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Post by coverpoint on Apr 26, 2018 17:11:45 GMT
What about putting all T20 games in April and September?
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Post by flashblade on Apr 26, 2018 17:23:04 GMT
What about putting all T20 games in April and September? April and September evenings tend to be a bit chilly. |
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Post by joe on Apr 26, 2018 17:56:07 GMT
What about putting all T20 games in April and September? Unfortunately cp the ‘hit and giggle’ is where the counties make the most money on ticket sales and food and drink so has to be played when the weather is more clement. I would suggest the answer is to get rid of the 50 over comp and play CC instead. |
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Post by herring on Apr 26, 2018 18:18:36 GMT
Whilst not my cup of tea, fully understand because of new spectators and money the importance of 20/20. However just cant understand the lack of interest shown by ECB and counties in marketing the great game of 4 day cricket. When do we ever see Sussex marketing 4 day game. All very well saying there is no interest but am sure with so many retired in this area a little marketing/offers would bring in hundreds of extra spectators. In years to come when those at the top are asked what they contributed they will say they they raised huge amount of money but will make no mention of how they ruined 4 day cricket
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Bazpan
2nd XI player
Posts: 191 
County club member: Kent
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Post by Bazpan on Apr 27, 2018 1:32:18 GMT
After his initial tentative reference to growing the game, this afternoon Eoin Morgan went all-in with The Hundred: "I'm a big fan of it ... When they came to the idea of the 100-ball scenario, I really enjoyed it". That's the kind of spirit we need for the new frontier, and nothing more than you'd expect from the pioneer of no-fear cricket.
"It's cricket at its simplest ... I think the biggest positive is that it is something different", Morgan added. Not that it's necessarily any cop, just that it's different. "I think the noise that it's created is brilliant". Well I like a bit of controversy and chaos, shock and dissent ... Makes life interesting. But here I'm just feeling patronised, like Morgan's telling me "You're confused and angry ... That's good. You need to be jolted out of your comfort zone". It's like being told in the early days that T20 was too scary and new for me to understand, just because I wasn't mad on it. I understood it perfectly well, and like many on here I'm sure, used to play it at club level long before it had a name. I just find it a bit boring and unnuanced. (Sometimes I'll watch an IPL game and think "If I ever see another six, I'll throw up").
It doesn't matter what I like. The IPL and BBL have become extremely successful by creating the circumstances (scheduling, marketing, razzamatazz, international stars, etc.) whereby existing cricket fans are augmented by large numbers of new spectators. Those tournaments are now regarded as serious, high-pressure, ultra-competitive cricket in a format that has now matured somewhat. It took a few years for people to realise that going for 7 an over wasn't merely acceptable economy - it made you the T20 Brian Langford. And that a batting side's failure to perform in a particular over could be measured by how many balls they didn't hit a 'maximum' off. The game is now quite well understood, quite finely calibrated. Followers now have a good sense of what represents a winning score, or just a defendable one. They know what a good innings or a good spell looks like. They have a sense of optimal tactics, and so on.
All along I've been assuming that City T20 was meant to be part of all this; that the ECB wanted their long-overdue seat at the top table of franchise T20. Our competition would be (as far as possible) as hyperbaric, as thoroughgoing, and as glamorous as the IPL. Fans and students of top-class T20 would thrill to our version of those other tournaments, and would view performances in that context. And vice versa. There'd be the scope for intuitive appreciation that is necessary for a sporting format to get its hooks into those who are expected to follow it and stick with it. Change the format, and you toss all that away. Some observers (though not many!) feel that a 20-ball disparity doesn't mean a lot. I suppose it means almost as much as the difference between 40- and 50-over cricket. The popular and lucrative Sunday League had to be sacrificed in the service of the 25% longer ODI format. So, er, make your minds up, I guess.
