Enjoy the occasional game in this comp but I can't see how they are ever going to increase the number of matches unless the Blast is reduced.

Proper league played right through the season one game per week I'd quite like 2 divisions of 9 - 8 home 8 away - 2 up 2 down - beside the County Championship
A proper 32 county knockout cup would also be nice
Neither is particularly likely unfortunately the players want all this rest and 'prep' between games and not only that they also want big gaps between formats so we end up with a kind of mini pre-season in July playing a random friendly against a minor county - completely nonsensical IMHO

If changes occur they'll fudge it like they normally do but there's no way they'll add more games to this competition I'm afraid they'll more likely reduce it to 4 group matches 2 home 2 away games then quarter finals.

I don't like this mini-comp format personally though as it robs the counties who don't qualify of perhaps two weeks of prime cricket season when they're not having any cricket at all to watch - late August when God willing we might actually have some summer but 12 counties will be sat twiddling their thumbs.

Free entry to Bears members at Leicestershire remember for this comp. They've got a game tomorrow v Notts and the forecast isn't too bad

Think they'd be mad to get rid of or tinker too much with finals day. Likelihood is it'll be September again rather than June from 2025

Has to be the number one day of domestic and/or white ball cricket in the English season

Nothing the new unwanted format has thrown together comes close. I'd be loathe to lose that however I'd love a proper league played once per week next to the county championship like the old days of the Sunday league (doesn't have to be on Sundays) so you could announce a white ball League Champion maybe from combining seven 50 over games and ten T20 games and then use the T20 games to arrange 4 counties to contest finals day and use the 50-over games to determine two sides to contest the Lord's 50-over final

The Hundred is simply not fit for purpose and should be dispensed with immediately

One idea I saw on twitter that could be adapted.

2 division Blast

2 up 2 down each season

Women's franchise team stays with their host county at the test match ground whichever division they are in as there aren't yet enough women of sufficient quality to fill more than 8 or 9 sides (or so we keep being told)

They can then continue to have double headers at the test match venues whether the men's side is in division one or division two it won't matter

E.g. Birmingham Phoenix v Manchester Originals women's hundred or T20 backed by Warwickshire Bears v Northants Sticklebacks Blast Div 2 match

The women's franchise side can if they so wish request a move to a boutique county ground venue such as Taunton or Chelmsford if the players/coaches of that side think it'd benefit that team

Separate finals day for men and women

1 team from Div 2 + 3 teams from Div 1 qualify for men's finals day

Know what you mean but I don't mind that so much as it adds an extra layer of information you'd not get from bland BBC reporting and they are former players in the main or county cricket enthusiasts which is great. Listened to a podcast earlier today by Jarrod Kimber which suggested the ECB is naive to allow BBC a monopoly of test and ODI cricket in particular for radio comms and should do what they do in Australia and permit multiple broadcasters to commentate on each game over the audio frequencies. It'd help break down some of the barriers that still exist in terms of people accessing cricket if they didn't have to navigate the stuffy white ageing demographic the BBC caters for. There's nothing wrong with that demographic by the way but for cricket to be truly inclusive it could do with 2 or 3 alternative broadcasting options.

Very much agree. Warwickshire's has improved over last two seasons but still some way to go to get to this level.

Nothing better than winning a trophy.
Agree one or two positives to take out of the Royal London last couple of years - after it has disgracefully been hidden behind an inferior format - has been seeing some of the youngsters given a go particularly in 2021 and reasonable-ish crowds of 3-4,000 in the ground for the matches although I quite agree with a comment from one of last year's members forums - we don't pay our members subs to see 2nd XI cricket - and failing to qualify from the group stage has to be seen as overall a failure.

A serious county ought to be able to pivot at this stage of the season and actually target the one competition we are still able to win while looking at the remaining county championship matches - where we essentially have nothing to play for already - as opportunities to develop some of the younger guys in the middle order - certainly in the two home games

I'm not keen on what seems to be a strict formulaic approach to the three comp's we enter each season. Despite clearly prioritising T20 the last couple of seasons Warwickshire have failed in that format, did better than expected in the Championship 2021, underachieved in 2022 in all formats and have a middling record in the One Day Cup. This needs to improve this year we should at least target the Semi Finals

Haven't watched any of it.
I did watch a couple of games in the first season a women's game first week and the men's final on a laptop a few weeks later. Looked and sounded terrible. Last year all I saw were a few video clips on twitter. This year so far I've avoided even that. I'm treating it a bit like 'whamageddon' in December when you try for as long as possible not to hear that damn song each Xmas. I almost made it to Xmas Eve last year

