County Cricket

Almost October, and we are seeing the stupidity of handing the best of the season over to the 'irrelevance' hundred, thus meaning (yes it could happen during the height of summer but the odds??) the championship is played in conditions much more likely to mean curtailed play due to weather (light etc) End of the days play at Kent, and now at Trent Bridge. Still nothing certain, but Kent in the box seat to start another campaign next season in Div 1.

In the end, Essex, Having put everything into the title battle to take it as deep as they did, folded against relegated Northamptonshire

Well that is it! Now - maybe apart from the Rugby - a long........very long.......winter ahead.

To finish the season, we had the kind of conclusion we were privileged to witness last term! Edge of the seat drama all the way! Sad for Middlesex (a club in turmoil - how did we get there??) that they drop back down. Really should not be in this position given their status, although, maybe they suffered at the hands of the god forsaken 100! Congrats to Kent for retaining Div 1 status next term

I do think Durham are plenty good enough to at least avoid relegation from division one next season and perhaps rather better than that. They were utterly dominant over the season just gone.

(16-10-2023 21:22 )Snooks Wrote:  I do think Durham are plenty good enough to at least avoid relegation from division one next season and perhaps rather better than that. They were utterly dominant over the season just gone.

^ The only caveat, and I think too that Durham may at least retain Div1 status, is that Div 2 is so much weaker than Div1 (as intended) so Durham's dominance may be somewhat of a false barometer of their likely prospects in Div 1. They obviously have the winter to prep, and strengthen the squad further! What their finances are like for recruitment, I don't know!

I saw a stat the other day which showed Yorkshire had lost just under 2000 overs of play in the Div 2 Championship, which equates to 5 four-day matches, not great in a 14 game competition.
I can't wait for a new season, with the hope for drier weather. At least they will start on even terms, without a 48 point penalty, take that away & Yorkshire were only 10 points off promoted Worcestershire in 2nd place. They lost the entire match at Bristol with no chance of any bonus points. Gloucester are actually looking selling up & building a new ground on the outskirts of Bristol, they have recorded heavy losses in recent time with abandoned ODI's due to poor outfield drainage.

Can counties have special dispensation to play matches in The Bahamas and take supporters with them? All for weather and research purposes obviously .

^^
It has actually been discussed, I'm not sure how seriously. Some Counties will or have used South Africa & other countries for a pre-season tour, and in the Emirates they have played Inter-County warm-up games. It is expensive, and even the money club Surrey have used a tent for practice, which is obviously better than indoor nets which isn't great. Yorkshire had a snow covered outfield this April, what do you expect, complete joke.
If it was to be financed properly, playing 2 rounds of Championship Cricket in early April overseas is preferable to having games rained off in the UK. Still the County members would moan about having less live cricket to watch. Saying that the Yorkshire Supporters Club have taken decent numbers on pre-season tours.

(10-12-2023 12:58 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  ^^
It has actually been discussed, I'm not sure how seriously. Some Counties will or have used South Africa & other countries for a pre-season tour, and in the Emirates they have played Inter-County warm-up games. It is expensive, and even the money club Surrey have used a tent for practice, which is obviously better than indoor nets which isn't great. Yorkshire had a snow covered outfield this April, what do you expect, complete joke.
If it was to be financed properly, playing 2 rounds of Championship Cricket in early April overseas is preferable to having games rained off in the UK. Still the County members would moan about having less live cricket to watch. Saying that the Yorkshire Supporters Club have taken decent numbers on pre-season tours.

I remember the same discussion around playing some CC matches abroad! I guess the financial crash made clubs re evaluate the cost/benefit! Personally, and I speak as a county fan who can't attend for reasons (well one - geographical) I think I expressed previously, I would be against anything that would further erode the benefit of being a county club fan - or further devalue the competition brand. In this case, taking the valued blue riband championship out of reach. there is little scope I would have thought, for individuals/clubs being able to fund such trips for the fanbase?? The argument that it would be more likely to see fixtures fulfilled with no weather intervening is not guaranteed Booms, and as It is really just as likely - more so - that weather with mean matches being lost at 'home' later in the season, it would surely be 'swings and roundabouts'??

I don't want to misinterpret you Booms, so when you say members would 'moan' about losing cricket to watch, would that not be a legitimate 'grievance' rather than just a 'moan' about something unimportant?? The loyalty and the legitimacy of a county fans support for their club and the sport is too often A) Underestimated and - B) Dismissed

^^ On your last point, badly worded on my part. Agree every right to moan. I would much sooner see a 2 division, 9 team Championship & increase the fixture to 16 matches. What we currently have is a mess playing some teams twice others once, total disparity with home & away matches.
But, given the age profile of Yorkshire members & I imagine they mirror most other Counties, it was something like an average age of 68. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but it's not sustainable, membership is down. If Yorkshire sell out to the IPL franchise it could signal the end to County membership as it is now. Whilst there are some negative to a take-over there who be many more positives, financial security would be one.
I love the tradition & history of the game needs to be protected, but as in many fields evolve or die is paramount, but not at any cost.

(10-12-2023 18:34 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  ^^ On your last point, badly worded on my part. Agree every right to moan. I would much sooner see a 2 division, 9 team Championship & increase the fixture to 16 matches. What we currently have is a mess playing some teams twice others once, total disparity with home & away matches.
But, given the age profile of Yorkshire members & I imagine they mirror most other Counties, it was something like an average age of 68. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but it's not sustainable, membership is down. If Yorkshire sell out to the IPL franchise it could signal the end to County membership as it is now. Whilst there are some negative to a take-over there who be many more positives, financial security would be one.
I love the tradition & history of the game needs to be protected, but as in many fields evolve or die is paramount, but not at any cost.

I guess the question would be why would an IPL franchise see the takeover of a County Club as a positive investment?? and what would the owners see as 'value added' opportunities to their immediate brand?? In turn, what would that mean for structural/Identity changes to say the Yorkshire history laden brand that would assist in fulfilling the Franchises ambitions??

As you say Booms, there are many positives to such a deal, but members - so wedded to their clubs individual identity - may not see the financial stability question - as a significant enough benefit, to sacrifice the identity or history purely for the mighty dollar?? A prime example would be proposed naming rights of grounds or club, which have been proposed in some football takeovers, roundly rejected by fans. I don't think that county cricket cricket club fans/members, would be any more likely to just acquiesce.