My general feelings

Didn’t realise the ECB had got the counties in a predicament of having signed a 5year contract with SKY, without working how it was going to be achieved.

Instead of feeling guilty as a member in holding back progress, should the counties be doing more to compensate members from the loss of cricket in August.

Is there a conflict of interest in Andrew Strauss conducting a review into a matter in which his ex employer has an interest.

What do others think, but generally a constructive meeting.

Progress is not being held back. I'd suggest wanton vandalism is being restrained. Pleased to hear the committee are helping to restrain it based on feedback I've received which is commendable.

I've heard positive things about the forum (approx 300 attended) especially about the committee/club seeking to become more visible to the wider membership

It is however mid-September so we must take nothing for granted going into the off season. Deeds not words

Cheers mad I’m a newcomer

No problem. Wasn't it good to see a small group of school children in for the afternoon session yesterday?

Let's not kid ourselves into feeling like we're blocking progress. Some facts about what we're nipping in the bud and why we need to remain vigilant the ECB and Warwickshire may have belatedly softened their offer for 2023-2024 but I fear they remain committed (from what I've heard) to the following to achieve what they consider "high performance" in the county and test environment. I think this would be a disaster and there are better approaches to take.

A Premier League of 6 counties with two feeder leagues of 6 counties with the winner of each feeder league playing each other to decide promotion, played June, July, September. 50 over comp in April, Blast starting in May. Blast I don't think they'll move to May now but the rest the ECB remain committed to and some county chiefs wouldn't appear to mind sadly

For those in the feeder league if you lose two games early on it basically means your season is over

Will be difficult for teams to get out of the feeder leagues. Talented players will be pushing to get a contract with a "premier team". Perennial feeder teams will concentrate on the white ball game. I thought we were trying to get away from this where Northants etc used to concentrate on their white ball season - they're now giving Surrey a damn good contest and will deservedly stay up

The "Premier League" will end up being Surrey, Lancs, Yorks, Essex, Notts and Hants at some point, i.e. the big six. Maybe Warks and Somerset the yo yo sides, will interrupt it seeing as someone has to go up and down. Money normally rises to the top eventually.

I just don't think you could seriously call a '6 team competition' a championship anymore - it'd feel more like a world cup qualifying group than an actual proper season long league if it ever came to pass

Whilst I would prefer 9+9 and 16 CC matches, a top league of 8 where everyone plays everyone home and away for a total of 14 would be best and would still just about feel like a proper league and I will continue pushing for a return to that set up. Two promoted two relegated is a minimum and must be retained.

Don't like to think of us as a yo yo side seeing as Hampshire have been down a division and would have been relegated in 2016 but for Durham's woes and remain a very lucky county (As the T20 final showed) and it's not that long ago that Somerset were always a stone's throw away from the title, Notts are as much a yo yo side as anyone but I do see your point in terms of where both side are now and 2 divisions is what I think most players/counties have always said they preferred. It just goes to show how bad this whole scenario is and any county who are considered a 'Feeder' will be extremely insulted. I can imagine Leicestershire and Derbyshire thinking, "Well haven't we been a feeder county for Nottinghamshire since they nicked most of our good players for the last 15 years".

This is a good point. Despite however many years of two divsions, there still are very few that have always been title contenders or wooden spoon specialists. Could the proposal change this? I have the feeling it actually won't, and if it does it will take years.

paulbear wrote:

Don't like to think of us as a yo yo side seeing as Hampshire have been down a division and would have been relegated in 2016 but for Durham's woes and remain a very lucky county (As the T20 final showed) and it's not that long ago that Somerset were always a stone's throw away from the title, Notts are as much a yo yo side as anyone but I do see your point in terms of where both side are now and 2 divisions is what I think most players/counties have always said they preferred. It just goes to show how bad this whole scenario is and any county who are considered a 'Feeder' will be extremely insulted. I can imagine Leicestershire and Derbyshire thinking, "Well haven't we been a feeder county for Nottinghamshire since they nicked most of our good players for the last 15 years".

