Could there be a faint crack in the wall that surrounds and protects The Hundred?
In the latest edition of The Cricketer, George Dobell suggests that the time span for The Hundred could be reduced by a week. He also reports that the review of ECB costs being conducted by Worcestershire Chair Fanos Hira may reveal that the true cost of The Hundred may be far higher than claimed, once factors such as payments to counties plus head count and consultancy costs are included. This may well show that the competition is running at a loss rather than the profit that the ECB claims.

Agreed Gerry. Some hope exists and some breaking news from the Surrey forum which took place this morning...

Steve Elworthy was asked...

How much dialogue is taking place with other counties? Can counties can agree to reschedule the 100?

SE in response suggested there was "huge dialogue going on. 4 to 5 meeting this afternoon. Conversations about reducing Hundred to 21 days is happening."

This squares with information from the Lancs forum and correspondence I've had since. What this shrinkage would do is make it easy to retain 14 CC matches AND crucially for the smaller counties 14 Blast group matches

Another wonderful piece from Paul Edwards this morning;

PAUL EDWARDS addresses the key figures at the top of county cricket, thanking them for their service, appealing for unity amid the high-performance reviews and asking for the concerns of players to be accounted for

Please excuse me but can you give me a little of your time? Maybe not, you're all busy people and you're coming towards the end of discussions that could hardly be more important for the future of the game we all love. But if you can spare me 10 minutes, I'll try not to waste them. That being understood, let's not hang about.

The first thing I'll say is 'thank you'. All of you render cricket a service and there must be days on which your only reward is to be pulled in six directions at once while receiving criticism, if not abuse, from the people you're trying to serve. I'm not blowing smoke up your arses here, this isn't empty flattery. The vast majority of you care just as much about cricket as your members and some of you could earn more money elsewhere. Yet you give your time to your counties and to English and Welsh cricket. I'm grateful.

My own season ended just over a fortnight ago at Worcester. Over the preceding six months I'd watched so much fine cricket in both divisions that any sadness had to be balanced against deep appreciation of the players who had enriched my summer: players like Anuj Dal and Ben Geddes; Ali Orr and Jack Brooks; George Lavelle and John Simpson; Ben Compton and Liam Patterson-White; Gareth Roderick and Fin Bean. Yes, I get about a bit; yes, I'm very lucky.

I haven't missed a round of the LV= Insurance County Championship for five years. That was why I volunteered to serve on the high-performance review back in April. I didn't for a moment think my offer would be accepted but I reckoned one ought to show willing.

Cynical friends suggested that actually watching so much county cricket disqualified me but I thought that was a cheap shot and we've had far too many of those. Indeed, while there was so much to enjoy this summer, my pleasure was sometimes tainted by the acrimony of a debate that frequently became little more than a slanging match. At some point in the recent past, we've lost the precious art of listening to each other, but that isn't confined to sport.

So let's put the bitterness aside. Let me be plain that I do not wish to abolish The Hundred and I fully appreciate its extraordinary impact on women's cricket. Some of the new teams have attracted many new and often young supporters to cricket and it would be wrong of me to deny them their fun. They are part of the game's future.

But to discuss the structure of the domestic game without allowing The Hundred to be part of the debate devalues the exercise and might tempt you towards unnecessary conclusions.

That's especially so when one considers that by playing two matches on one day more frequently, time could be freed up for Championship cricket in August. That could require the broadcasters to be understanding but I assume they care about the game, too. And it would at least increase the chances of there being some live cricket on the box when the weather is unsettled.

I am not a traditionalist, though. Although the past informs, enriches and to some extent determines the present, it cannot of itself justify policy. My strong commitment to a meaningful County Championship comprising 14 games – there, I've said it – stems more from the belief that such a competition provides a proper test of professional county cricketers and that such a programme is not only feasible but also desirable, given the eccentricities of the English climate.

More to the point, I reckon the majority of the players want the 14-match Championship to be retained. Their objections to the current situation centre far more on the concentration of matches in a brief period – six or seven in as many weeks this April and May – as on the volume of cricket they are asked to undertake in six months.

That, of course, seems to be at variance with the view of the Professional Cricketers Association that "the players want to play less cricket", words often used by Sir Andrew Strauss when launching the review.

