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Post by flashblade on Feb 29, 2016 17:09:40 GMT
Is that the cue for a ruminative thread about first-class cricketers who played in glasses? The last one I can remember in county cricket, I think, was Neil Smith, who I seem to recall wearing them v early in his career before switching to contact lenses. And his father MJK before him, of course. Last In Test cricket for England ...Derek Pringle? Not counting the high-vis sunglasses they all seem to wear nowdays, of course...or the 'beer goggles' that Botham, Flintoff, Andrew Symonds etc were still wearing from the night before during many a pre-lunch session...allegedly...lol. on edit: And Hamilton-Brown, of course... I recall Boycott wearing specs in his early days. And David Steele.
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Post by hhsussex on Mar 7, 2016 8:39:03 GMT
Nick Hoult is Tweeting:
Meeting of county chairmen today. Expect 2 division T20 to be dropped, NAtwest Blast shifted to 2 block sin July/Aug,50 over comp will be played in April signalling phasing out of May Test matches
That obviously refers to 2017 onwards, so if true one of the drivers for this year has been changed in that there is no longer the absolute compulsion to get to the quarter-finals (at least) of the T20 Blast so as to be placed in Division 1 for next year. Shame about any counties that have bet the bank and a large amount of their cash deposits over and above budget on getting in a showstopper T20 player this year just to ensure the future....
Again, it sounds like another cock-eyed compromise in that nobody really wants the 50 over games now, least of all in chilly April when everyone is at work or school, except for the ECB who still cling to the notion that for success in international 50 over contests, that is the ones where the big money is, there has to be a hackneyed practice competition for the poor old county pros to trot around in. Hoult doesn't say so in these Tweets but , and again the magic If, that would suggest that the reduction of championship games is a stone cert in order to find space for this cavalcade of carthorses.
Of course, the really big factor in all this is the end of May Test matches. The quest for lucrative paydays with all those juicy hospitality packages, the merchandise opportunities, the additional sponsorship and the cascade effect for the lesser matches played on those grounds for the rest of the year has driven the economics of many counties over the last 20 years. The big boys - Lord's, The Oval, Headingley, Old Trafford, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge have all expanded and built up to take advantage of the cast-iron guarantee of some match, Test or white-ball , each year and Durham, Glamorgan, Hampshire, and now Somerset and Gloucester have been encouraged to spend, spend, spend so as to cash, cash, cash in on the oozing foam-flecked tide of easy money. Meanwhile every ticket sold for a day in May means a bit more in the ECB coffers for the non-TMGs to roll their eyes at. Where is the gravy-train going to stop?
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Post by moderator1 on Mar 7, 2016 9:35:32 GMT
Lizzie Ammon's take on what she thinks is likely to happen this morning. Interesting that she doesn't pick up on the demise of May Tests, as Nick Hoult has hypothesised, and given the opportunity to go on at greater length she has developed some interesting ideas about future (beyond 2019) city franchises, particularly in the revenue implications - compensation for counties - and the enhanced prospects for FTA broadcasting.
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Post by flashblade on Mar 7, 2016 9:50:03 GMT
That all sounds feasible. With the ECB, it's always 2 steps forward, 1 step back, isn't it?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2016 9:51:42 GMT
If true, then it seems that the interim phase of two divisions in T20 is to be dropped and we will move straight to the city franchise model in 2019, as Legside Lizzy tells us that "it is clear the winds of change are blowing strongly in favour" and the new TV deal in 2019 will provide the cash to compensate those who lose out such as Sussex and Kent.
A two division T20 was only ever intended by the ECB to be a stepping stone to city franchises and if it can be achieved in one bound, then that's fine by me.
But will there be 14 or 16 T20 games per side in 2017 and 2018? It appears that nobody is doubting that the reduction in the CC will go ahead. But will eight days less CC cricket be compensated by two additional T20 games at the group stage?
Anyway, it means Sussex can concentrate this season on being the one side that gets promoted from Div Two and I'm glad about that.
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Post by hhsussex on Mar 7, 2016 11:54:46 GMT
If true, then it seems that the interim phase of two divisions in T20 is to be dropped and we will move straight to the city franchise model in 2019, as Legside Lizzy tells us that "it is clear the winds of change are blowing strongly in favour" and the new TV deal in 2019 will provide the cash to compensate those who lose out such as Sussex and Kent. A two division T20 was only ever intended by the ECB to be a stepping stone to city franchises and if it can be achieved in one bound, then that's fine by me. But will there be 14 or 16 T20 games per side in 2017 and 2018? It appears that nobody is doubting that the reduction in the CC will go ahead. But will eight days less CC cricket be compensated by two additional T20 games at the group stage? Anyway, it means Sussex can concentrate this season on being the one side that gets promoted from Div Two and I'm glad about that.Agreed, that is going to be a tough race and we need to be focused on winning it. Anything else means mediocrity for the foreseeable future.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2016 12:35:18 GMT
It strikes me that one of the reasons the ECB may be quite happy to shelve the two divisions scheme is to save embarrassment later on when they push throuh the move to a city franchise league in 2019 or 2020. What if at the time of that change, we had two divisions and say, Sussex, Kent and Essex, were all in the top division?
It wouldn't make any difference and they would be excluded from the new super league regardless. But it would leave more than a little egg on the ECB's faces...
