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?

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."

Exiled Bear wrote:

Seems a little strange to me that "blast off" won't be our first T20 match of the season

I agree that it makes a bit of a mockery of the whole "blast off" idea. It's a bit like having a ship launch when the ship has just got back from its maiden voyage.
Also the team will be playing in Durham on the Friday evening and then having to be back at Edgbaston the following day - hardly ideal preparation.
Having come up with such a good idea this year, the authorities seem to be going out of their way to mess it up next year.

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

Line up for next year's Blast Off announced:
https://edgbaston.com/news/blast-off-double-header-to-return-to-edgbaston/

This was an interesting session even for a non-Somerset supporter.
Key points (for me) were:
A lot of emphasis on the importance of the link with Sky – 90% of the ECB’s income comes from Sky. And, for better or worse, Sky like The Hundred. It also seems that Sky get a lot from cricket – of all the women watching sport on Sky, half of them are watching cricket. Also, of the top ten most watched Sky Sports events in the last year, 5 were cricket matches.
Regarding the 2024 season, it was said that there will be nine rounds of Championship cricket with meaningful weekend play (i.e. not just day four).
There was much stress on the changing face of world cricket – there are 17 domestic T20 competitions worldwide which, with the international programme, make it pretty well impossible to bring in overseas stars for a whole season. Also foreign investment into the English game is likely to happen – the Saudi Arabian budget for investing in sport is £300 billion.
Even for a well supported club like Somerset, the reality is that members and supporters are essential but not sufficient - other sources of income are needed.
And harking back to the problems last season with the ground at Taunton that ruined the Bears match – they have had a secondary drainage system installed; and though the grass is growing back well, they have asked to play away from home in the first two Championship rounds.

The mention of possibly bringing in someone from outside is interesting.
Who might it be?
When I said in an earlier post that I thought that Moeen would retain the T20 Blast captaincy, I was overlooking that the WorldT20 is happening in June 2024 and Moeen may well be involved in that, as evidenced by his selection for the IT20 West Indies series.
Precise dates for the Blast aren't clear at the moment, although Finals Day is back to being held in September; and the start will be on 1 June with another Blast Off - the Derbyshire website confirms: "The event, which is becoming established as one of the premier events in the English cricketing summer, will take place on Saturday 1 June, and see Birmingham Bears and Derbyshire Falcons both feature as home teams."

This might be worth a listen tomorrow evening - it's open to Somerset members but also to the rest of us who are just interested in the topic:
https://somersetcountycc.co.uk/news/club-news/reminder-somerset-ccc-and-the-future-of-cricket-virtual-forum/

I agree that Will Rhodes was a good captain; and he can look back with pride at leading the team to the County Championship.
As for who takes over, let's not forget that Moeen was the official T20 Blast captain last year. His Test recall got in the way of him actually leading the team onto the field too often (just four matches played); but it would be reasonable to assume that he will keep the job and have more availability this year. So it's likely to be a question of who leads the team in the Championship and the 50 over competition. As for Alex Davies, I assume, like Moeen, he will be playing in The Hundred again which rules him out of the 50 over captaincy. So if he was given the job for the Championship, it would mean three different captains - Moeen for the Blast, Davies for the Championship and A. N. Other for the 50 over.

No joy for Gary Barwell and his team this year:
Full list of awards winners:
Bernard Flack Memorial Trophy (Multi-Day pitches)
Winner: Lee Fortis (Kia Oval)
Runner-up: Matt Merchant (Emirates Old Trafford)
Commendation: Vic Demain (Seat Unique Riverside)
One-Day pitches:
Winner: Lee Fortis (Kia Oval)
Runner-up: Richard Robinson (Headingley)
Commendations: Karl McDermott (Lord’s), Adrian Llong (The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury)
First Test Match Recognition Awards:
Richard Robinson, Headingley; England Men v Australia, 2023
Simon Tremlett, Wormsley Cricket Ground; England Women vs Australia 2013
Sean Williams, Seat Unique Bristol; England Women vs India 2021
Scott Hawkins, Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton; England Women vs South Africa
Outground Pitches Award:
Winner: John Dodds (Scarborough CC)
Runner-up: Josh Marden (Beckenham)
Commendation: Nick Johnson (Blackpool CC)

And it's on the site now:
https://edgbaston.com/news/bears-match-day-experience-votes-best-in-cricket-in-2023/

I can't see anything yet on the Warwickshire site so I've had to look on the Somerset site to glean the following:
_"Derbyshire won three awards including sharing the Customer Retention Initiative Award and Best Development of a New Facility (under £500,000). The club also shared the Tickets or Membership Sales and Marketing Campaign of the Year with Midlands neighbours Warwickshire CCC, who led on their joint delivery of ‘Vitality Blast Off’ to launch the Vitality Blast season with a double header at Edgbaston.
The innovation preceded both clubs enjoying record years in terms of attendance and revenue and cemented Blast Off as a key fixture for next summer. Warwickshire also won the Best Domestic Spectator Experience award and was placed as finalists in four other categories."
More information here:
https://somersetcountycc.co.uk/news/club-news/hat-trick-for-somerset-at-business-of-cricket-awards/

To be fair, the Club have quietly dropped the Birmingham name from the T20 side title - if you look on the website, they are now just Bears. That's not the same as bringing back the Warwickshire name but it's a start!
Of course, the Hundred side is very much a Birmingham badged team; and I suspect that is why the T20 team is now just Bears, to avoid confusion.
I can see that there is sense in sharing ideas with other sporting clubs on, say, player fitness, marketing and publicity. But I'm not so sure that a football fan who isn't already interested in cricket is going to be persuaded to come to Edgbaston.
I could well be wrong and it will be interesting to see what develops.

Not quite sure what I think about this:
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/cricket/bears-ceo-stuart-cain-reveals-28069058

Yes, an almost unbelievable performance today.

I agree that this is a good (re) signing.

Refunds available:
https://edgbaston.com/news/edgbaston-offers-refunds-to-fireworks-spectators/

Apologies to Exiled Bear and correction - it seems there was a successful display on Friday night and Saturday was the problem event:
"A spokesperson for Edgbaston Stadium said: 'The Fireworks Spectacular is one of the most popular events in our calendar, with families returning year after year, so it's really disappointing the adverse weather conditions impacted last night's event.
'The same type and volume of fireworks were used on Friday night at the stadium and 4,000 visitors enjoyed an amazing display on a clear night.
'However, last night there was a lingering mist and the atmospheric conditions were such that smoke from the fireworks failed to dissipate. We understand that other displays in the region were also affected by the conditions.'"

I think it was last night only - and there does seem to have been a problem:
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/video-shows-disappointing-edgbaston-stadium-28048640

Like one or two recent overseas stars, it would seem that the fireworks didn't shine and sparkle last night:
Edgbaston Facebook page:
"Due to the atmospheric conditions and unfortunate weather conditions we know that our fireworks display was impacted.
We are currently investigating the issues that occurred and we will communicate with all ticket purchasers in due course."