I'd like to put some courteous factual questions to the PCA: Precisely when were the players polled? What were they asked? What percentage of current professionals replied? What percentage of those who replied wanted to play less? Who were the independent auditors for the whole process?

My point is if the players were asked during the most gruelling part of the season, the results might be particularly misleading, not that I would ever accuse the PCA of doing so deliberately. But I get to talk to a lot of professional cricketers and I believe their views are far more nuanced than we have been led to believe.

And I'm sure you'll have considered the British climate. The subject mocks easy generalisation, of course, but the evidence from recent seasons suggests that April and particularly September are becoming far more suitable for professional cricket than perhaps they used to be.

The pitches are a little slower in April and 10.30am starts in September test batters in different ways but isn't that a counter-balance to the flatter wickets on which we play in June, July and, I hope, August? Surely being tested in a variety of conditions is a central component of any young cricketer's development. And I certainly agree with many county pros that we could play on into the first few days of October and maybe that would allow another round of Championship matches to be fitted in.

The impact of climate change is rarely so beneficial, though, and I hope the whole process is reversed as soon as possible. When torrential midsummer rain arrives, it frequently wipes out two or three days of a first-class game and this season's exceptional weather merely shows how erratic our climate has become. As a general rule, I reckon that each county can expect to have a couple of four-day games badly affected by the weather. It's worth considering when you are thinking about the amount of cricket we play.

That's almost all I wanted to say. I know this column hasn't mentioned the Blast, which I enjoy, or the Royal London, which I like even more, but you have given me enough of your time.

The easy assumptions about the County Championship are that it's gentle, soft and undemanding; one of summer's many pastorals; appealing to the spectator but of limited value to the selector; July's picture in a calendar entitled The English Scene.

Well, it is often beautiful, of course, but anyone who doubts its intensity has probably not watched much of it. It remains the prize that matters most to the players – and you are its principal guardians. Moreover, you are also, in part, the guardians of all the very young cricketers – you've not yet heard of them – who rock up at their first county trials with dreams of playing Ashes Tests still fresh in their minds.

I hope your deliberations go well this week. Don't be scared of taking time to reach the best conclusions. We waited until last January for the first-class fixture this year and everyone coped. It's vital to get things right because while you all know that your clubs’ core responsibilities include the development of England players, they also extend far beyond that role.

The counties are the engines by which inclusion and diversity can be implemented. Isn't it sad that one or two middle-ranking people at the ECB would like to get rid of them? So to adapt Benjamin Franklin's saying, it's important that you hang together or assuredly, you will hang separately.

But that's a gloomy thought on which to end. Much better, as long as you're not from Yorkshire or Hampshire, to remember Liam Norwell pounding in on the last day of the season with no greater prize on offer than his team's survival in Division One of the County Championship. Such things still matter to the players and I know they matter to you, too.

Thanks for reading and winter well,

Paul
https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/opinion/open_letter_chairs_chief_executives_18_first_class_counties.html

Paul Edwards is the best there is.

Quick overview of Glamorgan Members HPR meeting tonight. (Tuesday night)

Members not in favour of CC reduction in games. Preference for Two divisions 8-10, 2 up, 2 down. Need more info re: possible changes to points scoring system.

RL and T20 - remain as now.

Hundred - compress playing period to permit some CC cricket in August.

Chair has also garnered opinions of players, coaches and the board. Will pull together an official response. Counties likely to vote in November. Middlesex Chair appears to be collating responses at present.

Glamorgan has fed back to Surrey's chairman while Lancs have fed back their members views with Warwicks. These sub groups will then formulate a response to the ECB and possible compromise position re: shortened 100 etc...

The points changes mooted have so far been overlooked. I'm glad it was raised by the Glamorgan members as I and others on here have reservations about proposed changes

I agree that there has been no focus on proposed points scoring changes.
In his history of the County Championship "Summer's Crown", Stephen Chalke listed 28 different scoring systems that have been used (from 1890 to 2014). So the likelihood of any system lasting very long is somewhat limited.
I'm glad that The Hundred is at least being talked about now - its existence of otherwise is obviously not for discussion but a reduction in the amount of time it takes up would certainly help.

Correct those alterations to the points system have evolved organically over time and with the spectator in mind. This current proposal seems far too top down in approach. Seeking to make things look to the casual observer neater and tidier but actually may have the effect of making county championship matches less attractive to watch.

