mad
Member
Cost. Remember Lancs closed two thirds of their ground for championship games last season so probably won't stump up cost for stewarding
Great news I like the way the counties collaborative efforts with this one there are people at both clubs who really care aren't there. I would like to think they could do this kind of thing at first class level as well to sort of help sides out with ground issues. Worcester ought not be being asked to host games in early to mid April same for several of the smaller county ground set ups like Derby or Durham.
Surely and I'll get on my soap box again here, a schedule in future can be designed whereby sure the bigger test grounds host quite a few of their championship games early April as is necessary for ground availability, flat pitches, to get game time under the belts of potential test call ups etc...
No way should Worcester or Derby be being asked to host while rugby season is still in full swing in early April. Those counties rely on the few hundred (and on warm days maybe 1,500) hardy souls who turn up and that will be given more of a chance to eventuate in warmer June July and August as will the chances an outfield will have dried out from a deluge the fortnight beforehand or persistent spring rain that is unable to be shifted and cleared up until about June as in Worcester's case.
Worcestershire simply would not be even considering looking for a new ground if we had a sensible schedule with the bulk of their cricket hosted in June July and August. If that means more back to back games and the utilisation of squads and loans to cover things then that is how it should be scheduled. The faceless PCA might issue missives to the contrary but what would they prefer? Continual slide into irrelevance and inevitable closure of 6-7 of these wonderful county cricket clubs or a bit more effort from the 'professionals' they are supposed to represent?
Just like to say that on the livestream and commentary I think we are blessed to have one of the best teams in the country - panel of commentators and summarises from BBC radio WM/CWR they've been superb for years and years and the guests they have on all excellent to listen to. This match they also have Melinda Farrell on who I think takes the coverage up a notch further still. Brilliant coverage please continue this would almost almost be worth paying for which one day we may have to do
Proper team innings there from Yates including how he got out . You Bears
Yes I have them second favourites for the title if Surrey slip up and assuming Essex get whacked some hefty points deductions for one reason or another
So we'll probably go and give them a right hammering
Indeed. I totally approve of the vision the club have with this. And that's coming from someone who lives just three miles from Edgbaston. I'd quite like this to be followed up with a 4-day game during summer at an outground like Rugby School in the near future.
What will make or break the experience for most is of course the weather. Having multiple games at the ground will help avoid the set up of the site for spectators being a waste of time and resources.
We would have to be extremely unfortunate (or possess a ground like New Road) to suffer three completely rain ruined days during August.
Lancashire held a forum yesterday
They put together a pdf document for public consumption of what we might refer to as 'positive spin' about the discussions taking place currently on the future of the 100 and private investment in it and impacts (they try to suggest there will not be any negative ones) for the counties
Club Update on the future of The Hundred and external investment – Frequently
Asked Questions
What is NOT on the table for discussion:
• Is the Hundred going to continue to be played between 2024 and 2028?
Yes. This is already contracted.
• Will Manchester Originals continue to play at Emirates Old Trafford between 2024 and 2028?
The Manchester Originals have a non-exclusive lease to play for three-and-a-half weeks during August between 2024 and 2028. Lancashire Cricket continue to have the right to play county cricket at Emirates Old Trafford on non-hundred match days (4 days).
• Is there any discussion to try and reduce the number of domestic red ball games from 14?
No. There is no such discussion happening.
• Is there any chance that The Hundred competition could increase?
There is the potential for the competition to increase from 2029, to allow one or two additional teams. However, Lancashire Cricket would not support this if the length of the window that the current tournament is played in increased as a result.
• Is there any proposal for Lancashire Cricket to sell any shares to a third party?
No. There are zero plans for Lancashire Cricket to de-mutualise or sell any shares.
• Is there any proposal for any assets as part of Emirates Old Trafford to be sold?
No. There are zero plans for Lancashire Cricket to sell/transfer/put any assets of Emirates Old Trafford at risk.
What IS on the table for the Club to consider:
• Would the Club consider receiving an equity share giving it control of the Manchester Originals
and why?
Yes, this would cost the Club zero. The Club would not be giving up anything in return, cash or
otherwise. Currently Lancashire Cricket has no control over Manchester Originals, therefore bringing the men’s and women’s teams into the Lancashire Cricket department would enable day-to-day control of something that it has limited influence over currently. It would also enable a strategic approach to player recruitment for the benefit of Lancashire Cricket and enable an aligned growth strategy for domestic women’s cricket across the North West. This would also give us opportunities to leverage greater sponsorship for the benefit of Lancashire Cricket.
• Would the Club receive a cash injection if the ECB sold any of its remaining shares in
Manchester Originals and would the Club have to give up anything to receive this?
Yes, the Club would receive a cash windfall in this event. This cash would be used for the benefit of Lancashire Cricket which could include for example debt reduction. The Club would not have to give anything up to receive this cash windfall.
• If the Club accepted a free equity stake in Manchester Originals and the ECB sold some part of its current stake to a third party into Manchester Originals, would that impact Lancashire Cricket’s ability to compete and play across all county cricket or reduce the number of games in the County Championship?
No
.
Any thoughts?
Complete Control is what they want and then they'll be wanting more after being handed this too.
I find it astonishing that the county chiefs and the ECB would string the game along like this. Promises to Somerset and Durham and presumably Kent, Leicestershire and Worcestershire too of the distant prospect of relevance and "purpose"
The ECB hopes the model it has drawn up connects the counties and the Hundred, and keeps purpose among counties that do not currently host a team to strive to have one in future.
FFS!!!
What the counties want is first-class county championship, first team 50-overs and T20 Blast cricket to host for their members, supporters and community throughout the peak summer months
A brilliant and utterly comprehensive dismantling of The Hundred and all the fallacies that surround and sustain it
Well worth a read
https://beingoutsidecricket.com/2024/02/20/is-the-hundred-a-success/
the greatest success The Hundred has had is in persuading people to say that it’s successful.
