity, a journey which might not be short but remains utterly essential. We invested more in our coverage of the women’s game than ever before, and set up ties with The Voice and the Caribbean Cricket Podcast which promoted alternative viewpoints across our platforms.

It is for all these reasons that I am in the fortunate position to reflect on 2020 with a small measure of good spirits.

However, I, and the rest of the team, are acutely aware of the hardship that has been suffered across these past nine wretched months. We know that so many of our readers and contributors have been heavily hit – personally, professionally, emotionally and financially – by this ugly disease and the economic carnage it has brought.

A role in digital media has the benefit of opening your eyes to a world of opinion and expression, but over the course of 2020 it has also served to underline just how difficult life has been for so many good people.

"There is little good to have come out of this year, and a few percentage points of digital growth feels largely irrelevant when I think back over the conversations I have had with despairing friends, and the tweets I have seen from desperate men, and the loneliness I have read about on a daily basis"

The doctors separated from their families; the travel operators, pub owners, freelance cameramen and musical directors stripped of their incomes; the children unable to see their parents and grandparents unable to see their grandchildren; the cancelled weddings and missed funerals; the absences of hugs and abundance of tears; the wait for things to get better that only ever seems to wind around another corner.

There is little good to have come out of this year, and a few percentage points of digital growth feels largely irrelevant when I think back over the conversations I have had with despairing friends, and the tweets I have seen from desperate men, and the loneliness I have read about on a daily basis. 

It would be wrong, then, to end in celebratory fashion, because 2020 is not a year to celebrate. 

All I can hope is that, in some small way, The Cricketer has provided you with a moment’s solace, or a laugh, or light relief, and that we became a positive distraction from the gloom outside. 

Hopefully, and I know how hard hope is to hang on to, we will all be able to move to a brighter place in 2021, where stadiums can hum without the need for a sound engineer, and the game we love can be played without fear, inhibition or regulation.

Until that time, we will continue to do our best to raise those priceless smiles. 

A happy and safe Christmas to you all.

Sam