Of course the top down approach is why they're even having this panicky HPR after an Ashes thrashing down under. I hope one of the compromises remains rejecting the HPR proposals that seek to reduce CC matches or make the games less appealing to watch or certain counties even less viable.

If Warwicks board don't have that as an option for the members next week it'll be a complete waste of time even having the forum. It'll demonstrate yet again that they haven't been listening to members concerns whatsoever

Huge!
ECB under pressure to cut Hundred window as counties fight back
Hundred may be handed over to PGB that would see tournament link up with other competitions and potentially facilitate shortening the window

By Nick Hoult

The England & Wales Cricket Board is under pressure to shorten the window for the Hundred as counties fight back against changes to the domestic schedule.

Lancashire, Surrey and Glamorgan are three clubs who have told members over the past week that they would like to see the Hundred window cut from four weeks to help ease scheduling crisis.

All three counties host Hundred teams and their views are broadly replicated across the domestic game.

Telegraph Sport also understands there is a strong possibility the Hundred will come under the auspices of the Professional Game Board, an arm of the ECB that runs domestic competitions and is led by a selected group of county chief executives.

The Hundred was set up with a separate board and as a completely different entity to the county competitions. By giving the PGB control it will link up the Hundred with other competitions, decentralise the tournament and potentially facilitate shortening the window if the counties get their way.

Rob Key, the England director of cricket, urged the counties to get behind the Hundred in an interview with Telegraph Sport during which he also became the first senior ECB figure to publicly concede the proposals put forward by Sir Andrew Strauss’s High Performance Review had failed to gain support.

It is understood those proposals – which included cutting the championship to 10 matches with a top division of six and reducing the Blast from 14 to 10 games – are dead in the water and discussions on a compromise are unlikely to be resolved this year.

The Hundred has been sold to broadcasters until 2028 and will be held during a four-week window in August.

To cut the length of their new tournament would see the ECB buck trends for national governing bodies, who across the world are putting their muscle behind Twenty20 leagues. The Big Bash and IPL have both expanded in recent years and 2023 will see the launch of T20 leagues in South Africa, the UAE and the United States.

The ECB’s ultimate ambition is to attract private financial investment in the Hundred, something Richard Thompson, the board’s new chairman, has admitted publicly as the logical next step.

Shortening the window would send the wrong message to potential investors because it would suggest the board is not fully convinced its own competition is working, however it would be an olive branch for the counties to put before members incensed by moves to cut the championship.

Walking into this is the new chief executive of the ECB with an appointment imminent. Final interviews with Richard Gould and Tim Bostock took place on Wednesday and repairing relationships and rebuilding trust with the counties will be the first task of the successful candidate.

But they will also have to solve the domestic schedule, restructure the ECB and its finances and decide what to do with the Hundred going forward – does it remain in the form it is now, monetised differently or sold off to private investment.

There is also the ECB's place at the top table of international cricket and how it combats the rise of rival leagues around the world to deal with too.

Reducing the window to 21 days for the Hundred could be achieved by playing more double headers, which would then give a little bit more time for the championship but it will prove a difficult negotiation with Sky and the BBC, who have paid for Hundred rights and want a tournament with mainly one match per day because they believe it helps build a narrative.

One compromise put forward is to cut the championship to 12 matches and played across three divisions with a top flight of six teams.

Not sure about that last bitm if they gain an extra week by reducing the time the 100 takes up AND they have fixed rest weeks instead of staggered rest weeks then SURELY there's no need to reduce the number of championship matches. Which is what we all want. 14 WAS, IS and SHOULD REMAIN the compromise

BIG INTERVIEW: Chairman Warren says Northants will consult supporters over Strauss review
"At the right time we will consult our supporters, we will do a forum and explain everything… I need to protect the club, that is my priority”

Gavin Warren says Northants shareholders and season-ticket holders will be consulted before the club votes on the recommendations made in Andrew Strauss's controversial High Performance Review of English cricket.

And the County chairman has made it clear that his and the club's board's focus will always be what is best for Northamptonshire, insisting: "I need to protect the club, that is my priority."

Strauss's HPR was revealed last month, and in it the headline calls were that he felt the number of matches should be cut from both the County Championship and Vitality Blast, from 14 in both competitions to 10.

