**Official** County Cricket 2017

[theegyptian]

some of the details of the proposed t20. Exclusive: England Test players to be chosen in separate draft for new T20 competition

8 teams. Draft system. 13 domestic players + 3 overseas per team. 50 over county cricket running at same point.

good luck to those teams with strong squads. Teams like Notts will lose most of their squads to the T20 teams.
Could end up with teams of 5 or 6 guys with no chance of playing for England. 3 Overseas + guys like Abbott, Roussow, Ackermann, Edwards, wessels, B Taylor etc playing as locals.

Sounds like **** loads of T20 and 50 over cricket throuhg the middle of the summer. A bit of 4 day stuff at the start and end. Kinda like the Australian summer is currently going.

 

[S.Kennedy]

some of the details of the proposed t20. Exclusive: England Test players to be chosen in separate draft for new T20 competition

8 teams. Draft system. 13 domestic players + 3 overseas per team. 50 over county cricket running at same point.

good luck to those teams with strong squads. Teams like Notts will lose most of their squads to the T20 teams.
Could end up with teams of 5 or 6 guys with no chance of playing for England. 3 Overseas + guys like Abbott, Roussow, Ackermann, Edwards, wessels, B Taylor etc playing as locals.

Sounds like **** loads of T20 and 50 over cricket throuhg the middle of the summer. A bit of 4 day stuff at the start and end. Kinda like the Australian summer is currently going.

Even the Aussies were smart enough to not run two Twenty20 competitions per season!

I'll be watching minor county and second eleven stuff during that massive bloc of twenty20 at high summer.

Dark days indeed for the county game.

 

[S.Kennedy]

The articles on this on cricinfo are depressing,

Financial threat to counties who try to block new English T20 | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/1086325.html

 

[91Jmay]

George Dobell is massively against the plan, so that needs to be taken into consideration however I don't understand the point of having basically a minor counties T20 running at the same time.

Also this idea that franchise teams are going to draw in loads of non cricket fans is very spurious. Since we've changed our name to Birmingham Bears our attendances have gone the other way.

 

[S.Kennedy]

It would become a minor counties competition.

Also, and this seems an obvious point, England is not Australia or India. Whether or not you are watching Leeds Lions or Yorkshire, the two are equally susceptible to the English weather. They are aiming to attract non-cricket fans - correct - young people, families, boozy lads? You know what they're going to say when it pisses it down and the game is called off after three overs? ''This cricket malarkey is rubbish: the footballers play in all kinds of weather''. I've seen entire seasons washed-out. The 'cricket fan' puts up with these things sullenly but diligently because he knows ''that is how it goes''; he equips himself for it, with his rain jacket and thermal underwear. The fast-paced phone addicted hordes they want to attract will merely lose interest in a sport which can be derailed by a shower and decided on something as peculiar and unfathomable as Duckworth-Lewis.

 

[91Jmay]

Yep, it's a cash grab from ECB. Let's be honest, it's hardly like the T20 tournament we have has hurt us as a T20 side. We have got a T20i record that matches basically any other nation,

 

[S.Kennedy]

The ECB are riddled with 'managerial speak''. Have you heard this one?

It is the "the strong recommendation" of the marketing companies involved in the launch of the competition that it features "new team (i.e. non-county based) brands, to drive reappraisal and differentiation from existing cricket."

''To drive reappraisal''!

 

[ImpatientLime]

Helm with a michelle for the lions today.

Massive season for him, got to stay fit.

 

[brockley]

Derbyshire who have their 2 overseas players,will announce some big signings this week,couple of South Africans?

 

[theegyptian]

Siddle ending his two year contract with Notts with a grand total of 0 games played.

Sounds like James Pattinson is following in Darren's path and will join Notts as Siddles replacement. He might be a bit good for div 2. Broad, Pattinson, Ball and Gurney might be fairly tasty bowling attack early season.

 

[SeamUp]

Siddle ending his two year contract with Notts with a grand total of 0 games played.