Post-Strauss, it's now widely accepted that the only people thicker than kids are their mums, but I must admit I'm feeling a bit slow on the uptake myself. I'm only now starting to realise (I think) that the 'new audience for cricket' that the ECB have in mind is largely intended to replace existing cricket fans, not augment them. With its context-free duration and its novelty rules for the distraction of imbeciles, what we're going to get is more akin to the 'critainment' of which Matthew Hayden has spoken in the past. It sounds like some cricket-themed funfair attraction, so frivolous that it only narrowly retained the LBW law, but which is somehow expected to lure the world's best exponents of rigorous short-form cricket. And not to be squeamish, this stuff is going to have to represent a decent betting proposition if the ECB are hoping for repeat custom from the overseas markets.
The whole thing is genuinely bewildering. Very funny, though. And fascinating to see how it all plays out. Will the ECB's egos permit them to drop The Hundred, or is it still, on reflection, what they really want?
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Post by coverpoint on Apr 29, 2018 5:48:13 GMT
What about putting all T20 games in April and September? Unfortunately cp the ‘hit and giggle’ is where the counties make the most money on ticket sales and food and drink so has to be played when the weather is more clement. I would suggest the answer is to get rid of the 50 over comp and play CC instead. People will come regardless of what the weather is like. They are just coming to get tanked up and are not really interested in the cricket! |
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Post by coverpoint on Apr 29, 2018 5:49:30 GMT
What about putting all T20 games in April and September? April and September evenings tend to be a bit chilly. And? It will be bloody stupid when the weather is gorgeous in June-August and there is no cricket thanks to the idiots at the ECB. |
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Post by flashblade on May 8, 2018 19:11:54 GMT
Summary of today's meeting between the ECB and the players' representaives: www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/23441301/there-no-competition-players-format-comes-questionPoints that struck me: 1. No England test players will be involved in the Hundred. 2. "The likes of Root and Stokes will be allocated to a team for marketing purposes, but they won't be playing. The ECB made the point that this new audience won't necessarily know who Stokes and Root are anyway." 3. The ECB now refer to The Hundred as a 'concept', now the players have reminded them that there will be no competition without the players' co-operation. The ECB's proposals are even more of a joke than they first appeared. I look forward to the next round of discussions . . . |
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Post by sussexforever on May 9, 2018 8:34:35 GMT
It actually gets worse with every update which I did not think was possible. You might as well get Beyonce & Ed Sheeran to promote it. I can just imagine a 'new audience' asking who those 2 are & then the follow up question being 'and where are they?'.
Daryl Mitchell doesn't seem behind it at all, thankfully. Do we know who the representative in the Sussex dressing room is?
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Post by Wicked Cricket on May 9, 2018 11:02:14 GMT
I am pleased that journo George Dobell has come out of overseas hiding. I am sure his lawyer won't be happy with his latest comments,
so let us see if the ECB go through with the legal threat or slink back under their rock.
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Post by Wicked Cricket on May 9, 2018 13:00:55 GMT
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Bazpan
2nd XI player
Posts: 191
County club member: Kent
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Post by Bazpan on May 9, 2018 13:12:11 GMT
This quote from Daryl Mitchell's report of the latest discussions is getting a lot of coverage: "The likes of Root and Stokes will be allocated to a team for marketing purposes, but they won't be playing. The ECB made the point that this new audience won't necessarily know who Stokes and Root are anyway". Aside from the bewildering logic, isn't there a risk that the Advertising Standards Agency will take an interest? Or will it be sufficient to just include a line of barely legible text saying "Not actual gameplay footage" or some such?
I can't access the full article, but The Times reported yesterday that the ECB's latest thinking is to divide the 100 balls into 50 consecutive deliveries from each end. This must be another time-saving measure for the broadcasters' benefit. Presumably the 10-ball over at the end is to be retained, since the ECB were pretending to be excited about this "fresh tactical dimension" that they'd cornered themselves into with the 100-ball format (I expect they considered finishing with a 4-ball over but decided a 10-ball over felt slightly less apologetic).
Unless there are to be some other novelty rules to accommodate the 2x50 format, it sounds as though there'll be 8.2 overs from one end, followed by 4 balls from the other end delivered by the bowler who bowled the last 2 balls from the first end so as to complete the 9th over, and then another 6 normal overs before the final 10-ball over which (if I remember rightly) can be shared between up to 3 bowlers. Just to keep it simple like, for the mums and kids.