The proposed schedule changes require the support of at least 12 of the 18 first-class counties, with a vote to be held after a further period of consultation.

That vote is due to be held at the end of November, but is likely to be delayed until the new year.

Some clubs have already made it clear they are against Strauss's recommendations.

Warren says he and the County board are considering everything that has been proposed and he will be consulting with the club's fanbase when the time is right.

"What we need to do is understand it first, before we go out there and say 'this is what we think', because there is so much around it,” admitted Warren. "Things are not going to change for 2023, that is for sure.

And Warren admits he is still to be convinced too much county cricket is currently being played, both red and white ball, as Strauss suggests.

"The paper was very much about Team England, but what we are very much interested in is the development of English cricket, and there is a key difference there," said Warren.

"Of course we want our national team to be the best, but also you have to get the foundation right, you have to get the pathways right and we are certainly excited about a few of our youngsters at the club.

"People say 'we play too much cricket', but that is a bit of a throwaway answer, and I am still not convinced by that, I need more evidence."

Referring to the workload of the Northants players in particular, Warren will take on board the expert opinion of head coach John Sadler, and he suggests one solution could be counties employing more players rather than simply reducing the fixture list.

"Do the players play too much? They probably do," accepted Warren.

"Do we need to rest them? The feedback from John Sadler is yes we do, so the answer to that might be 'okay, let's get a bigger squad'.

"Is there an argument for clubs to carry those bigger squads so we can rest players more? To make them fresher. These are all things we need to discuss."

It had long been mooted that the review would call for a reduction in Championship cricket, but the call for the Blast to also be reduced from 14 games to 10 - with all counties losing two money-spinning home fixtures - was a big surprise.

And not one that Northants, or Warren, are particularly keen to see come to fruition.

"Do I want to reduce the number of Blast games? Of course I don't, because crowds are up and it is our role to put on top-class cricket in the county," said Warren.

"Crowd-wise, we had great attendances (in 2022) and we had to lock the doors for a couple of games.

"Nationally, the T20 attendance was down, but we were up at about 85 per cent occupancy or whatever it was, which is really good.

"The problem we have in the modern era is all the franchise cricket that is going on, with the IPL, the South Africa tournament, the UAE, Florida, where players are now getting sucked out and playing in these tournaments.

"That is the threat we have, that we lose the best players."

For many supporters of English county cricket, and plenty of Northants followers, the elephant in the room is of course The Hundred.

Thanks to the huge investment from the ECB and broadcasting companies the controversial competition is seemingly untouchable, and effectively takes out the whole of August in the calendar.

There has been no red ball cricket played in August in either of the past two seasons - with the only county cricket played being the One Day Cup - which Warren accepts is a ridiculous scenario.

And although the Northants chairman knows the ECB aren't going to offload their own product, he does feel there could be room for a little tinkering.

"The Hundred is not going anywhere, because it is such a big asset to Sky," said Warren. "It is locked in with the TV schedule, so that is going nowhere.

"I think the only thing we could do with The Hundred is look at the schedule of it, and potentially reduce the length of it by a week, or a few days, so that it only lasts for three weeks.

"If we are genuine about red ball cricket, then we need to be playing it in August.

"But they also then say they want it (the Championship) to be best versus best, but often the best players are not available anyway because they are playing for England.

"It is such a conundrum. Have we got opinions? Yes, we have a lot at the minute.

"But there is no point talking to and addressing our members, and we still call them members, they are our fans, because we are still going through the impacts of the High Performance Review, and what it means for us as a county."

One thing Warren is promising Northants faithful is that no stone will be left unturned to make sure the best decision is made for the good of the club as a whole when it comes to the vote.

"The vote is set for November, we are working towards November," he said. "Do I think we will vote in November? I think it is 50/50. I am certainly not ready to vote, but here we are in mid-October, six weeks away.

"So things might change in the space of six weeks.

"It is an absolute thorough process and we will do our proper due diligence on it, because I need to protect the club, that is my priority.

"At the right time we will consult our supporters, we will do a forum and explain everything to them, and you have to do that. They are the club's fans and you have to respect those fans.

"I have had a load of messages from people asking when I am going to speak, when I am going to talk to them, and I haven't got back to them yet because I am not ready to.

