County Championship 2024

[sussexpob]

It might be the point of the experiment. Force bowlers to learn how to bowl with it. Now English conditions are very different to Aussie conditions, but perhaps the idea is that something will stick when England are touring overseas

This experiment is a bit like fitting snow chains to an F1 car driving around the Qatari desert in summer, and claiming that you are testing what its like to drive on snow and ice.

The Kookaburra ball is designed to be used on hard clay pitches. In the absence of any pace and bounce in the surface, all we are doing is training our batsman in the art of flogging medium paced trundlers on lifeless wickets that have nothing else. English pitches aren't quick and need lateral movement.... without lateral movemet, they are akin to 2000 era Asian pitches that dont turn.

I very much doubt the next Ashes series away will feel like batting at Grace Road in April vs Mike Salisbury...

I dont really expect anything more from Strauss the plank, mind.

[Durhamfootman]

no arguments from me

[sussexpob]

Messing around the with cricketing ecosystem of pitches and balls rarely has a positive effect on conditions. One only has to look at Australia, where a generation of lifeless drop in wickets in combination with a Kookaburra ball ended up producing all-time huge scores and journeyman 38 year olds liek Adam Voges registering the second best bat average in test cricket history. They then went to the Duke's ball that ended up ruining the impact of spin and much lower scores, then tried to doctor the drop in pitches to be more helpful and reverting back to the Kookaburra ball, and you ended up with matches like the NSW v Tasmania game a couple of months ago where 25 wickets fall under 2 sessions of cricket, and a few average bowlers end up looking like Holding and Roberts taking the new ball in the 1980s.

I have a feeling that dead tracks and the Dukes ball will be the standard future of test cricket, now that pitches in places like Australia and the Windies have become slower. Only SA really justifies the Kookaburra ball now, as it still produces uneven pitches with some life.

India and NZ players have been askng their boards to get the Duke in for ages. Virat Kohli was epsecially vocal about it. Last I read, India intended to move to the Duke's when their next ball contract comes for renewal, and once the BCCI shift, I think everyone will

[Arthur Crabtree]

Durham v Warks- 1100-9.

And Matthew Potts has a big ton!

[Durhamfootman]

Benco strikes twice quickly with the new ball to bring victory back into the equation

Price and Bracey were just 1 run short of a 200 partnership

[Arthur Crabtree]

Seems to be drifting to a draw.

[Durhamfootman]

Durham escape

[Durhamfootman]

6 matches have ended in a draw

Surrey have unsurprisingly left Sibley and Burns in the dressing room needing 209 runs in whatever time is left to win. 103-2 off 10 overs

Essex need 3 wickets to beat Kent

Yorks need 4 wickets

I never have any idea of how much time is left on day 4

[Durhamfootman]

So..... the ECB's brilliant idea.... play 18 matches very early in Spring with a funny ball.... end up with 17 draws and one win

heady stuff

I noticed the BBC in their live update thread were cumming in their pants at the prospect of Surrey perhaps chasing down 209 in not many overs. It's disappeared now, but it had things like 'championship cricket at its best' 'move over T20' etc

at its best?

really?

is that what you think?

the BBC do toady to the ECB.... along with 80% of the cricket writers who rely on being fed stories

[captaincolly]

According to The Times it's only the third time an entire round of matches- when all 18 teams were involved- were all draws.

[captaincolly]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/ ... ampionship

Rob Key thinks the games with the Kookaburra ball have been " fantastic" and wants to use it full time!

[Durhamfootman]

I don't believe he really thinks that. He just has to try and defend the indefensible. He wanted 7 rounds.... daft bollock

[DiligentDefence]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/16/kookaburra-rob-key-england-cricket-county-championship

Rob Key thinks the games with the Kookaburra ball have been " fantastic" and wants to use it full time!

He's clearly delusional if he thinks that the current round of games were fantastic. If he feels that bowlers do not develop sufficient skills when conditions and the ball are too much in their favour then surely the same applies to batters. There has to be a balance. The Kookaburra ball combined with slow, early season pitches and lush outfields was not conducive to good interesting cricket.

[Durhamfootman]

ah... but look at the number of runs scored

that they were eventually meaningless in 17 of the 18 matches scheduled is entirely beside the point. The last hour of the 4 day Surrey game was Championship cricket at its very best, according to the beeb.

pity about the other 23 hours

[sussexpob]

So, if I have understood Key correctly, we needed this trial in order to develop more skillful bowlers in unfriendly conditions, but by "skillful" he actually means bowlers just banging the ball into the middle of lifeless pitches as hard as fast as they can, because test cricket is about rewarding quicker bowlers?

Never do well in Australia bowling 80mph.... Glenn McGrath was rubbish, wasnt he? And I must have dreamed up the 10/11 win when Jimmy and Tim Bresnan, both tearaway quicks, dominated England's bowling effort.

Extra points to Key for insinuating two matches on crap pitches with a crap ball finally made it obvious that someone who has the lowest average in CC for many decades might actually be good...

Because nearly 300 wickets at 19 over the last few years really made me think Sam Cook was sh*t until this weekend.