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Post by philh on May 9, 2018 16:33:54 GMT
I'm having trouble restraining myself from making a post that comes up with the silliest rules possible for the new tournament. However, the ECB might be too tough an opponent for me as they seem to able to outwit me on that score.
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Post by kevininnessupersub on May 10, 2018 10:32:41 GMT
Let’s go for some real gimmicks for this new format.
Each team has a specialist batter, he does not bowl or field, likewise a bowler and 2 fielders.
The batting team picks an over, when all runs scored are doubled. This will help the kids with their 2 times table.
A straight 6 ,counts as 10 a 4 counts as 6. Allow a metre either side of the stumps. TV graphics can be used for this.
After 50 balls, have a 200 seconds drinks break. The countdown can be on the big screen, again teaching kids to count backwards.
If bowling team not ready, 10 runs to batting side.If batting team not ready, they lose 5 deliveries.
The toss is decided by a longest hit competition, 30 mins before the start, longest hitter decides bat or bowl. This will encourage people to get in the ground early and spend money on food and drink.
Do not forget when Grigy and Packer startted WSC, a lot of their ideas were considered mad and are now the norm.
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Bazpan
2nd XI player
Posts: 191
County club member: Kent
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Post by Bazpan on May 10, 2018 14:46:11 GMT
Some observers have noticed that the ECB, chastened by the near-universal derision for The Hundred, are starting to refer to it as a 'concept'. Actually it was always described as a concept, even in the beginning (three weeks ago). But the tone has changed. Initially this concept was presented quite grandly. There was an implied invitation to admire the vision and whatnot ...
"The 100-ball concept ... will now be further developed"
"We will continue to [show leadership, provide challenge and follow a process] as the concept evolves"
"it’s time to take the concept wider as we build the detail"
There was no 'might' or 'could' about it. This was definitely going to happen, and no uppity, entitled stakeholders were going to stop it, or even have a say in it.
"The competition will be based on the simple format of 100 balls for each team"
"Each team will face 15 traditional six-ball overs with an additional ten balls that add a fresh tactical dimension"
In their latest statement the ECB seem to have lost some of their swagger. The term 'concept' now seems to be performing a similar function to the phrase "just bouncing ideas around":-
"Today's meeting ... gave us constructive and valuable feedback on the 100-ball concept"
"It was invaluable to talk through the concept"
"This is a concept that we're discussing with the groups that matter the most"
The PCA's Daryl Mitchell has confirmed that the ECB "are very keen to stress that it is still a concept". At this point they don't seem very sure about it at all. They might be wishing that this Hundred thing would just go away, and perhaps all that they can now salvage from this episode would be the positive impression created by a willingness to listen to players, etc., and act accordingly. For that to happen, 'concept' would now have to mean 'passing fancy' rather than 'fait accompli'. ("You wanted transparency, so now we're having all our stupidest ideas in public").
Perhaps, like me, the ECB are starting to feel nostalgic for the good old days of City-based T20. Sure it would still have involved made-up teams with no geographical connections that meant anything, but at least it would have been proper T20 in the classical tradition. Still, it feels like a heavy thing for the ECB to do. Backing down and admitting they were wrong aren't things that come naturally to them. If they were to abandon The Hundred, they'd probably want to take their time over getting around to it.
In which case, Surrey might have put them in a bit of a tight spot with their offer to host a trial game of The Hundred in September. It took the ECB a fortnight to acknowledge Surrey's letter, and they've yet to decide whether to take them up on it. Rightly or wrongly, I sense a taunting, mischievous quality to Surrey's offer. Regardless, it would be perverse of the ECB to actively prefer not to road-test The Hundred at some point. That doesn't mean September at The Oval would necessarily be the way they'd want to do it, but if they decline Surrey's offer they might need to at least allude to some preferred programme of trials to seem credible. Right now, top ECB evasion experts are probably crafting a response that doesn't neutralise any exit strategies they may wish to deploy at some point. Not a letter that I'd want to have to write.
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