The Hundred – the other side of the coin

Guest post by Annie Chave, who questions the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) reasons for introducing The Hundred, a new extra-short form of cricket at the height of the 2020 season, and explains the ‘Oppose The 100’ campaign.

I have spent much of the last year trying to understand the reasons behind the ECB’s addition of The Hundred to the already overcrowded cricketing calendar.

I’ve questioned many at the ECB, including [CEO] Tom Harrison; I’ve debated with Bumble [David Lloyd, the former England international player and coach, now a TV commentator] and with Bryan Henderson [head of cricket at Sky TV] Sky Television’s support for the new competition and, spurred on by many other fans of County Cricket, I’ve openly expressed my point of view.

Still not tired of London and its ‘wonderful immensity’

“… when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”  Our senior consultant Andrew Weltch argues it’s probably as true today as it was when Samuel Johnson made the famous statement over 200 years ago.

For most people living in London or travelling in to work, it must seem mundane in the extreme, but for those of us who live further afield, a trip to London – even for business – can be quite special.

Unlocking creative potential in higher education marketing

Guest post by Martyn Edwards, Interim Director, Marketing, Recruitment & International at Swansea University.

This is always a pivotal time for higher education marketers – A-level results day [Thursday August 15] signals the start in earnest of Clearing.

The well-publicised and seemingly unrelenting on-going turbulence across the external operating environment, with adverse geopolitical as well as demographic headwinds, has resulted in a harsh new reality for UK higher education (HE) providers and the next 12 months are likely to be as demanding as the last for the majority of university marketers.

GB hockey facing the world’s best

For the first time in a quarter-century, Britain’s men’s ice hockey team is competing at the sport’s highest level, writes Andrew Weltch.

Team GB qualified for the top-flight world championship in Slovakia by winning Division 1A last season – a sensational achievement by the lowest-ranked team in a competition which included the likes of Hungary, Italy and Kazakhstan.

Woods or Nicklaus? Messi or Ronaldo? There’s no need to pick a side

Photo of Tiger Woods by Tour Pro Golf Clubs.

Sport’s obsession with choosing a clear and definable greatest performer compromises the sheer brilliance of individuals, argues Reece Chambers in this guest post.

 Tiger Woods’ victory at the 83^rd Masters’ Tournament in Augusta last week illustrated one of sport’s greatest comebacks of all time.

Free bagels in the Big Apple – running with the New York Road Runners

Our senior consultant Andrew Weltch looks at the success of New York Road Runners in getting people of all ages and abilities running the sidewalks, streets and parks of the five boroughs.

Andrew Weltch with son Rich ahead of the Al Gordon 4M in Prospect Park, Brooklyn

Running (or, more accurately for many of us, jogging) is perhaps the simplest form of exercise, and this blog has celebrated in a previous post the phenomenal success of parkrun in getting many thousands of people completing a 5k run every Saturday morning.

Parkrun’s rapid growth in recent years has seen it spread well beyond its UK home. At the time of writing [March 2019], it claims 3.6 million runners at 1,700 weekly events in 21 countries across five continents. But this isn’t the only organisation succeeding in getting people on their feet in a big way.

Neil Warnock’s Public Relations Masterclass

Guest post by Reece Chambers on the weekend’s post-game press conference by Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock, and how it demonstrated a mastery of PR.

It’s 6.54pm on Saturday evening. Mr Warnock has just trudged back into the house and kicked his shoes off before settling down with a glass of fine red wine for the evening. All seems normal in the Warnock household, but what had preceded Warnock’s journey home was another masterclass in the communicatory skills of a wise professional.

90 years of speedway in Cardiff

As the British Speedway Grand Prix returns to Cardiff, our senior consultant, Andrew Weltch, author of the history of Speedway in Wales, looks at the arrival of the sport in the city 90 years ago.

Top-level speedway has become an annual fixture on Cardiff’s sporting calendar, and as the 2018 Adrian Flux FIM British Speedway Grand Prix gets under way in the Principality Stadium on Saturday [July 21st], it will be 90 years since the sport arrived in the city.

Will GB’s promotion deliver a boost for UK ice hockey?

Great Britain’s sensational promotion to the top flight of world championship ice hockey could give the sport the boost it needs, writes our senior consultant Andrew Weltch.

As the lowest ranked team in the IIHF’s Division 1A (the second level), GB was expected to struggle against the likes of Hungary, Italy and Kazakhstan.

But they won four of their five games – including a final-game penalty-shot victory over hosts Hungary in front of 8,500 fans in Budapest last night (Saturday April 28th) to clinch the gold medal.

World Rallycross to switch on electric championship

It has been clear for some time that the days of petrol and diesel cars are numbered – not just on the roads, but on the race tracks too, writes Weltch Media senior consultant, Andrew Weltch.

Reports that World Rallycross will have electric cars as its headline class within the next two years have made that fact even clearer.