Sounds like James Pattinson is following in Darren's path and will join Notts as Siddles replacement. He might be a bit good for div 2. Broad, Pattinson, Ball and Gurney might be fairly tasty bowling attack early season.

Pattinson if he stays fit will tear it up. The Notts boys need to bounce back quickly and with their squad they should do so.

 

[Watson33]

some of the details of the proposed t20. Exclusive: England Test players to be chosen in separate draft for new T20 competition

8 teams. Draft system. 13 domestic players + 3 overseas per team. 50 over county cricket running at same point.

good luck to those teams with strong squads. Teams like Notts will lose most of their squads to the T20 teams.
Could end up with teams of 5 or 6 guys with no chance of playing for England. 3 Overseas + guys like Abbott, Roussow, Ackermann, Edwards, wessels, B Taylor etc playing as locals.

Sounds like **** loads of T20 and 50 over cricket throuhg the middle of the summer. A bit of 4 day stuff at the start and end. Kinda like the Australian summer is currently going.

If they're abandoning the county system in favour of franchise T20 then it should be ran totally separate from the county stuff and not alongside it. Like you've pointed out sides like Notts, Yorkshire, Middlesex etc... will be hit hard whilst sides like Worcestershire, Leicestershire, Glamorgan etc... will be practically untouched. It's simple, put the city based T20 in the summer holidays for a 4/5 week block and then have List A and First Class cricket run either side of that block, similar to what Australia do now.

 

[S.Kennedy]

If they're abandoning the county system in favour of franchise T20 then it should be ran totally separate from the county stuff and not alongside it. Like you've pointed out sides like Notts, Yorkshire, Middlesex etc... will be hit hard whilst sides like Worcestershire, Leicestershire, Glamorgan etc... will be practically untouched. It's simple, put the city based T20 in the summer holidays for a 4/5 week block and then have List A and First Class cricket run either side of that block, similar to what Australia do now.

They want to keep the county-based Blast, running both, the Blast in Mayish followed by the new competition at high summer. When the Aussies introduced the Big Bash League they axed the state-organised KFC Twenty20 Big Bash; the state competition ended one season (2010/11) only for the city competition to take over the following season (2011/12). The ECB are trying to keep both! Meanwhile County Cricket is relegated to the margins of the summer.

 

[theegyptian]

The ECB don't particularly want both (at least that's how it's been reported in the press). The county t20 will diminish the impact of the new tournament.

It's the counties who are pushing to keep the old county t20 competition - and it seems like they won't agree to the new tournament without the old T20 comp being run. And so the ECB are making a ****** compromise to get the vote through. Hopefully it'll be a scaled down county t20. If they keep the current format of 16 group stage games + qf,sf,f it will be awful.

 

[S.Kennedy]

The ECB don't particularly want both (at least that's how it's been reported in the press). The county t20 will diminish the impact of the new tournament.

It's the counties who are pushing to keep the old county t20 competition - and it seems like they won't agree to the new tournament without the old T20 comp being run. And so the ECB are making a ****** compromise to get the vote through. Hopefully it'll be a scaled down county t20. If they keep the current format of 16 group stage games + qf,sf,f it will be awful.

Fundamentally the ECB don't want the County Championship in toto which is why we've been stripped of a game and seen the Championship split around the Twenty20 garbage at the two most inhospitable periods of the season. The ECB want everybody playing some bish bash bosh pyjama cricket between plastic teams of mercenaries sponsored by Macdonalds. County power is a collosal pain in the arse for them.

 

[theegyptian]

I love championship 4 day cricket but all the counties are losing lots of money on it. No other country is sustaining their cricket through 4 day cricket. 14 4 day games is still I think more than any other country. A few hundred retired people watching cricket isn't going to sustain county cricket. It's more expensive hosting the games and staffing the security and the stewards, than the money they bring in on the gate. How many children watch 4 day cricket? You might get a few with their Dad turn up a couple of times a year to a championship match. Counties only make money on T20, some internationals, and through diversification( conferences, concerts, etc). It was the counties who wanted the expanded T20 comp that they now have with 16 group games.

