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County Championship Reduction For 2026?


Glamorgan held their Members SGM into the future shape of county cricket at Sophia Gardens on Friday night.

Just 48 members attended, where 50 were needed to form a quorum, and thus no vote was taken, and the meeting was dissolved, as per the Club’s rules.

Nevertheless, a discussion took place for well over ninety minutes. Questions were asked by those members present about the merit of arranging a meeting for 1830 on day 4 of a Championship game, but it was pointed out that this was the only date and time that could be agreed upon by the person who collected the more than 200 signatures required to call a meeting and the club.

Among the points that I found most interesting:

It costs between £10,000 and £15,000 per day to stage a County Championship match at Sophia Gardens.

Membership contributes just 2% of the club’s annual income.

To quote from the Key Considerations listed in the club’s documentation:
“The players’ voice is getting louder and we must listen!”

The latest proposals from Lord’s are due to arrive on Monday, and the Glamorgan Board will meet on Monday night to consider them.
 
Next proposal dropping to 13s CC games with a complete mess deciding on how that will work.

Nobody will get relegated this year for starters. So hope for us yet :lol:


Past the paywall

 
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Honestly what an absolute shambles this is. Bostock mentioned making it more competitive with these changes yet here we are now they're just making it up and we might not even be relegated because of it.... Shambles
 
It costs between £10,000 and £15,000 per day to stage a County Championship match at Sophia Gardens.

Membership contributes just 2% of the club’s annual income.
WOW!!! thats really worrying, how on earth do counties survive that

id be interested to see what Durhams costs were, but no business can survive that
 
We seem to be fed loads of bullshit from cricket administrators.

Fewer games make it more competitive .
Kookaburra balls will make our future England players better at dealing with Australia in Oz.

Do they really think we will swallow this crap? They're an absolute joke. A smokescreen to bring more money into their bank balances.

Its just propaganda and were not falling for it. I just wish we could get rid of all these greedy bosses and replace them with genuine cricket lovers.
 
13 games would mean a 6/7 split on home/ away games presumably becoming 7/6 in alternative years.

Imagine next season we have just the 6 at home. The weather could disrupt games (remember last season our opening game at home was washed out entirely). Will the membership prices reduce? I doubt it.

There would have to be a pattern that works. For example the ECB would have to work out the home/away split for each team but dependent on which teams get promoted/relegated there might be a situation where one or more teams has to make do with the 7 away games.for two consecutive years.

I hope they have solutions to this problem. I bet they haven't even considered it.
 
WOW!!! thats really worrying, how on earth do counties survive that

id be interested to see what Durhams costs were, but no business can survive that
Great news for the investors in the 16.4.
Indeed-The agreement in the sell off is that investors claim 80% of any profit and ECB the remaining 20% . Given that these investors have an 8-4 majority over ECB on the Hundred board,clearly it's within their power to increase that discrepancy even further.
County gate receipts are irrelevant,as quoted for Glamorgan they represent 2% of their income which is probably not greatly different to all other counties revenue streams. The CC,however, is the nursery for test cricket which is by far the greatest revenue stream via gate,tv and sponsorship with overall turnover for ECB of £300m+. Of this £300m+, an un believable £250m is spent on ECB administrative employee costs,up from £91m as recent as 2017. Draw back these figures to 2017 levels and allow for inflation would still make a saving of > £100m. Allocate those savings to counties would give each county a further £5-6m on top of the current £3-4m
allocation.
Furthermore ECB allocated £2.6m on the marketing budget promoting the Hundred yet it still incurred losses Redirect that budget to the domestic T20 which has considerably less running costs and only a considerable profit margin would ensue.
But no, will the Franchise devotees continue to stick their heads in the sand,@Voice of fair play being the most vociferous or will they respond to address the above concerns.
Yet Bostock labels we members Luddites.
 
Next proposal dropping to 13s CC games with a complete mess deciding on how that will work.

Nobody will get relegated this year for starters. So hope for us yet :lol:


Past the paywall

This is why I don’t buy memberships anymore.
 
Let us consider the prime argument offered for a reduction in the cricketing schedule-i.e. Players'workload. The total number of days currently allocated to cricket is
CC 14x4=56
T2014x1=14
1D/H8x1=8
Grand total of 78 days but short form cricket lasts <4hrs and very few, if any, players will be involved in all games in all tournaments. Additionally very few,if any, players,will be actively involved throughout all 4 days of a CC game.The current cricket season is spread over 176 days.
That equates to a 3 day week,outdoors in generally pleasant conditions.
Mental and physical overload -tell that to the general workforce -either white or blue collar.
It's as hideous and fallacious argument as Franchise cricket being the saviour of the game.
 
