Cricket 2022

[Alistair20000]

Critical partnership for England with Root and Stokes putting on 45 so far.

Stokes very lucky that he was “out” to a no ball from CDG

 

[IndoMike]

Doesn't that argue for a change being made now though? The CC is lost amongst the shorter variants of the game. That is a money making genie that is not going to be put back in the bottle. It makes the clubs (T20 Blast) and ECB (The Hundred) too much money for them to consider it. Therefore you have to find space in the calendar where the focus is on the CC and not be punted to the start and end of the summer like it has been with poor pitches and conditions that do not do enough to make Test match standard players. This season has been scheduled a bit different but it won't produce answers for the Test side overnight.

It would be a great help if the T20 Blast reverted to a short, sharp competition as it was but the clubs want to milk it. The ECB want their little party with The Hundred after being left standing by the IPL. For the players there is a good career going in being a T20 specialist around the world these days if you don't get an England Central Contract. These things are not going to go away.

Change, whether you like it or not needs to happen or the long form of the game in this country will suffer. It's not like Australia, New Zealand and India have problems producing Test Match standard batsmen and they don't play loads of first class cricket in their own countries. So what are they doing that we don't?

I just don't see how playing only 10 county matches per season could help. Most teams have 2 squads : one for county champ'ship and one for limited overs, so I would have thought county Ch'ship players are not over-worked.
The problem is that if England cannot compete due to consistently bad batting, then interest in test match cricket - except in the Ashes, possibly - will die in England.
I agree, it's a conundrum, but it seems to me that limited overs in its various forms is diluting the game, including test cricket, which is really the core of the game.
However, I am aware that the counties need to make money to survive. The question is how to make county championship cricket more profitable.
Just to add, I have read that cricket is no longer played at many grammar schools/high schools and that it is no longer broadcast on terrestrial TV. This cannot be helpful;

 

[Alistair20000]

This is an argument that has been doing the rounds in County Cricket for as long as I can remember. Too many matches, not enough time to practice and prepare. All on the treadmill, broken fast bowlers turning into medium pacers, batsmen developing technical flaws with little time to work on their game away from the middle, etc. The premise of less quantity leading to more quality is an obvious argument. Three divisions of 6,6 and 7 teams with the better teams and players gravitating towards the top. It doesn't seem to hinder Australia consistantly developing test match talent with a ten game Sheffield Shield season.

The problem is that the above is the argument of the players and ex-players towards developing stronger competition, better players and therefore better players for England. For the clubs with eyes on the bottom line it is like turkeys voting for Christmas. For those fans who are traditional county championship fans it is kryptonite.

The whole county game is a three way battle between tradition, money and England. They all tend to pull in a different direction. As the MD of the England Cricket Team, Rob Key is always going to be looking for the best for England. That's his job. It's not surprising that his own and other players experiences will come in to play for what they think is the best way forward.

The whole county game schedule at the moment is a complete mess with players expected to switch between CC games, T20 Blast and then the 50 over competition later on with The Hundred in the middle. For any player who competes in all formats it is a grind. Rotation simply leads to dilution of talent. If anyone was to sit down and devise a cricketing summer, what you have now wouldn't be on the table.

Much of what you post sets out the problems Rosey. Not sure there are any right answers.

There is no substitution for playing real competitive games IMHO. Plenty of time to prepare with bowling and batting in the nets as the game progresses as well as in days between games.

Leaving aside the wretched Hundred* I don’t think there is too much cricket

14 matches of 4 days in the CC and they don’t all go the distance
8 matches of 1 day in the Royal London plus 3 maximum if the team gets to the KO stages
14 matches of 1 day in the T20 plus 2 maximum for QF and Finals Day

That’s 83 maximum compared with 96 in the old days when there were 32 x 3 day games = 96 days of cricket. As the RL has been dumbed down into a “development competition” a lot of the top line players don’t even rock up for it.

The CC first division needs to be cut to 8 teams each playing 14 games so there is a level playing field. Put the other 10 in League 2 playing 14 games and don’t worry they don’t play each other twice

There is a better allocation of matches to the summer months for the red ball game this year so we will need to see how that goes.

*Yes I know this turd is not going away

 

[Alistair20000]

To prove the point about the malign influence of rounders on the red ball game Ben Stokes gets himself out to a 1 day type shot.

 

[manc grecian]

Stokes out...advantage New Zealand

 

[Alistair20000]

Stokes out...advantage New Zealand

Yep with the long tail Joe Root is now key to this and Foakes needs to up his game.

 

[Rosencrantz]

Much of what you post sets out the problems Rosey. Not sure there are any right answers.

There is no substitution for playing real competitive games IMHO. Plenty of time to prepare with bowling and batting in the nets as the game progresses as well as in days between games.

Leaving aside the wretched Hundred* I don’t think there is too much cricket

14 matches of 4 days in the CC and they don’t all go the distance
8 matches of 1 day in the Royal London plus 3 maximum if the team gets to the KO stages
14 matches of 1 day in the T20 plus 2 maximum for QF and Finals Day

That’s 83 maximum compared with 96 in the old days when there were 32 x 3 day games = 96 days of cricket. As the RL has been dumbed down into a “development competition” a lot of the top line players don’t even rock up for it.

The CC first division needs to be cut to 8 teams each playing 14 games so there is a level playing field. Put the other 10 in League 2 playing 14 games and don’t worry they don’t play each other twice

There is a better allocation of matches to the summer months for the red ball game this year so we will need to see how that goes.

*Yes I know this turd is not going away

It is better than last season but still only four CC matches covering June/July/August with the April and May having six and September four. Answers are thin on the ground so I don't mind Rob Key thinking out of the box and aloud at times as nothing should be off the table as it is clearly not working for England at test level for the last few years, particularly batting wise. Our (few) genuine pace bowlers are all injured again which needs looking at. The pitches on the whole seem better this season which should encourage a step forward for our bowlers and give the batsmen a chance to feel in nick but the technical side does need to be looked at. Much of that will be coaching and net work.

My own suspicion is that our talented batsmen seem to catch the eye and be pushed towards the shorter forms. Looking at the choices for England's ODI and T20, they seem almost endless. It will be interesting to see what happens with what looks to be a talent in Harry Brook who is on fire in all forms at the moment.

Other countries don't seem to have the same extent of problem with their batsmen easily flitting between formats. But we have had a succession of world class white ball batsmen who don't do it at Test level. Morgan, Buttler, Roy, Hales and you can probably add Livingstone now although he hasn't had a chance at Tests.

 

[Greyhound]

Yep with the long tail Joe Root is now key to this and Foakes needs to up his game.

Very true - a lengthy tail, just like me. Pity Leachy isn't there to provide stickability. Still, 216 for 5 at stumps means we've made a game of it.

 

[Greyhound]

Joe Root reaches 100!

 

[Alistair20000]

Joe Root reaches 100!

and now wins the game