4 day cricket is a niche sport watched in the large by those over the age of 65. No-one under retirement age is turning up regularly. And no-one is becoming a new cricket fan by watching some championship match with 2 men and a dog in attendance.

Durham still have 9 championship matches spread over May, June, July and August.

And before you come out with your it's all money, money, money defense. Yes it does boil down to money. Without the ECB's money Durham would have gone bust. If you can't pay the players, there is no cricket. If you want to have the best sportsman playing cricket (rather than football or whatever) and lots of people watching, the product needs to be strong- and you need money for that.

With all of that being said, I don't know whether the ECB are doing the right thing. It's a seriously tough issue.

 

[SeamUp]

Derbyshire sign Daryn Smit

Director of Cricket, Kim Barnett, says he’s delighted to secure a multi-talented player like batsman Daryn Smit for the 2017 season.

Smit, who qualifies as a non-overseas player, will be available for all three forms this summer, subject to successful completion of registration.

The batsman, who has represented South Africa A and was selected for the Proteas’ 2009 T20 World Cup initial squad, has appeared in 125 first-class matches scoring 5,711 runs at an average of 37, including nine hundreds.

He has also featured in 107 List A games hitting 1,870 runs and 80 Twenty20 fixtures scoring 701 runs with an impressive strike rate of 121.

Barnett said: “Daryn is a multi-talented player. He can keep, bowls spin, fields brilliantly and is a very good batsman. He’s got a good first-class and one-day record, and we’re delighted to get Daryn for all forms of cricket.”

 

[S.Kennedy]

I love championship 4 day cricket but all the counties are losing lots of money on it. No other country is sustaining their cricket through 4 day cricket. 14 4 day games is still I think more than any other country. A few hundred retired people watching cricket isn't going to sustain county cricket. It's more expensive hosting the games and staffing the security and the stewards, than the money they bring in on the gate. How many children watch 4 day cricket? You might get a few with their Dad turn up a couple of times a year to a championship match. Counties only make money on T20, some internationals, and through diversification( conferences, concerts, etc). It was the counties who wanted the expanded T20 comp that they now have with 16 group games.

4 day cricket is a niche sport watched in the large by those over the age of 65. No-one under retirement age is turning up regularly. And no-one is becoming a new cricket fan by watching some championship match with 2 men and a dog in attendance.

Durham still have 9 championship matches spread over May, June, July and August.

And before you come out with your it's all money, money, money defense. Yes it does boil down to money. Without the ECB's money Durham would have gone bust. If you can't pay the players, there is no cricket. If you want to have the best sportsman playing cricket (rather than football or whatever) and lots of people watching, the product needs to be strong- and you need money for that.

With all of that being said, I don't know whether the ECB are doing the right thing. It's a seriously tough issue.

And why is that? The county championship is under-promoted. Sky buy up all the matches yet cannot even be arsed to put on more than two matches per season. You are lucky to see a tiny little sideways paragraph and the divisional tables in the back of the newspapers these days. Happily BBC radio have started broadcasting the games online. I bet a lot of people do not even realise they can watch England internationals, former and current, regularly in a red ball match? I bet a lot of people do not realise you can watch overseas stars like Sangakarra still?

There are a number of young people who attend Durham regularly, the late-teen - twenty something bracket. In fact there are all age groups to be fair. Families come in when the weather is sunny.

 

[theegyptian]

People have jobs or to go to school. I love cricket but a few days of championship cricket a year and I'm bored of it. It's not a good spectator sport. It doesn't matter what you do there is never going to be a big market for 4 day championship cricket.

What other sports run during office hours during the week as much as English cricket? None even come close.

It doesn't help that there is an excess of cricket in the english summer and so there is no preparation time for the players and you get substandard cricket as a result. 16 championship games is too much as is 16 T20s with qf/sf/fs. Too much cricket weakens the product. PLaying a 4 day game, followed the next day by a t20, followed a couple of days later by another 4 day games. It kills the players. It means technical failings are never recitified, format specific skills aren't practiced, and players are knackered from all the playing and travelling. That produces **** cricketers for England and poor spectacles for fans.




