Notes from a melodious and occasionally fantastical September song: Mitch Santner in Green Park, defying a rampant Ravi Ashwin with Gowerian elegance and Bradmanian footwork… Toby Roland-Jones at Lords, gift-wrapping Middlesex, my Middlesex, their first County Championship since this column was introduced to the bare necessities of parenthood - and with a bloody hat-trick to boot.Ryan Sidebottom on the same summer-beaten turf, celebrating a bonus point as if it was an untainted Olympic gold… being in Madrid for the final day, guiltily rooting for Somerset while flat-batting away score updates from London, Devon, Hereford, Salisbury and Australia, convinced that watching as-live three days later was feasible (and failing miserably)… ordering enchiladas from a Bangladeshi waiter in the citys former Jewish quarter while exchanging raves over Shakib al Hasan - then incurring his gentle disapproval for wearing a Pakistan 2003 World Cup shirt.No less heartwarming, for all that, was this columns acknowledgement - at our 70th annual lunch - of the importance of the Cricket Writers Club (originally the Empire Cricket Writers Club; Media Club would be more accurate now). With membership booming as never before (400-plus), it is also the only such institution that offers a plausible excuse to reject adherence to the Groucho Marx Theory: never join a club prepared to accept someone like you.Of the major absentees from a spiffing do at Merchant Taylors Hall in Londons legendary Threadneedle Street - a thoroughfare now crammed with those artful dodgers and merchant bankers whom our governments thank so generously for causing the global economic recession - none left a bigger hole than the late Tony Cozier, that beacon for fair and passionate campaigning journalism. Missing, too, was the understated, kind and equally perceptive John Woodcock, dubbed the Sage of Longparish but Wooders to one and all. Now 90, still writing for the Times after 63 years, he had fallen heavily in his thatched Hampshire vicarage the previous Friday. Happily, the luncheon brochure contained what can only be described as Wooders interviews Wooders.More than anything TV has changed [cricket reporting], he declared. On the Times, we were expected to write about what went on out on the field and very little else, none of it having already been seen on the box. Much as one hates to protest, TV has also helped our credibility. Instead of being first with the news, getting it wrong and getting away with it, we now watch replays in the pressbox and get it right (if not necessarily first).Key to proceedings was the opening speech by Mark Stanley Baldwin, the estimable CWC chairman. Half a century ago, England v Garry Sobers or even Hants v Lancs received as much coverage as the FIFA World Cup finals that were being staged in Limeyland. These days effball rules supreme to a soul-destroying extent, making every cricket reporter shudder. The job, moreover, is far more taxing, demanding endless tweets and updates and news stories in addition to the considered close-of-play summary. But for the strenuous efforts of this site to uphold the importance of flannelled tomfoolery to the boys and girls at Disney, the problem would be infinitely worse.Its the greatest game in the world by miles is Stanleys mantra, delivered in just the sort of mild-but-adamant tones you might expect from a thoughtful Bristolian. That pre-lunch rallying cry flowed from head, heart and soul. As a profession I dont think cricket writing has ever faced the huge challenges it faces now... lack of space in newspapers, lack of interest from editors, huge cuts to staffs, lack of proper payment. But its no good moaning about it.I applaud ECBs radical, responsible and imaginative response to the crisis in the coverage of the domestic game. Other sports are already looking hard at the lead ECB has taken in [making the ECB Reporters Network possible], and I truly believe that by continuing to work together, the board and this club can do a hell of a lot more yet to make the network a leading promotional force for good in English cricket.And its in the interests of all of us in this room that this is done. We all depend on the profile as much as the profitability of cricket for our jobs and in that sense it is up to every one of us, from administrators, players and coaches to media and media officers, to buy into this collective need to promote the game in imaginative ways. For most of this clubs 70 years, cricket has never really had to worry about ensuring its promotion. Newspapers national, regional and local almost all spent money sending reporters and photographers around the country and around the world, largely without questioning either the base costs of doing that or the expense accounts, but that situation no longer exists.How curious, then, that the most important piece of cricket writing of these past few, earth-twitching weeks in Blighty was a media statement from a late invitee to that CWC feast: Rod Bransgrove, the businessman and club chairman who brought Tests to Hampshire and bold, progressive ideas to the game.We should be in no doubt about the risks of doing nothing, began his assessment, released two days later, of the proposed new T20 competition for eight city franchises. Unlike some, he does not believe this radical step is tantamount to beheading Old Father Time and feeding his entrails to the pigeons at the Nursery End. According to ECB research, while roughly 9.4 million UK citizens are interested in cricket, well under 1% are actually members of one of the 18 first-class counties. That a mere 2% of Britons aged 7 to 15 cite cricket as their favourite sport is depressing enough. Even more terrifyingly, this same group are likelier, apparently, to recognise the WWE wrestling star John Cena than Alastair Cook.Many blame the absence of cricket on terrestrial TV for this situation, and this may indeed have played a part, Bransgrove continued, before delivering a right to the jaw. But this ignores the trend of young people watching traditional scheduled TV less. It is also somewhat ironic that Mr Cenas fame has been established whilst WWE has been broadcast in the UK exclusively via satellite.Bransgrove, it should be noted, was by no means the only non-media type among the 306 diners at Merchant Taylors. Also present was Paul Farbrace, Trevor Bayliss chum and closest aide: still cherry-cheeked, still as cheery a cricket person as this column has ever known, still bubbling