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essex boy

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England have progressed because Englands cricketers are universally spared county cricket by and large meaning they are fresh for the rigours of test cricket.

Ultimately a three tier system with domestic cricketers aiming to get into the lucrative and sparesly populated top division of 3 (say 7 teams) would propel even more players into the test side.

In addition the gap between the top division and test cricket would be reduced
 

Some good ideas there by the looks of it, and expanding the championship to include some of the minor counties could be a good idea. Why not bring in Holland and Ireland as well? If ever there was a way to help take a step towards other European countries playing test cricket, this would be it. There is obviously an (albeit small) apetite for cricket in Holland and Ireland

The only worry about narrowing the gap between the top flight of domestic cricket and the test arena is making sure that it's done by the domestic game improving, not the test game deteriorating.
 
The idea of 3 divisions is interesting from a spectator point of view. Particularly if Scotland wanted to compete, surely it would help them to play more regularly in a competetive environment.

My worry is that it already looks as if the first division mainstays (Durham, Lancs, Somerset, Notts) are streets ahead of half of the second division. 11 years into the 2nd division format and it is starting to become like a Premiership and Championship gap where we see players such as Taylor and Broad leaving little old Leicestershire to enhance their England chances at a more fashionable county. You can't blame the players themselves for wanting to play at a higher level and improve, but I worry that we will see an almost breakaway type situation where the counties who get regular test matches (All first division sides funnily enough), completely overpower the likes of Leicestershire and Worcestershire who struggle with finances.

It's all been for the benefit of the England team IMO, and we have seen a lot of players hitting the ground running in terms of coming into the international stage, but it is imperitive we look after the county game. The fat cats may worry about crowds but it's simply not possible to play a 4 day game during the week and expect thousands there. It's the calender that probably needs most looking at, not the formats. The ECB have once again tried to load their pockets by playing 16 twenty20 games in an already congested season when for me the focus should be on providing the best 4 day cricket possible as generally the standard is pretty good, particularly in the first division.
 
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Durham were subject of some resistance prior to joining the CCC. Since our inclusion we have provided the likes of Brown, Colly, Harmy and Onions to the England side. If there is to be consideration for a 3 tier CCC I would advocate a County side from East Anglia and Devon / Cornwall. In time, this will promote the game in those areas and provide England cricketers. Throw in a University X1 and maybe Scotland and Ireland and it may be possible.
 
CHARLIE COROLE said:
Durham were subject of some resistance prior to joining the CCC. Since our inclusion we have provided the likes of Brown, Colly, Harmy and Onions to the England side. If there is to be consideration for a 3 tier CCC I would advocate a County side from East Anglia and Devon / Cornwall. In time, this will promote the game in those areas and provide England cricketers. Throw in a University X1 and maybe Scotland and Ireland and it may be possible.
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That's a bit of an understatement, the hoops they had to jump through was unreal.
 
The likes of Ravi Bopara shouldnt be playing div 2 cricket. Get rid of the foreigners from the game and promote our own
 
essex boy said:
The likes of Ravi Bopara shouldnt be playing div 2 cricket. Get rid of the foreigners from the game and promote our own
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The cream will always rise to the top. The overseas players raise the bar. See Benkenstein and the Durham local lads for a good example.
 
CHARLIE COROLE said:
The cream will always rise to the top. The overseas players raise the bar. See Benkenstein and the Durham local lads for a good example.
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We shouldnt be using up to 5 foreigners in a game to boost the standard.

div 1 should be the cream of the crop of mainly english players
 
CHARLIE COROLE said:
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Moot point.

How can you possibly ensure all the best players ply their trade in division 1 ?
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because the wages attract the talent, similar to PL how the cream play for top 4 clubs

County cricket doesnt produce quality test players, not flogging talent by using central contracts, having a savvy coach and being the best of a bad bunch has lead to our rise to number one

What happens when we play CL, Somerset never do anything of note
 
essex boy said:
because the wages attract the talent, similar to PL how the cream play for top 4 clubs

County cricket doesnt produce quality test players, not flogging talent by using central contracts, having a savvy coach and being the best of a bad bunch has lead to our rise to number one

What happens when we play CL, Somerset never do anything of note
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Well that would require a vigorous transfer dynamic and there are few signs that it could take off.

Would all the promising Yorkshire cricketers jump ship after their recent relegation ? I doubt that will ever happen.

What about Ravi ? Why has he not left the insular Essex to further his international claims ?
 
CHARLIE COROLE said:
Well that would require a vigorous transfer dynamic and there are few signs that it could take off.

Would all the promising Yorkshire cricketers jump ship after their recent relegation ? I doubt that will ever happen.

What about Ravi ? Why has he not left the insular Essex to further his international claims ?
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Yorkshire would be back in div 1 within a season.

Ravi is mentally soft. Where players would chose not to push themselves into div 1 says all you need to know about what they would be like facing Morkel and Steyn at the wanderers when we were 20 for 4
 
essex boy said:
Yorkshire would be back in div 1 within a season.

Ravi is mentally soft. Where players would chose not to push themselves into div 1 says all you need to know about what they would be like facing Morkel and Steyn at the wanderers when we were 20 for 4
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Why should he be playing in division 1 if he's not mentally strong enough to do so?
 
essex boy said:
thats my point. Weed out the weaklings.
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I agree, but you said this on the first page:

"The likes of Ravi Bopara shouldnt be playing div 2 cricket. Get rid of the foreigners from the game and promote our own"

I don't agree with getting rid of all of the foreigners, I don't think there's enough top class Englishmen/qualified players to have the 1st division at a high enough standard.
 
mikemanc said:
I agree, but you said this on the first page:

"The likes of Ravi Bopara shouldnt be playing div 2 cricket. Get rid of the foreigners from the game and promote our own"

I don't agree with getting rid of all of the foreigners, I don't think there's enough top class Englishmen/qualified players to have the 1st division at a high enough standard.
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Ravi international failings stem from being poorly prepared having learnt his trade on a very flat track against poor div 2 bowling attacks.

If he was playing div 1 cricket he would have been better prepared for internaional cricket. The talent is there in abundance
 
essex boy said:
Ravi international failings stem from being poorly prepared having learnt his trade on a very flat track against poor div 2 bowling attacks.

If he was playing div 1 cricket he would have been better prepared for internaional cricket. The talent is there in abundance
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The talent is there but I'm not sure him playing against better opposition would make a difference, might just mean he didn't do as well domestically. I'm not sure you can nurture that type of character, you've got it or you don't.

But overall I think we'd be better with a smaller group of higher quality players. Definitely need to allow foreigners into the game though. Apart from A team tours how would our batsmen ever face mystery spinners or someone like Malinga (I know he's played very little, if any, in England but it's a general point).
 
mikemanc said:
The talent is there but I'm not sure him playing against better opposition would make a difference, might just mean he didn't do as well domestically. I'm not sure you can nurture that type of character, you've got it or you don't.

But overall I think we'd be better with a smaller group of higher quality players. Definitely need to allow foreigners into the game though. Apart from A team tours how would our batsmen ever face mystery spinners or someone like Malinga (I know he's played very little, if any, in England but it's a general point).
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two foreigners per side
 
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