THE LTA wants blood for its money and about time. Blood on the knees will be one of the mantras under Roger Draper’s stewardship — more juniors spoiling for a contest, instead of idling away aimless practice-court time.
The chief executive has railed against “the mirage of initiatives” that clouded the real issue — not enough youngsters competitively honed early enough to know how to win when it really counts. Brad Gilbert, the stubble-chinned new image of the sport in Britain, would say “right on” to that, as would those grazing skin in pursuit of success and survival in group one of the summer County Cup.
Britain needs to develop doubles, identifying potential pairs with the incentive to grow into Davis Cup material. That may be off-compass for the majority labouring at Devonshire Park in Eastbourne yesterday, but what wouldn’t Robert Searle and Nick Cavaday, of Kent, and Neil Bamford, of Hertfordshire, have given to be nurtured as teenagers and turned their passion for the game into something meaningful. Hopefully, at 17, George Coupland and 18-year-old Ed Corrie, of Hertfordshire, will be encouraged as those before them were not.
Yorkshire regained the men’s title, dethroning Hertfordshire. The one interruption to their accession came when Gary Henderson, their playing captain, was asked to sign a cheque midway through the opening match by Bob Armytage, the team manager, “because the stringers are asking for their cash”.
And County Week would not be County Week without its quirks. The only TV station who covered the event? Al-Jazeera. No kidding.