ECB possibly need to rethink the championship two division format. Smaller teams at foot of div 2 have no real chance of getting out of that predicament. They don't have a chance of getting out of the situation because the good young english talents get hoovered up by first division clubs. English players know they need to be playing div 1 cricket for the best shot of playing international cricket, and the first div counties have generally the most money. Even if you have a talented bunch of english cricketers at Glamorgan or Leicestershire it takes time to develop them and build a side but before you can they are snapped up by div 1 clubs, and they are back at step one. This means the counties look for shortcuts like Kolpaks who aren't particularly bothered about which division they are playing in. It isn't particularly worth them spending lots of money on developing young english players if they are going to get snapped up by a div 1 club.

Even first division clubs are so desperate to maintain their status (so they can keep their english players) that they will look to shortterm measures to strengthen the team. e.g. Hampshire and Edwards, Best, Roussouw, Abbott.

A conference type system may be a better fit.

Could split the counties into 3 groups of 6. Either on regional or random basis (not position).

Either play each other twice for 10 games, and then go into quarters/semis/playoffs.
Or they could play each other once (5 games) and go into another league (another 3 groups of 6) based on their position in conference.(another 5 games)

Would mean counties start the season on the same footing every year and the inequality between the biggest and smallest counties wouldn't continue to grow.



10 (or 12/13 if you have playoffs) games would also allow more preparation time between games to practice skills and rest up (and less cricket in April and September), so you'd get a better product.

 

[S.Kennedy]

People have jobs or to go to school. I love cricket but a few days of championship cricket a year and I'm bored of it. It's not a good spectator sport. It doesn't matter what you do there is never going to be a big market for 4 day championship cricket.

What other sports run during office hours during the week as much as English cricket? None even come close.

It doesn't help that there is an excess of cricket in the english summer and so there is no preparation time for the players and you get substandard cricket as a result. 16 championship games is too much as is 16 T20s with qf/sf/fs. Too much cricket weakens the product. PLaying a 4 day game, followed the next day by a t20, followed a couple of days later by another 4 day games. It kills the players. It means technical failings are never recitified, format specific skills aren't practiced, and players are knackered from all the playing and travelling. That produces **** cricketers for England and poor spectacles for fans.




ECB possibly need to rethink the championship two division format. Smaller teams at foot of div 2 have no real chance of getting out of that predicament. They don't have a chance of getting out of the situation because the good young english talents get hoovered up by first division clubs. English players know they need to be playing div 1 cricket for the best shot of playing international cricket, and the first div counties have generally the most money. Even if you have a talented bunch of english cricketers at Glamorgan or Leicestershire it takes time to develop them and build a side but before you can they are snapped up by div 1 clubs, and they are back at step one. This means the counties look for shortcuts like Kolpaks who aren't particularly bothered about which division they are playing in. It isn't particularly worth them spending lots of money on developing young english players if they are going to get snapped up by a div 1 club.

Even first division clubs are so desperate to maintain their status (so they can keep their english players) that they will look to shortterm measures to strengthen the team. e.g. Hampshire and Edwards, Best, Roussouw, Abbott.

A conference type system may be a better fit.

Could split the counties into 3 groups of 6. Either on regional or random basis (not position).

Either play each other twice for 10 games, and then go into quarters/semis/playoffs.
Or they could play each other once (5 games) and go into another league (another 3 groups of 6) based on their position in conference.(another 5 games)

Would mean counties start the season on the same footing every year and the inequality between the biggest and smallest counties wouldn't continue to grow.



10 (or 12/13 if you have playoffs) games would also allow more preparation time between games to practice skills and rest up (and less cricket in April and September), so you'd get a better product.

I could never be bored with county cricket I'm afraid. I love it - granted you tend to need the weather on your side. I'm going to try and see some away fixtures this season.