Each of those problems can present themselves at test venues as well. Plenty of portaloos in operation up at old Trafford a couple of weeks back. Sight lines and viewing aren't 100% perfect at every test ground either, think of all the restricted view seating they offer at Lord's. Outgrounds are ideal for folks drifting in and out of a Championship fixture and having a rather pleasant extended lunch in the nearby town centre rather than being plonked in one's seat for 7-8 hours. This is what could be gained by having a fixture at a festival venue such as Stratford or rugby or if there was an ideal site within Coventry or north Warwickshire. Edgbaston great as it is when full (imho the best ground in the country when it's full) but when 9/10ths empty it really struggles to pull in the floating voter. Warwickshire could win loads more supporters by reaching out to the county or doing something oddly exciting like staging a home fixture at the seaside

Agree I hope we target winning this competition this season rather than use it as a development competition as we appeared to last couple of seasons. We have enough points to be able to use the final two home Championship fixtures in September as development games for a one or two of the youngsters

Short term up-front costs sure. But certainly no more costly than the sums ploughed into a fourth format nobody asked for or needed.

Long term the benefits if slightly intangible would be enormous. A championship fixture in Stratford every other season and a white ball fixture or two in Rugby during the in-between season should be achievable and desirable for most. Certainly worth sacrificing one Edgbaston fixture in order to allow prep for the test match and still have a home fixture in June/July rather than have to endure two thirds of our home fixtures shunted to April and September and the lack of any cohesiveness to a season that that generates.

When September arrives after this teo-thirds empty month for cricket we're into now it'll feel like a brand new season

Similar to what the blast found out pretty quickly.

More people have flown abroad this summer than did in 2022 and especially 2021. Particularly after the rotten July and mixed forcast for the rest of summer people have jetted off - amongst other factors. Central London was quiet on Monday, Brum seemed pretty quiet this afternoon

2021 had the novelty factor and was pretty much the first thing people were able to go and watch after being set free and allowed outside after the various Covid waves

The thing is haemorrhaging money and a realignment of the Blast/Hundred will take place from 2025 and not even the Sky deal that runs to 2028 is likely to prevent the ECB making the changes that are required to keep all 18 stakeholders happy. You just can't have the situation where Worcestershire only have 4 days cricket to offer their supporters in the entirity of August

People behind the scenes have had enough of das blundred despite all the positive spin. Even the participants know there is not long left for this format from conversations I've been privy to. What follows it has to satisfy all 18 counties

It seems ridiculous but given the lack of realistic alternatives might be one option to consider for the short term. How about roping off a park like they used to in Colchester? Is there any town nearby with such a facility? Anywhere in Sutton or Lichfield perhaps?

I thought Stratford was fine the two years we played there. Certainly just the job in terms of honeypot town. You'd get the right mix of cricket tragics from near and far and incidental visitors popping in for a peek.

What the hell happened here then?

https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/?tab=m_summary#m8fdd1358-59e5-4b2c-935d-008039dbdc48

Highveld wrote:

ECB regulations state that games should be played within the county, or at a venue with established links.

Kidderminster and Stourbridge are both in Worcestershire, so are not viable options, likewise I can't see Derbyshire agreeing to Warwickshire use their ground in Derby.

The only ground in Worcestershire that Warwickshire could legitimately use would be Barnt Green, which is a wonderful club ground, one of my favourites, and has an excellent wicket, however it does not have the facilities needed to host a first class or list A game.

Cleethorpes have hosted Notts, Sedburgh hosts rained off Lancs matches, Colwyn Bay and Aberystwyth hosts Glamorgan, Scarborough semi-regularly hosts Durham these days, even Yorkshire with all their facilities have played home matches in Derbyshire

As one off's to ease fixture congestion at Edgbaston Derby/New Road (which was slated to host a game in 2019) are viable options

England have 15 test matches in 2024 and yet there are still noises from within the ECB on about reducing the number of matches counties play. Seems illogical. Give county championship August back and outgrounds can flourish again

It is rather a pity that there is no viable option at present. Be lovely to have a town centre setting in a tourist honeypot like York somewhere within the county of Warwickshire. Just a shame that there is no such facility in Coventry, Warwick, Leamington, Rugby, Tamworth or Nuneaton.