The meeting is online here:
https://edgbaston.com/high-performance-review/?utm_campaign=13474463_WCCC%20-%20Members%20High%20Performance%20Review%20Update%20%2816.9%29&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=DotDigital&dm_i=1AFS,80SYN,8II8VY,WTCV1,1

There were several really intelligent lines of questioning from the floor in the forum well worth listening to.
Farby himself seemed less than enamoured by the 100 and actually hinted at the players needing to play more red ball county cricket not less. I'm frankly disappointed by this continual attitude from county CEO's and chairs that the CC somehow isn't able to fund itself when the fact is without the CC there'd be no short form players to fill the blast or 16.4 sides nor England test cricketers from who's performances the game derives between 66% & 75% of its revenue.

Overall what I sense is a strong desire from both members and Paul Farbrace not merely to retain 14 championship matches but to return to 16 Championship matches which took England to world no 1 during the 2000's. This is a clear and logical outcome from this first forum which the committee ought to take forward and record in their recommendations to Stuart Cain when he writes his report to the board. I thought the ideas around perhaps having some 3-day matches in the middle of the season to help facilitate 16 matches were quite interesting too.

Crucially not one member on the floor suggested being happy with 12. However that's a figure that's been ascribed to members committee as representative of a suggested 'compromise' without any thought to the cost of such a major drop in the schedule. If the club try to pursue this line then I'm afraid they will be pushing a line that shows a clear split between the members committee and the wider membership at least as represented by the views in this first forum.

I agree with all that, mad. The members committee is an interesting one. The only member of the committee I’d ever seen before was Marina - she’s at games, has a role in the Cricket Society and seems to be an all round ‘good egg’. Who were the others? Never heard of them, never seen them. Any clues from anyone?

I don't know anyone apart from Marina.
All I would add is that I've several times on here and on the predecessor Board encouraged posters who are eligible to stand for election and, as far as I know, no-one has. I'm too old and located in the wrong place so I couldn't stand.

I need to flesh this out more but I think there is a compromise solution for 2024 that avoids much of the upheaval that would ensue if major changes occurred.

Firstly we have to retain a good number of counties being able to win the championship each season so that has to be 8, 9, or 10 - let's stick with 10 for now

I'd suggest in order to maintain 14 Blast games for the counties that really need that many there is an obvious way to reduce playing days in the other two formats without cutting the number of championship fixtures.

14 Championship games could be played as a mixture of 4-day and 3-day matches
April & May 5 rounds of 4-day matches
June & July 5 rounds of 3-day matches (longer days and helps fit the blast games in between more easily)
August & September 4 rounds of 4-day matches
Total 14 rounds of county championship matches (playing 9 4-day matches and 5 3-day matches)

RLODC three groups of six playing 5 matches - hundred host counties would only play two home matches and the other counties would host three matches. This was an issue mentioned at the forum. Instead of the RLODC taking up all of August I'd start the RLODC on the same weekend as Blast finals day so that counties that didn't qualify for Blast finals day have a game on the Sunday. The RLODC could all be wrapped up by mid-August (apart from the September final) enabling the championship to resume towards the end of August

Resuming the championship towards the end of August would be feasible as there'd only be the semis and the final of the hundred to finish off meaning that many hundred players will have already returned to their counties. This would also help bring an end to the county championship much earlier in mid September instead of ploughing on right to the last week of September.

I know 3-day matches would also be controversial but it'd be far better IMHO than losing those fixtures altogether. Also it would help counties take the odd game to out grounds at more reasonable cost. Did I hear Warwickshire are considering using Stratford-upon-Avon again?

Also these changes can be effected without major ripping up of the 2-division championship structure that has worked brilliantly for twenty three years and has served the England test team rather well

One very simple way of fitting all the games in would be not to have long gaps between the games. Example this month. The Somerset game finished on 15th with the next game not starting until 20th. Same with the Blast which could be played on consecutive days if necessary (only 40 overs per day compared to 96 in CC). I agree with Mad the CC needs to be with at least 9 teams per league

Agreed. Its important to stress no matter what tricks the club uses to try to summarise the forum - Nobody on the floor within the forum made any suggestion as to the effect that they'd be at all comfortable with a reduction to 12 championship matches - so this should in no way be a major takeaway from this first forum.

