Ex-ECB chairman calls for county cricket overhaul

[Twisted]

By your argument we should have more counties to make sure every half decent cricketer gets a chance. Why could Rushworth not have worked his way back it is not a closed shop. Your argument about Borthwick and Stoneman does not stand up they where outstanding teenage cricketers who would be earmarked as potential England players. They would be given every chance to prove themselves in a much more competetive system.
Comparing county cricket to premier league football is a nonsense, the football clubs make their own money and if there was no international football it would not effect their finance, county cricket is a charity which relies on England national team to make money for a massive handout every year.
AS i said in my first post it probably will not happen unless some counties actually go bust.

and by the same rational the england national team relies on the county game to produce top class circketers - which up until a few months ago we were doing well and no suddenly we are not producing good enough cricketers. nothing to do with the fact that all the players out there were more than good enough they just showed not guts or desire.

borthwick had been on the slide bowling wise and until we stuck him at three because we had no other option it looked like he would be out of the side, he has not bowled nearly as much recently. if we played in a condensed game would there have been such a need? stoneman was roundly derided by dccc fans for many years, if we had been able to afford it he would have been out of the side in favour of an overseas opener. rushworth worked his way back yes, but and lets work this out, 16 counties means 176 cricketers playing the county game as first choice, obviously add an extra few players per team to that, say 200 for a round number, if it was only 12 'counties' then 132, say 150 cricketers would he have worked his way back so easily? you say yes but it is pure guesswork.

i'm by no means saying there should be more counties but tbh i would be happy if there was. a world #1 test side is not the be all and end all, i would rather more cricketers in this country got an opportunity to play cricket, more fans got to enjoy the game and people like you [or the kentish/essex/sussex based equivalents] didn't see their side and all the history and tradition that goes with it destroyed.

ask yourself if you would be so blasé about this all if you were in somerset or sussex and it was your club that this berk wants to kill off

 

[wayne entwhistle no9]

Yes and have a look at the England side during this succesfull period and they are made up of player who did not learn their cricket in this country or the ones that where all played England u17 and u19 cricket as teenagers and where outstanding prospects.
As far as overseas players it is only you who has mentioned them as playing in a new system i have not.

 

[brandon]

When our players are low on confidence or out of form they should be playing for their counties to build it back up - it's such a no brainer. It'd also be helpful if the Test captain actually had some experience of captaining with his county first.

What the ECB can do is stop shuttling the players here, there and everywhere. One winter tour instead of faffing around with tons of pointless 20-20s or ODIs. What the fuck are we off to the West Indies for? Let the players get settled, have a rest and prepare for the summer.

This. Especially the pointless internationals. The international scheduling has been pretty f***ing awful for years IMO. It more or less started (for me) with that 'half series' against SA. It was 1 v 2 in the World and it wasn't even a proper 'Series'.

As for this Lord - I listened to the podcast while walking the dog the other day and I wanted to strangle the ****. Then Lamby came on and agreed with him. The County Championship is f***ing class, what's more - I'd rather watch Durham than England. Only slightly though. The thing is, what he's wanting, pretty much happens anyway IMO. The First Division is very competitive and generally attracts the best players. I'd also say that through 'natural selection ' the best counties have been identified - the ones that are in Division One! Although I'd never want to see any county go.

What I fail to get, is how fewer teams would produce better cricketers...... Surely the more players that get an opportunity to showcase their talent would mean better chance of the cream rising to the top??! On a Durham note - would Steve Harmison and Paul Collingwood have played for England had Durham been denied Forst a Class status?? I very much doubt it.

 

[wayne entwhistle no9]

This. Especially the pointless internationals. The international scheduling has been pretty f***ing awful for years IMO. It more or less started (for me) with that 'half series' against SA. It was 1 v 2 in the World and it wasn't even a proper 'Series'.

As for this Lord - I listened to the podcast while walking the dog the other day and I wanted to strangle the ****. Then Lamby came on and agreed with him. The County Championship is f***ing class, what's more - I'd rather watch Durham than England. Only slightly though. The thing is, what he's wanting, pretty much happens anyway IMO. The First Division is very competitive and generally attracts the best players. I'd also say that through 'natural selection ' the best counties have been identified - the ones that are in Division One! Although I'd never want to see any county go.

What I fail to get, is how fewer teams would produce better cricketers...... Surely the more players that get an opportunity to showcase their talent would mean better chance of the cream rising to the top??! On a Durham note - would Steve Harmison and Paul Collingwood have played for England had Durham been denied Forst a Class status?? I very much doubt it.