One option would be to look outside the county. A location within easy reach via direct rail line and a town centre setting. Kidderminster would do for a one off. Maybe even Stourbridge or slightly out of town but Himley might suffice. Or how about further afield Derby or Banbury or Cheltenham or perhaps take a game to Brum on sea Weston-Super-Mare?. Trouble is it's not the 1980's anymore a fixture at Brum-on-sea wouldn't be the kind of pull it might've been 40 years ago.

I know Staffordshire CCC quite like using Himley for their minor county games and Banbury is an excellent minor county ground. These ideas wouldn't please or attract many spectators (unless scheduled for fixture versus Northants or Gloucestershire) but it might assist the ground staff at Edgbaston and may pave the way for a more regular slot within the county once Kenilworth's new ground for example is completed

Moeen and Woakes would improve the side in the same way Sibley and Burns availability have bolstered Surrey's. Unfortunately we're not going to get them back I don't think. We're starting to be affected to a similar extent to how Lancs are traditionally affected

Think part of our issue is the back up players particularly the batting are more white ball oriented than red. That's despite offloading Hose, Lamb and Pollock recently. We don't have that depth as a Championship squad. Again down to the schedule and prioritisation which seems to have shifted across the game to be fair but especially at Edgbaston.

I don't see a need for wholesale changes to the Championship squad but I think post season there will be significant changes and in leadership positions potentially. Won't happen but we could do with being safe with 2-3 games spare and then blood a couple of the youngsters from the 2nds. Promising to see Johal is close again and be nice to see Che Simmons on a flat deck for example but I'm thinking more of the middle order batters George Maddy, Kai Smith or the kids we've got who open Hamza and/or Amir might be worth a go down the order.

It's a huge step up which is why it'd be nice to be safe with a couple of games to go or (not likely to happen I guess) I'd prefer they scrapped relegation went back to 1 County Championship and we could blood these kids now - we ain't winning the title and it would be an opportune time to blood youngsters mid season rather than having to wait until late September exposing to gnarly pitches

Highveld wrote:

How many cricketing I Mohammed's are there?

This is the scorecard for the U18's game in Wales, which started on Monday https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/?tab=m_scorecard#m3eaa125a-4399-4d49-ac28-79b2a84c5949

SACA vs Warwickshire 2nd XI one dayer.
SACA 303/8
Ismail Mohammad 141*
Amazing knock from the young lad

BristolBear wrote:

In regards to out ground cricket I just think some places do it better than others. Scarborough is excellent, I’ve really enjoyed Cheltenham, Arundel and the old Whitgift festival in the past. Liverpool, Guildford and Merchant Taylors are really rather poor.

But equally, there are some grounds where what’s put on for fans during CC matches is shocking. Old Trafford is very inhospitable, almost everything closed, stands closed. Bristol not much better in my experience. Whereas the Oval, Hove and Chelmsford are very pleasant with full access, plenty of amenities or easy to walk down the road to grab a bite at lunch or tea.

Agree it's nigh on impossible to set one up from scratch. The legacy ones that have stood test of time are best. Colwyn Bay is sadly not used any longer. Agree about Hove and the Oval. I think Edgbaston is friendly and welcoming especially the personnel (it was good to see a few familiar Edgbaston based stewards up at Old Trafford helping out with their test match last week) who work there it can appear slightly drab in the background for a county match but I'd be happy to forgo one home fixture perhaps every other year to have use of an outground. Someone could spend a year setting it up and then repeat it the following year switching formats. They'd probably have to risk a One day Cup game first and then try a Championship game there the following year a bit like Yorkshire did when they set up their York fixture just before COVID

Part of the charm of outground cricket was/is the slight discomfort/alternative views

Of course with the scarcity of fixtures these days that presents issues. When you had 8 or 9 home championship games per season (and more than that before my time) an outground or two of festival cricket was viable for all counties.

Sadly it is a sign of the reductive and closed minded attitude of some administrators in our game that want to remove the counties altogether and replace with big city entities. Festival cricket was an important part of the branding of the game and widening it's appeal beyond the obsessives and towards the curious. It's absence directly leads to poorer crowds at county matches in general and dwindling memberships everywhere bar Surrey and Somerset. It mirrors the disappearence of the game from free to air, from our state schools and from coffee machine banter in the workplace.

Festival county cricket through the peak summer months or this futuristic 'demonstration sport level' of cricket this lot are trying to shove down our throats? Your choice.

I think a bit of discomfort ain't so bad