In praise of ... county cricket

County cricket hasn't been fashionable since around 1950 - which, coincidentally, is the last time that Lancashire won the championship. The final round of four-day matches begins today, and usually by this point of the county season one side or another has already wrapped up the title. This season, thankfully, not only is the county championship still undecided but it is finely balanced between Lancashire and Sussex, the two sides separated by a small fraction of points and supporters of both experiencing an unusual frisson of excitement.

While cricket still attracts media attention that outweighs its spectator support, the county game too often languishes in obscurity, casting its pearls before an audience that can struggle to make double figures. That should be different today, when Sussex takes the field against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, and Lancashire start out at the Rose Bowl against Hampshire.

A passing Hollywood scriptwriter could find plenty of box-office material in either team: Sussex performing as a plucky squad of over-achievers, backed by a brilliant foreign signing. Lancashire, meanwhile, could be cast as a mixture of battered old pros and fresh-faced kids, striving to retrieve their county's glory years. In an era when bungs and over-inflated pay packets are marring football, and Test cricket has endured a weird mixture of racism and farce, the county game offers a glimpse of the spirit of competition that elevates sport and makes it sublime. Unless it rains.