If the club are intending to pursue 12 games as a viable compromise option they will be going completely at odds with the wishes and views of members following the initial consultation.

Also the way Warwickshire's written summary deals with the input Farbrace made is frankly disingenuous. In response to a number of points made about the relative success of the England test team between 2004 and 2019 in an era of stability and 16 CC matches (World number 1, 2 or 3 for the vast majority of that period) Farbrace did not say he supported a reduction to ten matches, he merely said from a purely hypothetical perspective it would give coaches more time etc... Well no shit Sherlock!!! If you listen to his response he actually advocated more red ball cricket.

The stated goal is for England’s men to be the best in the world – for ever. Can we take a moment to reflect on the stunning bleakness of this objective? Maybe the players and the sponsors and the people who sell tickets want this. I don’t want this. I want England to provide me with indelible memories and a team that proudly represents the best of us as a society. I want them to play in full stadiums with reasonably priced tickets. I want them to win. But I don’t need them to win all the time.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2022/sep/27/andrew-strauss-english-cricket-ecb-high-performance-review?CMP=share_btn_l

Yorkshire have the signatures for their EGM. It is slightly different from the SGM Warwickshire members have been signing - see below;

> Act to protect the County Championship - Yorkshire CCC members in call to club

YORKSHIRE’s members are threatening to call an extraordinary general meeting demanding that chairman Lord Kamlesh Patel vote against controversial proposals to cut the number of County Championship games.

A group led by Simon Parsons, a long-standing member and a former representative on the club’s members’ committee, has obtained the necessary 400 signatures to force an EGM in response to plans in the England and Wales Cricket Board’s High Performance Review.

The review, led by Sir Andrew Strauss, the former England captain, recommends cutting the number of Championship fixtures from 14 per county to 10 from 2024 onwards.

Yorkshire are holding a members’ forum to discuss the Strauss review at 9.30am on Wednesday in the Headingley Long Room and they will be sending out an email survey to members in the coming weeks.

Parsons is warning that the membership is ready to rise up if necessary, mirroring disquiet felt across the country.

He told The Yorkshire Post: “From what I’ve seen, there isn’t any appetite for the Strauss report among the Yorkshire members; there isn’t any appetite to reduce the amount of County Championship cricket played. The club has got to give a guarantee that the members will have a say. They have to give a clear indication that each member will have a vote on this matter.

"My findings are that at least 95 per cent of the members do not endorse what is in the Strauss report concerning the reduction of Championship fixtures.”

In a document seen by The Yorkshire Post, the motions that would be tabled at an EGM are as follows:

Sir Andrew Strauss, who led the England and Wales Cricket Board's High Performance Review. Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images.

> “A. The club’s chairman will oppose any reduction in the number of first-class County Championship fixtures for future seasons, without the prior consent of the membership.

> “B. Any specific proposals for reform of the schedule/structure received by the club from the ECB for a vote of the county chairs will also be put to a vote of members (having given members at least 7 days’ written notice of the proposals prior to the EGM).

> "The club’s chair will respect the wishes of the member votes when casting the club’s vote in any decision-making forum.”

Under club rules, Yorkshire would have to convene an EGM within 42 days. The recommendations in the Strauss review need the support of 12 of the 18 first-class counties.

Parsons continued: “The ideal solution for me is the status quo of 14 Championship games. I don’t think 12 games - a compromise that might be foisted on members - is palatable either.

“Clearly, a lot of the problems are caused by The Hundred, which I think is the ruination of cricket. The scheduling is a farce. The idea of a separate competition running alongside The Hundred doesn’t work either; there is no point in having this so-called Festival of Cricket.

“Personally speaking, I would like the Championship to continue alongside The Hundred rather than to cut the number of Championship games. People still came to watch the Royal London Cup alongside The Hundred, after all; look at the crowds at York and Scarborough.”

Forums were held at Headingley this morning and at Derby this evening

From Derby;

At tonight's members forum. The overwhelming view of the @DerbyshireCCC members and (without committing) the board, is that the ECB High Performance Review can be filed in the bin.

