If we follow the Middlesex model of playing at Chelmsford - Worcester, here we come! (Only joking - I think.)

It is probably the closest viable "Outground" :-)

GerryShedd wrote:

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.

At the end of season dinner the CEO and Performance Director said they were actively looking for an outground and would make an announcement in due course.

I always felt this was logical given the square was so over used at Edgbaston last year and the 50 overs matches became a joke as did a couple of proper County matches towards the end.

At the dinner he said South Warwickshire but I wrote saying this would be a major PR blunder if announced as majority of population live in the North of the County and there is a greater tradition of County cricket played there. He reassured me saying they were looking at the whole of the County.

BosworthBear wrote:

GerryShedd wrote:

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.

At the end of season dinner the CEO and Performance Director said they were actively looking for an outground and would make an announcement in due course.

I always felt this was logical given the square was so over used at Edgbaston last year and the 50 overs matches became a joke as did a couple of proper County matches towards the end.

At the dinner he said South Warwickshire but I wrote saying this would be a major PR blunder if announced as majority of population live in the North of the County and there is a greater tradition of County cricket played there. He reassured me saying they were looking at the whole of the County.

But given that one of the purposes of outground cricket is to expose people to the game that might otherwise not attend, somewhere in the south might not be a bad idea?

I think one of the main things is that it needs to be easily accessible by train. Somewhere like Leamington or Stratford would fit the bill on that basis, though I have no idea if there are suitable grounds there.

The purpose of outground cricket is to take games around the County especially as we have become so Birmingham centric.

In terms of trains Nuneaton is the largest station in Coventry and Warwickshire with direct lines to Birmingham, Coventry as well as London, Manchester, Leicester etc

The largest populations starved of cricket are Coventry and Nuneaton.

However despite my small win I suspect their bigger agenda is to get wealthy sponsors from South of Warwickshire and set up a pseudo festival.

We’ll see. When I heard this at the dinner I thought somebody is reading this forum!!!

I actually like current people running the Club. They are polite, respond to emails and communicate well!

Hopefully can’t be to long for Birmingham Bears and we can revert to our proper name!

I’d be in favour of a festival of some sort. I think it would be good to make it a bit more than just a game at a different ground, make it something that not only the county diehards will want to go to.

Regarding use of an out-ground, Mr. Cain's latest email says:
"We’ve now identified a venue which we think can host some Metro Bank One Day Cup fixtures next season and just going through the operational and logistical considerations with a view to announcing in the New Year, all being well. In addition to the games themselves, we will also try to sow the seeds of future community initiatives to get more people playing and watching cricket alongside the games."

Still no announcement about the out-ground to be used; and the fixture list that I received with my membership pack says TBC against the games v Surrey, Yorkshire and Notts, with only the Glamorgan game at Edgbaston.

I do wonder if they revert to Edgbaston for these games once they factor in all the imponderables and weigh up the costs. They may leave it longer to decide depending on the spring weather conditions - it hasn't been particularly dry so far and we've only had a few short cold snaps so the subsoil under ground won't have compacted like it can sometimes do over the winter

Look at the situation over at New Road they are almost certainly not going to have their ground ready for April 18th their opening county fixture versus Durham especially with rain to come this next fortnight. They'd normally switch to Kidderminster but mid-April is quite early for use of a club outground so I wonder if conversations are happening regarding a switch to Chester le Street or failing that Edgbaston? New Road was listed as a venue for a Warwickshire county game a few years ago and I think Edgbaston has staged several Worcester home games in the past

Without massive financial investment, there is not a ground in the county that would be suitable for county first team cricket.

Unless a major sponsor agrees to underwrite all the additional costs involved, the club would be better playing the games at Edgbaston.

It's a bit of a piss take that there's been no clarification on where those three ODC cup games will be played. Having paid for and recieved my membership I'd quite like to, you know, understand where the games are being played.

In fairness it's perhaps best they hold off until they are absolutely sure on this. You are right though and it does smack of the hierarchy considering the fixtures all rather secondary in consideration as compared with whatever else is going on that particular month. An indictment of the domestic game at present especially the 50 over format

3 out of the 4 ODC home games being played away from Edgbaston was always going to be a big commitment.

Pretty clear from last year that Edgbaston just can't physically take the volume of cricket it had last year.

The wickets in all competitions were substandard towards the end.

I'm very passionate to see games taken around the County but was never under the illusion WCCC were doing this for altruistic reasons.

There is no way these games will be played on the edge of the Edgbaston square again this year!

Any update on this?

Warwickshire are to play 3 One Day Cup games at Rugby School this season.
2nd August against Surrey
11th August against Yorkshire
14th August against Notts.

Predictable!

There was no way they could play these matches at Edgbaston this year after what happened last year and this is the easiest solution!

The one venue which I really hoped we wouldn't be going to.

Hated it when we played there previously.

Terrible viewing ground, cramped and uncomfortable. Gutted.

Let’s hope they’ve learned from previous experience.
Outgrounds are fantastic when done right. Look at Cheltenham, Liverpool, Guildford, Arundel. But shocking if done poorly.

I guess the private school was the only venue with deep enough pockets to stage the games. Its a missed opportunity really.
I went to one of the previous games at Rugby (wasn't Povey's son a pupil at the school at the time?). The transport links to the town are poor and the viewing experience is equally poor.