Remember it was the counties who where the stumbling block to Durham gaining first class cricket for years before they obtained it, and even when the old TCCB forced it through most counties where against it out of self interest. Durham minor counties side would have turned over a few first class counties in the 60s and 70s if those counties had to play only home produced players and had to play Durham in more than just the odd one day match. Thats because they have a much bigger catchment area than a lot of counties and a far higher standard of club cricket. If there was less counties the quality players would still play it is the likes of your Favourite Muchall who would be weeded out at a much earlier stage and the standard would be higher. Most counties are not able to produce enough quality players without importing players from abroad to play a high standard of first class cricket.

 

[Carteron]

I personally do feel County Cricket needs an overhaul, although I don't necessarily feel it has anything to do with the international side.

Looking at County Cricket more and more counties seem to be struggling financially, and the current model simply isn't viable. T20 papered over a lot of cracks over the last 10 years or so but now the crowds are dying off, we are seeing the original problems resurface. You just need to look at this years rebranded T20 competition, and the shifting of the less lucrative 4 day game away from the hot Friday night slot to see how important it is to them.

I think we have to accept that 4 day cricket is not going to pay any bills. Yes we might get a few more in on a Sunday for Day 1 of a game, but still we will be relying on Friday nights for the cash. I don't think fewer counties are the way to go either. People quote the Aussies having only a few sides but don't forget they have been rubbish for a few years, and nobody actually lives in the bits in between the larger cities over there!

For me I think the amount of cricket is key. We play a serious amount of 4 day cricket, and for me 16 games is too many. That is 64 days of cricket taken up in an already congested summer. I would like to see another 3 counties come in to make 21, with 3 leagues of 7. This spreads the word to another 3 counties who may like Durham lose a lot of local lads who could have gone on to great things. This also reduces the number of games to 12, freeing up 16 days per team.

Add to this your Friday T20, playing 12 group games, then maybe even expand the one day competition to 24 teams (including Scotland etc) so you can have 4 groups of 6, meaning only 10 1 day games each and I think we are in a much more manageable position.

 

[The Omega Man]

This! It should help things that the majority of Championship games from this upcoming season will be starting on a Sunday. Still not good enough though, the bulk of Championship games should be played Friday to Monday over the 6 week holidays.

Last season IIRC there was just 1 CC home game during the school holidays.[DOUBLEPOST=1390302391][/DOUBLEPOST]

I personally do feel County Cricket needs an overhaul, although I don't necessarily feel it has anything to do with the international side.

Looking at County Cricket more and more counties seem to be struggling financially, and the current model simply isn't viable. T20 papered over a lot of cracks over the last 10 years or so but now the crowds are dying off, we are seeing the original problems resurface. You just need to look at this years rebranded T20 competition, and the shifting of the less lucrative 4 day game away from the hot Friday night slot to see how important it is to them.

I think we have to accept that 4 day cricket is not going to pay any bills. Yes we might get a few more in on a Sunday for Day 1 of a game, but still we will be relying on Friday nights for the cash. I don't think fewer counties are the way to go either. People quote the Aussies having only a few sides but don't forget they have been rubbish for a few years, and nobody actually lives in the bits in between the larger cities over there!

For me I think the amount of cricket is key. We play a serious amount of 4 day cricket, and for me 16 games is too many. That is 64 days of cricket taken up in an already congested summer. I would like to see another 3 counties come in to make 21, with 3 leagues of 7. This spreads the word to another 3 counties who may like Durham lose a lot of local lads who could have gone on to great things. This also reduces the number of games to 12, freeing up 16 days per team.

Add to this your Friday T20, playing 12 group games, then maybe even expand the one day competition to 24 teams (including Scotland etc) so you can have 4 groups of 6, meaning only 10 1 day games each and I think we are in a much more manageable position.

The clubs are their own worst enemies. They are absolutely shite at marketing themselves.

 

[Randy Ostrich]

Clubs also get themselves into bother competing to host international games, not just through the costs of expanding grounds but the extortionate playments you then have to make to the ECB. Restructuring county cricket won't help but removing the greed from the top of the game just might.

 

[Twisted]

Clubs also get themselves into bother competing to host international games, not just through the costs of expanding grounds but the extortionate playments you then have to make to the ECB. Restructuring county cricket won't help but removing the greed from the top of the game just might.

aye, it is a complete farce when you have the situation last year, durham winning the chance to host an international match and saying no thanks on financial grounds