And from today's report on Yorkshire's defeat to Gloucestershire;

The majority of Yorkshire members who assembled in the Long Room before start of play at Headingley were of identical mind on the two great issues of the day: the Strauss Review should be consigned to the waste bin and Yorkshire had no chance of beating Gloucestershire to secure their place in Division One next season.

Their view on the Strauss Review, which seeks a drastic reduction in the amount of county cricket, was voiced in no uncertain terms in a Members Forum as they gained assurances from the acting chief executive, Andy Dawson, that an EGM would be called as appropriate and that the vote would be binding. The members' revolt around the country appears to be taking effect - although in Yorkshire's case there may still be one or two complications ahead.

Some reflections on the forum from some Yorkshire members present - worth reading as the Warwickshire forum on October 26th is likely to share similarities

Andy Dawson (Yorkshire CEO) said he was marginally in favour of reducing the number of T20 matches from 14 to 10, citing the crazy scheduling this year of Yorkshire's home matches - 6 in 12 days

Andy Dawson also read out a prepared text (no doubt agreed with the Committee) at the beginning of the meeting, and he repeated it at the end, "that the Club will not support a reduction in the number of first class county championship matches without prior agreement with the Members".

By a show of hands members opinions were gauged on various options for T20 and 50-over cricket. The feeling of many in the Yorkshire forum was that it's pointless to have an opinion on one change in isolation of the others so many did not raise their hands for either option. In other words, people did not want to be tied in to saying Yes or No to these proposed changes since it all knocks on to the CC (and vice versa).

Worcestershire's chairman in a similar forum yesterday confirmed a no vote would be made by their club

Derbyshire statement is appropriately firm. I totally understand Warwickshire not wishing to make such a statement but the direction of travel is clear now surely Strauss isn't gonna get his way. Few if any inside the game really want it

Derbyshire County Cricket Club held a Members’ Forum on Wednesday 28 September with the sole purpose of allowing Members the opportunity to voice their opinions regarding the High Performance Review and to discuss the report with the Club’s Supervisory Board.

The hybrid Forum drew the greatest attendance of a Member event for a number of years, highlighting the strength of feeling among the Membership for the topic.

Chairman, Ian Morgan OBE, and Chief Executive, Ryan Duckett, provided an overview of the report and its potential impact on Derbyshire commercially, as well as its fundamental changes to the fabric of the game.

Head of Cricket, Mickey Arthur, praised the standard of the county game, as well as the loyal support of Members up and down the country, while stressing his view that the issues remain with scheduling rather than the quantity of matches.

Members raised questions and spoke with passion, with the overriding expression being one of opposition to the proposals which impact the domestic structure, including a reduction in the amount of cricket played across all formats.

The discourse suggested emphasis should be placed on the schedule, rather than structure, while there is no compelling argument within the current proposals to suggest that change would necessarily be for the betterment of the game.

The Club would like to thank the Members for their ardent and considered opinions and the Supervisory Board will take these views into account should the parameters of any vote be confirmed by the England & Wales Cricket Board.

David Hopps, not entirely disguising the fact that he is a Yorkshireman, has decided that the person responsible for Warwickshire's survival in the top flight is not Liam Norwell but - Joe Root!
To be fair he has some interesting things to say about the wider issues of county versus other cricket and some of the assumptions and assertions made in the Strauss Report:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/county-championship-2022-joe-root-puts-golf-before-yorkshire-in-symptom-of-system-in-crisis-1337441

I have just had a read of it and can understand the furore that Yorkshire fans have shown. Woakes played the last 2 CC games for us last season and it did make a difference even though we know he had hardly played much all season anyway. Did Root think that the chances of Yorkshire going down were slim because the results had to go against them and thought a Gloucestershire win and a Warwickshire win were not possible. Who knows, but it sounds like it wasn't his choice anyway but the ECB are undermining the CC and the game itself and after this, you really cannot take any international players seriously when moan about being tired and needing more rest. I'm sure if Root had pleaded to play in such an important game, the ECB might have changed their minds but it probably never entered Root's head.