with boyish glee over the national teams rich promise and tradition-pulverising approach to this fabulous trivial pursuit of ours. England, the most adventurous, frightening one-day team on the planet: did we ever imagine in our wildest fantasies that we would ever utter such a sentence without reaching for a question mark?One of the many awards (which for the first time included one for the womenfolk, won by Charlotte Edwards) was for book of the year, which went to that arch-internationalist Scyld Berry for The Game of Life. Skid started out in the 1970s at the Observer, serving the Sunday paper for many years before joining the Sunday Telegraph midway through a career dominated by a quest for justice, where he pulled off the extraordinarily rare trick of transforming himself into a top-notch ethical newshound. No active journalist so warrants the games thanks.Then there was the bald eagle on the next table, Mike Selvey. Despite whistling out Roy Fredericks, Viv Richards and Alvin Kallicharran on his first morning of a brief run as an England swinger 40 years ago, Selve is loved instead because of the insights gleaned by Guardian readers for the past 32. In August, cost-cutting bred bad news: his contract would not be renewed. That he never once had the security of a full-time position says all you need to know about his independence of spirit.Did compassion alone earn him the Peter Smith Memorial Award? He would not have been the first such choice by any means. Honouring the late Daily Mail and News of the World cricket writer and press officer, this trophy has been presented since 1992 to those who best promote the greatest game - hence the inaugural honouree, David Gower, who had just been dropped from the Test XI to nationwide fury. Others include Richie Benaud, Sri Lankas 1996 World Cup winners, that peerless county reporter David Foot, that magnificent photographer Patrick Eagar, the county groundsmen, and naturally, Wooders himself. Selve deserved it regardless. Nobody has better analysed bowlers.Floating around our table before dessert, meanwhile, was the reigning world heavyweight cricket-writing champion, Mike Atherton, another proud CWC lad whose take on the so-called good egg clause in those new England contracts would make mustnt-miss reading in the Times a couple of days later.The last thing a captain or coach should want, asserted Athers, is a dressing room full of yes-men and goody-two-shoes types, eager to please and happy to oblige, no matter what is asked of them. A certain independence of spirit, a questioning attitude, and a desire to challenge authority should be encouraged. 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LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Whenever Bill Self looks back at the box score from his 207th win at Allen Fieldhouse, one that made him more successful in the building than any other Kansas coach, hell see Tyler Selfs name on it.His son, a senior backup who rarely plays, knocked down his only shot in the game.Now that you mention it, its nice, Self said after the seventh-ranked Jayhawks 86-65 victory over Siena on Friday night. It was nice he got in there and made the shot.The Saints did their best to spoil the party.Marquis Wright hit three straight 3-pointers midway through the second half, and the gritty senior guards three-point play got coach Jimmy Patsos team within 63-58 with about 7 1/2 minutes left.But Lagerald Vick answered with back-to-back baskets for the Jayhawks, kicking off the game-defining 16-2 run. Frank Mason III added a 3-pointer and a couple foul shots, Devonte Graham got into the act and the Jayhawks -- so accustomed to dominating inside -- leaned on their guard play to seal the win.At one point, Mason, Vick and Graham scored 20 straight points for the Jayhawks.Theres a lot of things we could have done better, said Mason, who finished with 18 points.The Jayhawks were just 3 of 12 from beyond the arc, struggled from the foul line and were exposed on the defensive end of the floor, where Siena was able to get to the basket too easily.I didnt think we played very tough, Self said. I didnt think we played very fast. We looked slow defensively. I thought our big guys really struggled early.Graham finished with 13 points and nine assists, and Vick had 12 points off the bench, as the Jayhawks (2-1) extended their winning streak to 42 straight at Allen Fieldhouse.Wright had 25 points, Javion Ogunyemi added 19 and Khalil Richard had 10 for the Saints, who took advantage of the Jayhawks poor perimeter shooting to offset a big rebounding disparity.Theyve got depth, they have inside players. You thought you had them,, then their quickness to the ball took over, said Patsos, who got a primer on playing at Allen Fieldhouse earlier Friday from former Kansas guard and current Maryland coach Mark Turgeon.dddddddddddd.He asked his wife to marry him out on the floor, Patsos said, and I said, `Yeah, you coming back to play there? And he said, `Hell no! Now I know why.EXHAUSTED JAYHAWKSThe Jayhawks opened the season with an overtime loss to Indiana in Hawaii, then beat top-ranked Duke in New York. They traveled about 12,000 miles for two games in roughly four days, and Self said he could see the weariness in his players during shoot-around.We were physically tired, Self said, and our brain told our body we were tired.BIG PICTUREKansas freshman Josh Jackson, whom many believe will be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, spent most of the night in foul trouble. He was visibly frustrated and wound up with 10 points.Siena could use Lavon Long on the floor. The senior forward, who averaged more than 10 points a game last season, has been suspended for the first three games for violating team rules.RECRUITING WINFive-star prospect Billy Preston announced earlier in the day hell attend Kansas next season. The 6-foot-10 forward from prestigious Oak Hill Academy in Virginia signed his letter of intent this week.I dont think weve ever had the opportunity to coach a taller, more athletic skill player than Billy, Self said. He has guard-type athletic ability and skills.POLL IMPLICATIONSWith their win over the No. 1 Blue Devils and fourth-ranked Oregons lopsided loss to Baylor, look for the Jayhawks to climb back into the top five, where they began the season.UP NEXTKansas plays UAB in the semifinals of the CBE Classic in Kansas City, Missouri on Monday night.Siena visits reigning Big South champion UNC-Asheville on Sunday. ' ' '