Let us consider the prime argument offered for a reduction in the cricketing schedule-i.e. Players'workload. The total number of days currently allocated to cricket is
CC 14x4=56
T2014x1=14
1D/H8x1=8
Grand total of 78 days but short form cricket lasts <4hrs and very few, if any, players will be involved in all games in all tournaments. Additionally very few,if any, players,will be actively involved throughout all 4 days of a CC game.The current cricket season is spread over 176 days.
That equates to a 3 day week,outdoors in generally pleasant conditions.
Mental and physical overload -tell that to the general workforce -either white or blue collar.
It's as hideous and fallacious argument as Franchise cricket being the saviour of the game.
If they want to play less cricket, reduce their wages pro rata. Soft shites.
 
Let us consider the prime argument offered for a reduction in the cricketing schedule-i.e. Players'workload. The total number of days currently allocated to cricket is
CC 14x4=56
T2014x1=14
1D/H8x1=8
Grand total of 78 days but short form cricket lasts <4hrs and very few, if any, players will be involved in all games in all tournaments. Additionally very few,if any, players,will be actively involved throughout all 4 days of a CC game.The current cricket season is spread over 176 days.
That equates to a 3 day week,outdoors in generally pleasant conditions.
Mental and physical overload -tell that to the general workforce -either white or blue collar.
It's as hideous and fallacious argument as Franchise cricket being the saviour of the game.
I just looked at thd county season 1985 to compare as an example. You had the County Championship, Benson & Hedges cup, Natwest Trophy and Sunday League. I worked it out as 95 days of cricket as a minimum per team and that would also be more hours of cricket played e.g. 60 overs games vs 20 over games.

You could argue the game is more demanding now but fitness, nutrition etc is also much better.
 
Let us consider the prime argument offered for a reduction in the cricketing schedule-i.e. Players'workload. The total number of days currently allocated to cricket is
CC 14x4=56
T2014x1=14
1D/H8x1=8
Grand total of 78 days but short form cricket lasts <4hrs and very few, if any, players will be involved in all games in all tournaments. Additionally very few,if any, players,will be actively involved throughout all 4 days of a CC game.The current cricket season is spread over 176 days.
That equates to a 3 day week,outdoors in generally pleasant conditions.
Mental and physical overload -tell that to the general workforce -either white or blue collar.
It's as hideous and fallacious argument as Franchise cricket being the saviour of the game.
Imagine a worker on the production line at Nissan suggesting to management that the number of cars they are being asked to produce is affecting their health.

I suspect they'd be advised that they only work for a maximum of 78 days a year, possibly a couple extra if they do well. Pre-employment training will be provided annually, usually abroad, all expenses paid. They will only be asked to work outside when the weather is nice in spring/summer/winter. Some of the days work will be cancelled due to bad weather, some days won't happen because they made enough cars in the preceding 2/3 days. Almost half of the time they can sit on a balcony having a cup of tea and a laugh with their mates. In 14 of the days, your shift won't be longer than 75 minutes, it will be mainly standing in a field but you may be required to wave a bat around for a bit at some point. Your poor performance won't really ever lead to your contract being cancelled but you may not get asked back. You will be required to work at different locations but luxury coach travel and hotels will be provided at no cost to you. All meals/snacks during your employment time will be provided free of charge. You will receive free private health care. You will not need to provide your own uniform and you will receive more equipment than you reasonably need. Alternatively, get a real job.
 
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It appears that the required majority to elicit reduction will not be obtained. The response from Bostock and his 2 fellow CEOs on the committee recommending the reduction is to suggest that the players' union go on strike because of the impasse. Toys out of the pram reaction.😀
And they're running English cricket.
Or ruining English cricket?
 
Latest from the Cricketer newsletter.
It appears that the required majority to elicit reduction will not be obtained. The response from Bostock and his 2 fellow CEOs on the committee recommending the reduction is to suggest that the players' union go on strike because of the impasse. Toys out of the pram reaction.😀
And they're running English cricket.
Or ruining English cricket?

Let them go on strike, it won't be the members funding their wages whilst not playing will it? Obviously there'd be consequences for the county fan, but surely the strike would have to cover all formats?
 
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