No coverage, poor highlights, neglected and ridiculed, but this is the year the One-Day Cup came roaring back

Packed outgrounds, great stories and the presence of England's most famous cricketer have given the competition a huge boost.

The One-Day Cup has become the naughty child you try to keep hidden away - at least if you’re the ECB.

You will be hard-pressed to find much mention of it on mainstream websites or Sky Sports News (unless Ben Stokes is involved). Not a single match is on TV, and even if you want to catch up on the highlights you will be left disappointed where 100 overs of action are condensed into a 10 minute blur of boundaries and wickets.

Often, the action will start with a side a few wickets down, or sometimes (as I witnessed recently) there are two set batters trying to hunt down a total and the next moment they are no longer at the crease without any suggestion of how they were dismissed.

Quite frankly, even as someone who loves and devours the sport I struggle to find the motivation to keep going; the highlights package is an analogue service in a digital age - well behind the times and not in keeping with the swift operation now produced by sports broadcasters and YouTubers through their social media channels.

You might as well go back to Ceefax so poor are county fans served (Surrey being an exception with longer highlights and replays included).

But even a troublesome child is loved by their parents, and as a county cricket devotee I love the One-Day Cup. And, it appears, I am not alone.

I’ve become tired with the annual slagging off of The Hundred across social media - not because I disagree with the sentiments but because it’s the same arguments every year.

Like it or loathe it (and I’ve never watched a ball of it), The Hundred is here to stay. It’s a bit like Brexit - at some point you have to accept the decision has been made and get on with it.

Personally, I believe the county and franchise game should be working together for each other’s benefit where possible and to help grow the game (which is unlikely to happen), but more than that, I prefer to ignore The Hundred and instead focus on the brilliant competition we have in front of us with the ODC.

Think of all the brilliant storylines we’ve already had this year. We’ve had hundreds for England’s most famous cricketer, an 18-year-old on debut, a bowler who has turned himself into a batsman and several other players straddling the age and experience divide.

We’ve seen six-wicket hauls, audacious catches, record partnerships and a cameo from a 17-year-old in Joe Moores which saw him reverse-scoop Ian Holland three balls in a row for a combined 16 runs. It felt like a star was born that day, just as it was last year when Thomas Rew showed why the hype around him was completely deserved.

Stokes’ match-winning ton in Durham’s opening game was far more entertaining than anything The Hundred can offer, and watching him charge in against Glamorgan and get frustrated when a leg-side delivery was tickled away for four was a reminder just how much playing for his county means to him. In short, this competition matters.

This is not just a ‘developmental’ tournament as it has been described as - it genuinely offers 18 counties the chance to win a trophy. Witness the joy among Worcestershire’s players when they triumphed in memory of Josh Baker last year, or when Harry Swindells (who was due to be released) took Leicestershire to the trophy.

Glamorgan are another side to have won the ODC recently, and even without the allure of a Lord’s final it is still very much treasured. More so, possibly, this year, where outgrounds are being sold out days in advance; it really feels as if county fans are lapping it all up, travelling the country to try out new places and see new faces.

Quite simply, while The Hundred has seen criticisms of lower crowds, loss of identity and rubbish celebration videos, the ODC has enjoyed a quiet renaissance.

So, for that reason, we don’t need to keep moaning about how we’ve lost the month of August, that Test and First Class cricket has been shunted to the margins and the Blast has been obliterated. We know it’s all true, but nothing we say or do is going to change that.

Let those who prefer their short format feast to crack on with it (even as the length of a match continues to grow), while we get on with enjoying what is now a fun few weeks of 50 over cricket filled with narrative, joyous discoveries and rich entertainment.

Viva the One-Day Cup!