The editor of the world’s oldest cricket magazine has shared his fears about the impact of regional press closures on coverage of his sport.

Huw Turbervill, who edits The Cricketer, has raised concerns about whether county cricket clubs are being held to account properly amid declining coverage by local newsrooms.

Few regional dailies now have dedicated cricket reporters, although there are exceptions such as the Yorkshire Post, while the Liverpool Echo has also won multiple awards for its coverage of the sport in recent years.

Huw, who began his career on the East Anglian Daily Times, spoke out in the latest issue of his magazine after reading about the closure of the South London Press.

Huw, pictured, wrote in the July issue of The Cricketer: “Ipswich is where I started my journalism career – on the East Anglian Daily Times and Evening Star, 31 years ago.

“I feel sad when I hear that yet another local paper is closing; the latest is the South London Press, based in Catford. It’s a real threat to democracy, I fear. Who now keeps a beady eye on corrupt councillors and abject administrators?

“And more specifically in cricket, it means county cricket clubs are not being held to account as they once were.

“When I told my dad I wanted to be a journalist, he quoted the Chicago Evening Post’s Finley Peter Dunne: ‘The job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.’ Let’s not forget it.”

In 2016, HTFP reported claims by ESPN Cricinfo editor David Hopps that the regional press had “given up” on covering the sport professionally.

And last year, Huw’s  deputy James Coyne urged The Cricketer’s readers to “cherish”  local coverage of the game after spending a day in the commentary box for BBC Radio Nottingham.