"When I am ready, Ray (Payne, CEO) is ready and John (Sadler) is ready then we will do, because it will be a cricketing decision as well.

"I have spoken to John quite a lot about it over the summer, and he has to have a massive input into it as well, because it is cricket versus finances and they have to balance each other out.

"It is all about the club being stronger for it, not weaker, that is the key thing."

"That is the threat we have, that we lose the best players."

For many supporters of English county cricket, and plenty of Northants followers, the elephant in the room is of course The Hundred.

Thanks to the huge investment from the ECB and broadcasting companies the controversial competition is seemingly untouchable, and effectively takes out the whole of August in the calendar.

There has been no red ball cricket played in August in either of the past two seasons - with the only county cricket played being the One Day Cup - which Warren accepts is a ridiculous scenario.

And although the Northants chairman knows the ECB aren't going to offload their own product, he does feel there could be room for a little tinkering.

"The Hundred is not going anywhere, because it is such a big asset to Sky," said Warren. "It is locked in with the TV schedule, so that is going nowhere.

"I think the only thing we could do with The Hundred is look at the schedule of it, and potentially reduce the length of it by a week, or a few days, so that it only lasts for three weeks.

"If we are genuine about red ball cricket, then we need to be playing it in August.

"At the right time we will consult our supporters, we will do a forum and explain everything… I need to protect the club, that is my priority”

mad wrote:

Another wonderful piece from Paul Edwards this morning;

PAUL EDWARDS addresses the key figures at the top of county cricket, thanking them for their service, appealing for unity amid the high-performance reviews and asking for the concerns of players to be accounted for

Please excuse me but can you give me a little of your time? Maybe not, you're all busy people and you're coming towards the end of discussions that could hardly be more important for the future of the game we all love. But if you can spare me 10 minutes, I'll try not to waste them. That being understood, let's not hang about.

The first thing I'll say is 'thank you'. All of you render cricket a service and there must be days on which your only reward is to be pulled in six directions at once while receiving criticism, if not abuse, from the people you're trying to serve. I'm not blowing smoke up your arses here, this isn't empty flattery. The vast majority of you care just as much about cricket as your members and some of you could earn more money elsewhere. Yet you give your time to your counties and to English and Welsh cricket. I'm grateful.

My own season ended just over a fortnight ago at Worcester. Over the preceding six months I'd watched so much fine cricket in both divisions that any sadness had to be balanced against deep appreciation of the players who had enriched my summer: players like Anuj Dal and Ben Geddes; Ali Orr and Jack Brooks; George Lavelle and John Simpson; Ben Compton and Liam Patterson-White; Gareth Roderick and Fin Bean. Yes, I get about a bit; yes, I'm very lucky.

I haven't missed a round of the LV= Insurance County Championship for five years. That was why I volunteered to serve on the high-performance review back in April. I didn't for a moment think my offer would be accepted but I reckoned one ought to show willing.

Cynical friends suggested that actually watching so much county cricket disqualified me but I thought that was a cheap shot and we've had far too many of those. Indeed, while there was so much to enjoy this summer, my pleasure was sometimes tainted by the acrimony of a debate that frequently became little more than a slanging match. At some point in the recent past, we've lost the precious art of listening to each other, but that isn't confined to sport.

So let's put the bitterness aside. Let me be plain that I do not wish to abolish The Hundred and I fully appreciate its extraordinary impact on women's cricket. Some of the new teams have attracted many new and often young supporters to cricket and it would be wrong of me to deny them their fun. They are part of the game's future.

But to discuss the structure of the domestic game without allowing The Hundred to be part of the debate devalues the exercise and might tempt you towards unnecessary conclusions.

That's especially so when one considers that by playing two matches on one day more frequently, time could be freed up for Championship cricket in August. That could require the broadcasters to be understanding but I assume they care about the game, too. And it would at least increase the chances of there being some live cricket on the box when the weather is unsettled.

I am not a traditionalist, though. Although the past informs, enriches and to some extent determines the present, it cannot of itself justify policy. My strong commitment to a meaningful County Championship comprising 14 games – there, I've said it – stems more from the belief that such a competition provides a proper test of professional county cricketers and that such a programme is not only feasible but also desirable, given the eccentricities of the English climate.

