Six reasons to pick up the March issue of The Cricketer!

Our March issue's centrepiece is a superb, deep dive into the off-field state of county cricket. We reveal that five county clubs have received advance payments from the ECB to alleviate financial difficulties over the past two years

You can buy a copy of the issue online HERE or SUBSCRIBE HERE! Here's what's in the mag...

1. "It's rarely the same clubs in any five to 10-year period. Clubs tend to go through cycles depending on their investment needs"

Sam Morshead spoke to two-dozen contributing voices and sources. One of those was ECB CEO Richard Gould.

2. "I'm worried about the future of Test cricket, the jewel in the crown, the pinnacle of the game (till now). Grim scenarios, of there being only three or four Test-playing nations, for instance, are predicted"

Mike Brearley wonders if Test cricket is on a Titanic route to disaster.

^{Mike Brearley fears a franchise future}

3. "It's what makes Test cricket so intriguing that a certain win becomes a chastening defeat – and that it can keep one's attention over five days is magical"

David Gower says Tests like the recent ones at Hyderabad and the Gabba prove the magic of the longer game.

4. "I don't like four-day Tests personally. I'm a traditionalist, a five-day Test man. Get the pitches right, as the pitches for the first two Tests have been"

Nasser Hussain says he disagrees with calls for four-day Tests, in 'Ask Nasser'.

^{County finances: A superb, deep dive by Sam Morshead}

5. "There is a lesson here. It surely tells us that, if we give spinners opportunity, if we provide conditions where they are required and encouraged, we are much more likely to help them maximise their potential"

George Dobell pays tribute to the English spin factory that is Ormskirk Cricket Club in Lancashire. First they produced Simon Kerrigan, then he was replaced by new England hero Tom Hartley.

6. "Dad recorded films on VHS and at the end were the Channel 9 highlights. I was fascinated by this weird-looking guy with grey hair. it was Richie Benaud. There’s never been anybody like him"

Rob Moody, cricket’s great digital chronicler, tells Huw Turbervill why he is still recording the cricket, even though his legendary YouTube channel, Robelinda, was shut down.

^{Ed Hawkins says T20 administration needs to be transparent}

Elsewhere... Monty Panesar picks his hero Sachin Tendulkar as his favourite cricketer; Tanya Aldred says the latest reorganisation of the women’s game in the UK will ultimately allow it to stand on its own two feet; Somerset are featured in this issue’s County Focus; Lawrence Rowe made 302 for West Indies against England at Barbados 50 years ago. Ashley Gray speaks to Geoff Boycott and others who witnessed it; and Kieron Pollard, the West Indies T20 ace, explains why he has signed up to be England assistant coach at this year’s T20 World Cup.

We also have our county diary featuring all 18 first-class clubs every issue, Test reports from India v England, Australia v West Indies and Sri Lanka v Afghanistan, Gideon Haigh’s The Window, and ask, whatever happened to Dilip Doshi? Howzat for a great package?

You can buy a copy of the issue online HERE or SUBSCRIBE HERE!