Several counties are saying that the 2024 domestic fixtures will be announced next week on Thursday 23 November.

A draw in the championship is to go back to being 8 points next year.

With there being a women's IT20 and a men's IT20 on May 11th and May 25th respectively am I correct in assuming we won't be playing at Edgbaston much in the month of May?

Warwickshire will join Notts, Essex, Somerset and Yorkshire in the UAE in March for a two week tour where they’ll play in a 3 day T20 competition (also featuring an Abu Dhabi XI) before contesting a 2 day red ball game.

Inside-edge wrote:

A draw in the championship is to go back to being 8 points next year.

Has anyone read any reasoning given for this? I know Lancashire were unhappy about some of the games which had joke bowling in them to bring about a positive result via a run chase but I can't see that alone being the reason why they've gone away from the change made last season.

In the back of my mind I'm thinking the final placings at the end of the 2024 season will be pivotal in terms of how they organise things thereafter. Maybe some of the the stronger counties want to ensure they're not sent down 'by accident' if there is another rain affected county season

Cricinfo says:
"A higher threshold for batting bonus points, a reduction in the number of points available for a draw, and a two-round trial of the Kookaburra ball, are among the tweaks to the County Championship ahead of the 2023 season, in a bid to keep the domestic game aligned with the aggressive approach of the England men's Test team.
This season, five points will be available for a draw - a return to pre-pandemic levels after an increase to eight was introduced in 2019 as an incentive for counties to prepare better pitches. And though 16 points will still be available for a win, teams will now need to score 250 inside 110 overs in the first innings (an increase from 200) to achieve one bonus point, rising by increments of 50 to 450 for the maximum of five - which, if achieved, would require a rate of more than four an over."

So how many rounds of Kookaburra are we having this season then?

Four rounds with the kookaburra I've heard

And 8 rounds straight of championship cricket to begin the season followed by a wedge sized block of Blast from May 30th onwards

I've read somewhere that there will be 15 slots of championship cricket as opposed to 16 last year. The reason why they cant have 14 neat rounds where everybody plays is I think to do with the situation at Gloucestershire where the still (somehow, given all they've done to destroy the county championship since 2016) very lucrative Cheltenham cricket festival which requires a fixture in July. In 2024 there will only be one championship match AFAIK at that festival as opposed to two they had last season and have tended to have of late

My hunch is they'll have three 50-over games at Cheltenham in 2024 (fingers crossed we're one of them) perhaps even all four to compensate. Let's see what transpires on Thursday morning

As expected Warwickshire begin the championship season with back to back home fixtures;

Friday 5 to Monday 8 April – Warwickshire v Worcestershire
Friday 12 to Monday 15 April – Warwickshire v Durham

Three further fixtures we know about are

Friday 26 to Monday 29 April – Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire
Thursday 29 August to Sunday 1 September – Warwickshire v Kent
Tuesday 17 to Friday 20 September – Warwickshire v Essex

See what the away fixtures bring. I doubt we'd get both Worcestershire and Durham. Likelihood is we'd only get one of those away due to seedings and only playing 5 opponents twice

Are these definite?

Dates for the 5 home matches are yes.
https://midlandshurricanes.com/news/hurricanes-warwickshireccc-partnership-announced

Hopefully the remaining games in April/May are Friday starts. Somerset forum last week indicated they had 9 matches with meaningful (Day 1/2/3) weekend cricket. This could be as many as 11 at some counties.

Cheers

Prospect of three 50 over matches at an outground tbc will be very interesting to see where they opt for. Could set up and remain for the three games to save set up costs

Thought they might have dipped their toe in with one, 3 is a big commitment.

Interesting that the Glamorgan game is at Edgbaston probably to do with the Edgbaston situation but I wonder if it's also a hint as to which outground location is being considered??? - Stratford perhaps has a festival in the town that Thursday that might clash???

Overall it looks a reasonably kind Championship schedule for Warks. Surrey who we struggled to get to grips with last couple of seasons, Lancs and Durham all dangerous sides we only have to face once. There's a very familiar feel playing the likes of Notts, Somerset, Essex and Hampshire twice and of course the bonus of a double header and potential for decent points haul against newly promoted neighbours Worcestershire. On the flip side we miss out on the potential of maximum batting points at Canterbury however and if we do have a decent early to mid season and find ourselves in contention up at the top - not having the opportunity to deliver a K.O. blow to Surrey/Durham in the final stretch could end up being a drag.

The PCA are not happy with the schedule:
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/pca-calls-action-over-unsustainable-122321526.html
If David Payne is unhappy about playing a T20 game one evening in Cardiff followed by another the following evening in Bristol, how does he feel about the Bears playing one evening in Durham and the next at Edgbaston?

More on the regulation changes for 2024:
https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/3792756/changes-approved-to-2024-domestic-cricket-regulations-and-playing-conditions
I suspect that Gary Barwell will be keen to try out hybrid pitches for the Championship.

The PCA need to get real

They can't have it both ways

They've now got a heavily chunked up season with very clear demarcation between when formats are played. Which is what they've been calling for because those poor overworked players for some unfathomable reason can't get their heads around switching between different formats

Yet they still seem to make unreasonable demands like wanting 4 days rest between T20 games of 3 hours duration

The counties are desperate to schedule T20 when they have a chance of selling tickets to the general public quite understandably - outside of the school holidays this will tend to be Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun and not school nights like Mon, Tues, Weds

Followers of the county game ought not be expected to put up with a situation where they only see 3 hours cricket per week for long stretches of the summer for their membership

If the PCA was serious about wanting rest and travel days between stints playing cricket in front of spectators then they'd back a more "appointment to view style schedule" where a T20 or 50 overs match is bolted onto a championship fixture like we had for quite a good length of time in the previous period before the powers that be deemed it appropriate to shunt ever more of the championship to the margins of the season. You could then schedule adequate rest and travel days between playing stints

Regarding out-grounds, I agree that it will be interesting to see which locations are chosen.
Middlesex are so strapped for cash that they are playing two of their T20 matches at Chelmsford on dates when Lord's is unavailable. According to The Telegraph, this will save them "a six figure sum" even though they will pay Essex a hosting fee.

I do think playing 3 out of the 4 home ODC games is a bit much.

These outgrounds had better be good cricket wickets whilst offering adequate seating/viewing with good toilet facilities and serviceable parking...I'm still scarred by Rugby School...