I'm not sure if this link to the Cricket Supporters Association survey has been posted on here or not, but here it is anyway:

https://www.cricketsupporters.com/survey

Results will be passed on to the ECB (although whether they'll take any notice, I don't know)

Losing Pandya and Burgess was the killer blow, really

From Will Rhodes instagram account, it sounds as though Pandya has returned home (he posted “safe travels”)

Think it’s a bit harsh to suggest that such wholesale changes are needed - we did win the championship last season after all! I’m hopeful that because this season has gone so badly that management will recognise the need to recruit a bowler or two for next season, and we’ve already made steps in the right direction with the signing of Barnard and Moeen. We should also be able to get a better quality overseas for the championship next season as well as we’ll have far longer to plan for it this time - this season we were rather left in the lurch by Bresnan’s late decision to retire.

It’s obvious that Highveld just doesn’t like any player from India, regardless of ability.

Mikkyk wrote:

Exiled Bear wrote:

Why is Pandya not bowling?

Injured himself batting

Hope it’s nothing too serious, we don’t want to lose him.

Why is Pandya not bowling?

I think we’re talking about two very different things here. The CC is of course going to struggle to attract a younger audience. Part of this is due to scheduling - it’s hard for parents to take their kids along when there are so few games played at the weekend or in the school summer holidays. I’m sure more could be done to encourage younger people to go to a CC game, but I think most of the effort goes into getting them along to a T20 game in the hope that they’ll then go to a one day cup match or a CC match further down the line. That’s where the problem with the hundred comes in. As these teams exist solely to play this format, there’s no link to the longer forms and so it’s much less likely that any of these new fans will make the transition.

coolerking wrote:

If county cricket could be promoted such as to entice families in the way The 100 does then counties would have done it years ago.

But that’s exactly the point - counties cannot afford to throw tens of millions of pounds at advertising. I have absolutely no doubt that if the Blast had been marketed and promoted in the same way that the hundred has, with the free-to-air exposure thrown in, that it would have seen similar levels of growth. And on the point of offering things for kids, of course a day at a championship game is going to be difficult for that, but there has always seemed to be lots going on at T20 games for kids, so I don’t think that’s anything new

Another cracking game! I thought we’d lost it at the end there but the wicket of Pujara proved crucial. Fair play to Garrett for holding his nerve! Still undefeated…

Support from the England captain:

https://twitter.com/benstokes38/status/1554888153609256962?s=21&t=MvmFMF_Zug7V4zsLrkPW-g

I've fixed the link (it's a bug with the forum).

Highveld wrote:

If seems our not very "Super moderator" is becomng the local "Stan Flashman" touting even more tickets.

Obviously he seems to think he can totally and deliberately ignore the ticket conditions of sale and the law.

"The unauthorised sale and/or offer to sell a Ticket, exposure of a Ticket for sale and advertising that a Ticket is available to purchase will constitute a criminal offence under the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Act 2020 and action may be taken against offenders."

Please give it a rest. I know that the real reason that you keep bringing this up isn’t because you actually care passionately about this issue, but is actually a result of your long-running vendetta against Terry, which I know has been a thing since the old bearsfans forum. I will reiterate, again, that I have no issue with what Terry is doing and this is the last time I expect to have to comment on the matter.

I’ve got no problem with it. It’s not like they’re being sold for a profit.

Great to have Norwell back at least.

In fairness I think the club were caught rather off-guard by the sudden retirement of Bresnan. We were obviously expecting to get another year out of him, and the fairly late decision meant that it was a bit late to try to find a decent replacement. We have certainly missed his charisma and determination this season.

That being said, things have still been particularly poor this season. The worst thing is that people will now think that last season's title was just a fluke. I'm sure the shorter league format did play into our hands a bit, and perhaps some of our players were playing above their ability, but we still deserved it.

It takes an impressive effort to lose by such a large margin after bowling out the opposition on the first day for 160-odd

This is going to be an embarrassingly heavy defeat.

I think I read somewhere about a weekly highlights programme for the Blast on free-to-air TV? Other than that though I agree it's pretty concerning.

This also has the potential to be much hotter than any previous heatwaves, and over a much larger area.