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
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
Cheers I have a vague memory of him being parachuted into a game a year earlier perhaps just for one day of a 3-day SEC or friendly game as is allowed in that format. I might have the wrong kid though or he may have just sub-fielded that day
What a day and tournament for him
14 wickets and the best figures at this level by an England bowler today
Was it 2018 or 2019 when he turned out for the Seconds team at age 13/14?
Some counties released theirs a fortnight or so ago and they began appearing on play cricket site. One (Kent I think) published theirs before Xmas.
Here goes in terms of local seconds (and under 18's in the school hols) from what I've gathered from multiple sites (all tbc officially)
March 30-Apr 1 Worcs v SACA (Kidderminster)
April 8-11 Warks v Derbyshire (Portland Rd)
April 15-18 Warks v Essex (Portland Rd)
April 21 Notts u18 v Warks u18 (50 ovs friendly tbc) (Lady Bay)
April 29-May 2 Warks v Sussex (Portland Rd)
May 6-9 Warks v Glamorgan (Portland Rd)
May 14-17 Notts v Warks (Lady Bay)
May 21 Bears v Somerset (Portland Rd)
May 22 Bears v Worcs (Portland Rd)
May 29 Bears v Glamorgan (Portland Rd)
June 5 Bears v SACA (Portland Rd)
June 11 Bears v Gloucs (Portland Rd)
June 18 Worcs v Bears (Bromsgrove School)
June 24-27 Warks v Worcs (Portland Rd)
July 4 Warks u18 v Lancs u18 (50 ovs friendly tbc) (Barnt Green)
July 11 Bears v SACA (Portland Rd)
July 18 Warks v SACA (50 ovs) (Portland Rd)
July 23-25 Warks u18 v Gloucs u18 (Portland Rd)
July 30 Worcs v Zimbabwe A (tbc)
August 6-8 Warks u18 v Somerset u18 (Portland Rd)
August 13-15 Warks u18 v Wales NC u18 (Portland Rd)
August 27-29 Worcs u18 v Warks u18 (tbc)
September 9-12 Worcs v Derbyshire (Barnt Green)
September 16-19 Warks v Surrey (Portland Rd)
At least one of Bears T20 fixtures is a double header with 2 matches on the day but I can't recall which.
Also don't forget England Lions v Sri Lanka 4-day match at New Road August 14-17 ahead of their test series against England
Slightly further afield but also highly likely to feature one or two of the current crop of Warks young players, Cheltenham College will host England Under-19s v India Under-19s in a Test Match July 16-19
Enjoyed the coverage of the first test by the way. Sky's is obviously very good but it is refreshing to see different voices perhaps Kevin Pietersen apart. Matt Floyd back in blighty did a really good job I thought conveying the state of play in between the live coverage. For tests 2, 3, 4 and 5 TNT are upping the budget and are sending Alaistair Cook and a small team to Stockholm to provide discussion between the live coverage using the studio's they have booked for their Champions League coverage. Pity there are no highlights packages on free to air at tea time each day
Agree in part but also we do need to give our youngsters more time to develop or even flourish in the county championship. Unless there's a player available April thru May and/or August thru September who will improve on what we have there's no real point signing for the sake of bulking up the championship squad anymore, the loan system is reasonably generous these days and will suffice if there's a problem for the sporadic foray into first class cricket mid-summer (June) for instance.
The way the schedule is now (which as folks will be well aware I have a major issue with in general terms) means there's no need to have a settled squad raring to go for 5 months from mid April anymore
Barney Ronay
What a game Test cricket is. Cut to the bone but still a different level to every other format. Its death is a paradigm of dumb consumerism. Money and margins tell you to make a worse product. At the end of which you have money, for a while, and a worse product for ever
Some reports in the Times this morning sorry haven't got the link.
What do people think?
My gut is this would be the straw that breaks the camel's back I don't think I could stomach putting any further money into a sport/sporting organisation that took money from despots with vile human rights records.
Here's an.article from.last year though;
Saudi sportswashing. Their one failure so far was sponsoring this year’s Women’s World Cup, an attempt abandoned after players and federations pushed back. This isn’t just shameless, like Aramco producing 13.6 billion barrels of oil last year while installing recycling stations for drink bottles at cricket grounds in the name of sustainability. There is something perversely aggressive about targeting events where all the competitors are women and so many are gay, as a country where their gender makes them second-class humans and their sexuality is a crime.
Best wishes to him. Be interesting to see if the sides character will change much. Will we be a bit chirpier in the field? Don't recall hearing him shout much. Will games drift more? First season for him could be quite tough but hopefully he'll be able to throw the ball to trusty OHD and Rushy and will he lead from the front or step down the order?
Excellent analysis and also agree with Bristol Bear about need to avoid wishing away other counties. Makes some Warwickshire fans seem entitled especially with Warks poor record overall in regard to producing test players.
The impact of two divisions will not have helped those counties marooned in Div 2 like Derbyshire who had we retained one overall 18 team division would almost certainly have produced more test players by now.
Also bear in mind the TCCB selection process that denied treble champion winning Bears ANY representation on the winter tour of 1994-1995 brings into question the reliability of the selection system
Also the class system in the UK. Warks will have historically drawn from a pool of Midlands based players in competition with Worcestershire and Derbyshire whilst Surrey have historically been advantaged by their first access to the constant stream of privately educated and trained players from schools down south. Lancs and Yorkshire each draw from an entire region and don't have their own Worcester or Derbyshire to compete for their players at least not until Durham gained first class status without which Ben Stokes would likely have never found his way in. The next Ben Stokes might well be at Derby now