What's going on? It's a bit quiet...
What's going on? It's a bit quiet...
I have seen a tweet today from Somerset saying that fixtures won't be announced before Christmas. I presume that this is because of uncertainty as to what will happen to Yorkshire - could they be relegated or even thrown out of one or more of the competitions for 2022?
I would hope that if they are delayed beyond the early bird window for memberships that the club would extend it. It can be hard to justify purchasing a membership without seeing the fixture list to see how many matches I would actually be able to go and see.
More information from the Surrey website:
"The ECB have confirmed the announcement of the women’s and men’s domestic fixtures for next summer will be released as early as possible in 2022.
The creation of a fixture list is a complex task that requires certainty around many factors including tour schedules, venues for all internationals, men’s and women’s, and other major matches. The ECB is working as quickly as possible to confirm those details.
LV= Insurance County Championship matches will be played regularly from the start of the season until the end of July. The Royal London Cup and The Hundred will follow before the Championship finishes in September.
The Charlotte Edwards Cup will be played in May and June with the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in the second half of the season.
The Vitality Blast will commence at the end of May with Finals Day to be staged at Edgbaston on 16 July.
The ECB state they are determined to ensure a fixture list that provides the best possible situation for our domestic teams – including more LV= Insurance County Championship matches in July – to benefit the preparation of the international teams.
We know how much fans like to plan ahead for next summer and thank you for your patience. We will update when we have further details from the ECB on when fixtures are to be published."
According to the Telegraph a decision will be made as to whether Yorkshire are relegated to Division Two in exchange for getting their international matches back for 2022 as loss of the latter would be more catastrophic for the club.
Also 3 rounds of county championship matches in July before that break for the Hundred & RL Cup which is pushed back to the end of July into August. Bham Phoenix & Bears RL matches will be away for the first week + of that as the Commonwealth Games will be in progress
GerryShedd wrote:
LV= Insurance County Championship matches will be played regularly from the start of the season until the end of July. The Royal London Cup and The Hundred will follow before the Championship finishes in September.
That sounds like the ECB have ignored all the complaints about the lack of county cricket in August.
Update from the Club:
https://edgbaston.com/news/2022-fixtures-update/
I guess we should at least be pleased that there will be more Championship cricket in July. But overall, the ECB are trying to get the proverbial quart into a pint pot (or whatever the metric equivalent of that is).
I think they got past a quart a long time ago. Sticking with Imperial measures, it seems they're going for a gallon.
Any update on this? What's the hold up?
I've seen no recent updates.
I can only hope that the delay is that the ECB are seeing the calamitous performances down under and are trying to get the schedule altered to try and get some more red ball cricket in the summer.
If only there was not some daft competition recently created that no one wanted nor felt was needed but cost rather a lot of money which needed to be placed in the prime cricket playing weeks of high summer.
Having just seen a video interview with (dare I say it?) the Worcestershire Chairman, he says that the fixtures will be out in "the next two to three weeks."
Given that they'll probably want to start the season around the middle of February, they'd better get on with it.
Colwyn Bay CC suggesting draft fixture list next week at the earliest but it won't be released to joe public until well after the Hobart Test according to The Cricketer.
https://www.colwynbaycricketclub.co.uk/first-class-match-2021/
http://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/countycricket/wait_goes_on_domestic_schedule_2022_fixtures_not_expected_until_after_mens_ashes.html
Several counties have been frustrated by the delay, which is believed to relate to both the new complexities of the women's fixture list in 2022 - with international, Hundred and regional schedules having to fit around the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham - and the situation at Yorkshire.
Worcestershire chair Fanos Hira said he expected the fixtures to be available in the "next two to three weeks"
"Hopefully that will help members in terms of booking hotels and such for away fixtures," he said. "It is frustrating and we hope it gets resolved quite quickly."five rounds of County Championship fixtures will be played in June and July -
Which we got wind about in December
The ECB are also awaiting the findings of the CDC (Cricket Disciplinary Commission) which will hopefully be released back end of January to determine Yorkshire's penalty for their failings as a club during 2018-2021 over the Azeem Rafiq affair. I should imagine the ECB / counties will want this settled before issuing publicly any fixtures schedules to their members
This article gives more information:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59931818
As well as saying that fixtures for the 2022 domestic season will be released after the final men's Ashes Test, either at the end of next week or in the following week, it confirms that Yorkshire won't be demoted from Division One.
Hopefully we get a trip to Scarborough then but Durham for one won't be at all happy if all Yorkshire's punishment ends up being is banned from hosting international cricket between December and March
The initial BBC report may have implied YCCC were getting away without sanction but reports in today's media (Times article) clarify that fixture publication could no longer be delayed due to frustration from counties but equally sanctions on YCCC couldn't be decided until the CDP had released their findings. Equally the DCMS will be releasing their findings this Friday
Its crazy. Irrespective of the Yorkshire situation this fixture announcement should not have taken this long.
The lads wanna book Benidorm and I can't be doing that until I can be sure I'm not missing the Bears at home...
Chris Wright tweeted this morning the draft fixtures ARE out and will be published next week
The Cricketer says:" The fixtures for the 2022 domestic season are expected to be announced on Thursday, January 20, 2022."