Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

English cricket continues it's transitional period from the last 12 months, this time at boardroom level where current chairman Giles Clarke is set to be President so he can represent the ECB at international level. His successor is widely tipped to be Yorkshire CCC Chairman Colin Graves, who is determined to revive English cricket at domestic and grassroots level.

Financially the ECB is on a sound footing - having a surplus of £25 Million in the bank, securing it's television rights until 2019 and hosting two major ICC tournaments in 2017 and 2019. Now there is a clear opportunity to resolve the challenges currently experiencing in county cricket and at grassroots level. Starting by reversing a decline of recreational participation in the sport, to ensure that the ECB does continue to receive government money. Followed by reviewing the domestic competitions, not least Twenty20 where England are lagging behind compared to Australia, India, South Africa and West Indies.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/con ... 21053.html

On the back of this, county Chief Executives are making their voices heard and want to get the wheels in motion.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/con ... 21157.html

Due to the domestic schedule being of a congested nature, there is a likelihood one of the domestic competitions is likely to be compromised in order for Twenty20 to become a commercial success. Whether it's streamlining the number of County Championship fixtures, starting the season in early April again, playing 50 over cricket in spring like Australia. Not everybody will be happy, but as someone from the ECB once said "You can have what you want when you want, but you can't have it all at once."

I'd rather see the 50 overs scaled down than lose any more CC games.

16 - of which most are played at the wrong times of the season - is bad enough.

I'm not entirely convinced that County Cricket has a future.

Devalue the domestic one day game any further than it already is and England will suffer in ODIs. Not a good advertisement when they are hosting the 2017 Champions Trophy and 2019 World Cup.

Playing County Championship matches in April and September is not necessarily a bad thing. The May weather is barely any better than April, whilst September weather is more than useable. Also those early (and late) season matches allow England players game time with their counties and a decent run of games for prospective England players to stake a place in the national team.

Expansion wise it's probably best for the three proposed Minor Counties to ply their trade in limited overs competitions to begin with before playing First Class Crricket. Currently the County Championship is not quite strong enough to support a 3rd Division, when there are teams in Division 2 who struggle to compete and reducing CC games to 12 devalues the competition.

Alviro Patterson wrote: Currently the County Championship is not quite strong enough to support a 3rd Division, when there are teams in Division 2 who struggle to compete and reducing CC games to 12 devalues the competition.

Leics might win a game though

If Sky were to pull their funding from English Cricket, then several of the counties would be a lon way up the creek with out a paddle in sight.

English cricket needs to focus on becoming financially viable if it is to have any future.

I think the ECB are really keen on a Franchise T20.

I don't know how it will work but I think it's gonna happen.

Aidan11 wrote:I think the ECB are really keen on a Franchise T20.

I don't know how it will work but I think it's gonna happen.

Going by what Surrey CEO Richard Gould has said in those cricinfo video interviews, any flagship Twenty20 tournament will involve all current counties with rebranding encouraged.

It makes sense to build on what Twenty20 in England currently has, rather than revamp the format and carbon copy other franchise tournaments. Every year county cricket gets bashed on the low crowds/average attendance argument, yet counties achieving capacity crowds and London/Roses rivalries attracting 15,000-25,000 crowds are rarely mentioned in a positive light. With better scheduling and wider levels of publicity, who knows what English Twenty20 can achieve.

Publicity is the key.

A decent England side helps too. As does showing them on terrestrial TV.

Any changes at domestic level need to be with the aim of making County cricket more or less self sufficient. English cricket simply can't continue to be propped up by Sky money.

That would mean the virtual death of the County Championship.

It may be considered to be an ageing relative on a life support machine but no true cricket fan wants it to die.

I don't see why that is the case, Aiden. Counties can't continue to opperate as loss leaders. The ECB can't continue to assume that there will always be Sky's money, if interest in cricket continues to fall then they're not going to be able to command a premium for international cricket.

One day cricket can provide the finance to cover LVCC cricket.

Realistically the only cricket format terrestrial television companies would like is Twenty20, a high tempo game and a result achieved inside 3 hours.

For terrestrial television companies to get maximum commercial value, they would like matches at peak time (i.e. during an evening). This means Twenty20 becomes top priority when it comes to fixture scheduling and all county grounds must be equipped with floodlights.

Terrestrial TV companies want longevity in a series, which effectively rules out 10 city franchise teams playing in a three week window. Two Divisions of 9 with promotion/relegation, played between July and August is a more favourable format.

Looks like the 4 day game is going to get shafted again.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/con ... 78297.html