More to the point, I reckon the majority of the players want the 14-match Championship to be retained. Their objections to the current situation centre far more on the concentration of matches in a brief period – six or seven in as many weeks this April and May – as on the volume of cricket they are asked to undertake in six months.

That, of course, seems to be at variance with the view of the Professional Cricketers Association that "the players want to play less cricket", words often used by Sir Andrew Strauss when launching the review.

I'd like to put some courteous factual questions to the PCA: Precisely when were the players polled? What were they asked? What percentage of current professionals replied? What percentage of those who replied wanted to play less? Who were the independent auditors for the whole process?

My point is if the players were asked during the most gruelling part of the season, the results might be particularly misleading, not that I would ever accuse the PCA of doing so deliberately. But I get to talk to a lot of professional cricketers and I believe their views are far more nuanced than we have been led to believe.

And I'm sure you'll have considered the British climate. The subject mocks easy generalisation, of course, but the evidence from recent seasons suggests that April and particularly September are becoming far more suitable for professional cricket than perhaps they used to be.

The pitches are a little slower in April and 10.30am starts in September test batters in different ways but isn't that a counter-balance to the flatter wickets on which we play in June, July and, I hope, August? Surely being tested in a variety of conditions is a central component of any young cricketer's development. And I certainly agree with many county pros that we could play on into the first few days of October and maybe that would allow another round of Championship matches to be fitted in.

The impact of climate change is rarely so beneficial, though, and I hope the whole process is reversed as soon as possible. When torrential midsummer rain arrives, it frequently wipes out two or three days of a first-class game and this season's exceptional weather merely shows how erratic our climate has become. As a general rule, I reckon that each county can expect to have a couple of four-day games badly affected by the weather. It's worth considering when you are thinking about the amount of cricket we play.

That's almost all I wanted to say. I know this column hasn't mentioned the Blast, which I enjoy, or the Royal London, which I like even more, but you have given me enough of your time.

The easy assumptions about the County Championship are that it's gentle, soft and undemanding; one of summer's many pastorals; appealing to the spectator but of limited value to the selector; July's picture in a calendar entitled The English Scene.

Well, it is often beautiful, of course, but anyone who doubts its intensity has probably not watched much of it. It remains the prize that matters most to the players – and you are its principal guardians. Moreover, you are also, in part, the guardians of all the very young cricketers – you've not yet heard of them – who rock up at their first county trials with dreams of playing Ashes Tests still fresh in their minds.

I hope your deliberations go well this week. Don't be scared of taking time to reach the best conclusions. We waited until last January for the first-class fixture this year and everyone coped. It's vital to get things right because while you all know that your clubs’ core responsibilities include the development of England players, they also extend far beyond that role.

The counties are the engines by which inclusion and diversity can be implemented. Isn't it sad that one or two middle-ranking people at the ECB would like to get rid of them? So to adapt Benjamin Franklin's saying, it's important that you hang together or assuredly, you will hang separately.

But that's a gloomy thought on which to end. Much better, as long as you're not from Yorkshire or Hampshire, to remember Liam Norwell pounding in on the last day of the season with no greater prize on offer than his team's survival in Division One of the County Championship. Such things still matter to the players and I know they matter to you, too.

Thanks for reading and winter well,

Paul
https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/opinion/open_letter_chairs_chief_executives_18_first_class_counties.html

I'm aware that this open letter was copied into Stuart Cain- who responded saying "it was a great read"

I wouldn't want to settle for any less than 14 four day County Championship matches, though 12 would at least give us more days of proper cricket than Liz Truss managed as prime minister,

Yes it has to be 14. And in order to go half way with Strauss we revert to a top division of eight which is closer to his stupid idea of six. It's not that hard is it??? 1 up 3 down next season gets us there and then we can all relax again until the next change and the one after that...