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Post by flashblade on Mar 7, 2016 13:29:20 GMT
It strikes me that one of the reasons the ECB may be quite happy to shelve the two divisions scheme is to save embarrassment later on when they push throuh the move to a city franchise league in 2019 or 2020. What if at the time of that change, we had two divisions and say, Sussex, Kent and Essex, were all in the top division? It wouldn't make any difference and they would be excluded from the new super league regardless. But it would leave more than a little egg on the ECB's faces... Agreed - I think I drew attention to this upthread. I also made the point that any promotion/relegation system would soon destabilise the cosy Div 1 setup. A City Franchise league ( a closed shop, in effect) would avoid egg deposits on those illustrious faces.
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Post by fraudster on Mar 7, 2016 17:32:24 GMT
Nick Hoult is Tweeting: Meeting of county chairmen today. Expect 2 division T20 to be dropped, NAtwest Blast shifted to 2 block sin July/Aug,50 over comp will be played in April signalling phasing out of May Test matches
That obviously refers to 2017 onwards, so if true one of the drivers for this year has been changed in that there is no longer the absolute compulsion to get to the quarter-finals (at least) of the T20 Blast so as to be placed in Division 1 for next year. Shame about any counties that have bet the bank and a large amount of their cash deposits over and above budget on getting in a showstopper T20 player this year just to ensure the future.... Again, it sounds like another cock-eyed compromise in that nobody really wants the 50 over games now, least of all in chilly April when everyone is at work or school, except for the ECB who still cling to the notion that for success in international 50 over contests, that is the ones where the big money is, there has to be a hackneyed practice competition for the poor old county pros to trot around in. Hoult doesn't say so in these Tweets but , and again the magic If, that would suggest that the reduction of championship games is a stone cert in order to find space for this cavalcade of carthorses. Of course, the really big factor in all this is the end of May Test matches. The quest for lucrative paydays with all those juicy hospitality packages, the merchandise opportunities, the additional sponsorship and the cascade effect for the lesser matches played on those grounds for the rest of the year has driven the economics of many counties over the last 20 years. The big boys - Lord's, The Oval, Headingley, Old Trafford, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge have all expanded and built up to take advantage of the cast-iron guarantee of some match, Test or white-ball , each year and Durham, Glamorgan, Hampshire, and now Somerset and Gloucester have been encouraged to spend, spend, spend so as to cash, cash, cash in on the oozing foam-flecked tide of easy money. Meanwhile every ticket sold for a day in May means a bit more in the ECB coffers for the non-TMGs to roll their eyes at. Where is the gravy-train going to stop? The B&H Cup in April as the season curtain raiser will be a master stroke of an idea, a real hum-dinger, no doubt. It would be fast and furious, wickets tumbling everywhere, batters just battering it before they get out, successfully too. When they finally get the scheduling right, the 50 over comp will be in its rightful place in April, being played in one block. Until then, it's a bit of a farce. The key to the whole schedule is, one word...blocks. Utter blocks.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2016 19:03:22 GMT
Ten counties are against a two division T20, according to Athers in the Times - apparently some of them TMGs scared they would end up in Div Two. Presumably they prefer to wait for for the full-blown city franchise league in 2/3 years time which will guarantee them a place at the top table in perpetuity.
Do we know if Sussex were one of the ten?
If today's meeting has gone as predicted, T20 in 2017 will return to the format it had in 2013, before the ill-thought out Friday night 'appointment to view'. Back to the future,eh?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2016 19:08:51 GMT
7pm tweet from Nick Hoult:
< ECB changes a short term compromise. Not much more they can do until Tv deal ends in 2019 when city T20 will happen...>
Sounds like Graves, Harrison and Strauss are relying on Sky Sports to throw its weight around in order to deliver the franchise competition they crave, when the tv revenues will be used to stifle the opposition of Sussex, Kent et al by stuffing their mouths with cash.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2016 19:42:54 GMT
Biggest changes for now are to the Specsavers County Championship.
1) 2015 turns out to have been the worst posssible season for Sussex to get relegated with only one going up. There's going to be a real scrap between Sussex, Worcs and Essex for the one promotion place - with may be even Kent in the mix, too after a bizarre interview with their CEO last week in which he said there had been a switch in emphasis and they were now going to start concentrating on success on the field rather than off it. 'Look out Div Two we weren't really trying before, but we will be this season' seemed to be the message.
2) Div Two is going to be very lopsised in 2017 with ten teams playing only 14 matches. If my maths is right that means there will be four counties whom each side will only play against once. Logic says you preserve your local derbies, so those you play twice will be your near neighbours, which probably gives a built-in advantange to the strongest side in the Leics/Northants/Derby axis and and a disadvantage to Sussex/Kent/Essex.
We are moving inexorably towards a divide in cricket as big as that between the Premier League and Chamopionship in football and Sussex are going to have to adjust accordingly.
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Post by joe on Mar 7, 2016 19:58:33 GMT
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Post by flashblade on Mar 7, 2016 20:12:53 GMT
Can someone please remind me why it is necessary to have 8 teams in the CC div 1 and 10 teams in div 2? There is no hidden franchise agenda in the CC, surely?
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Mar 7, 2016 21:45:33 GMT
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