14 CC games ideally with a couple at the back end of August after a shortened three weeks long 100 comp. The RLODC can then remain at the beginning of the school hols just slightly shortened to three weeks for the group stage and Quarter finals. Semi finals midweek at the end of August & the final in mid-September

Scheduling oughtn't be as tricky as the ECB have often painted it out to be - cynically some might suggest that's exactly why they've made it a dogs dinner - to make it appear more of a mess than it needs to be - to provide an excuse so that Strauss comes in and mops it up

Richard Gould appointment may be another ray of hope:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/england-cricket-ecb-news-hundred-critic-richard-gould-becomes-new-ecb-chief-executive-1341338

From Worcester. A similar statement from Warwickshire showing firm commitment to retention of a 14 match county championship would be appreciated. I especially like the section 👇 in bold I hope this is mentioned to Warwickshire at the forum on Wednesday should they still be insisting on supporting the brainless idea of reduced championship matches

Following widescale discussion during multiple Members’ Forums and following the Board’s consideration – Worcestershire County Cricket Club can confirm the following:

The Sir Andrew Strauss-led High-Performance Review (HPR) has many aspects that we support looking through the important lens of improving international performance.

However, at the county level, reducing County Championship fixtures is not supported. Our preference and desire is to maintain 14 games rather than reduce to 10 games, as proposed in the HPR.

We totally support the best v best overriding principle in the HPR and believe this can be achieved with two divisions rather than three leagues of six counties. We favour a true meritocracy with two up and two down from each division.

Worcestershire does not support reducing the number of Vitality Blast games from the current level of 14 games. That would be particularly harmful to counties like ours that do not have alternative games to host.

A reduction in County Championship and Vitality Blast fixtures would harm the holistic health of cricket in our county and beyond.

Our preference would be to truncate The Hundred (if possible) to reduce strain on the overall schedule. There is very limited appetite amongst our members to play first-class Festival cricket during this period.

Reducing the level of competition for select players (seamers, internationals) is a serious consideration properly highlighted in the HPR. This can potentially be achieved for these players by other means, such as limiting their number of fixtures, as in other sports, rather than wholesale reductions for all.

It should be noted that many of our players choose to play cricket for other teams when not appearing for us, indicating that for many, they desire more cricket. More analysis and consultation with players is required on this important issue.

The concentration of the schedule, and in particular the switch from one type of cricket to another, is an important factor that needs improving with better scheduling of competitions rather than a per-se reduction in overall games.

The schedule will not change materially in 2023, therefore, we have time to work through and properly consider any putative change for 2024.

We look forward to working with other counties, the PCA and the ECB to arrive at an appropriate solution in the best interests of cricket

https://wccc.co.uk/club-update-high-performance-review/

Excellent from Worcester

Many of the points Worcester made were backed up by several points made this evening at Warwickshire's forum in the banqueting suite. How do people feel the forum this evening went?

Thought it went well. Very impressed by the way the counties have come together. Got a bit frustrated when the questions went totally off topic towards the end. Also wish that Stuart C had been able to adopt a method of limiting certain speakers from repeating themselves. I was surprisingly impressed by Mark Mc.

Agree with Malc above regarding limiting the number of questions to individuals- some people were hogging the mike.
Unlike the first forum there was no suggestion of a 12 game CC as a compromise- it seems 14 games is the consensus across the vast majority of counties. As was the case in the room save for one person.
One comment from Mark Robinson that I found very interesting was the likes of Will, Sibbers, Matt Lamb and Mike Burgess were incensed (I think that was the word he used) at not being considered for the Blast as they saw this as their only way into the 100, by performing well in it. It could also explain some of the continued unrest at the end of the season. I was extremely disappointed that Robinson did not seem to know that Lamby is Matt Lamb not John Lamb as he referred to him!

Yes that made me chuckle at the time. Maybe it's a Trigger and Rodney situation. "Alright Dave/John"

Hopefully there'll be a summary from the club over the coming days. I've been quite critical of summaries they've provided over the past few weeks - I appreciate it is tricky to get right but the slanting/wording has seemed way off track to me in the emails and webpage summaries so far

Just as an example one comment from the floor that was very well made I thought was about Rob Yates who'd had a pretty wretched season but on reintroducion to the team for games 13 and 14 he was able to sign off the season with a good score and be able to take confidence into the winter.

A ten or twelve game CC would have robbed him (and others) of that opportunity. Also season 2021 after the first ten games I don't think anyone would suggest Warwickshire were the best side or looked like deserving champions elect, you might place them a respectable 5th or 6th but those additional games 11 to 14 when it was on the line enabled them to reach the summit and furthermore game 15 the bwt final at Lord's enabled them to demonstrate winning the title had not been any fluke and the Bears showed they were deserved winners full stop.

A ten or twelve game CC season would be inadequate for all sorts of reasons. These are just a couple