Northern Districts win the state competition

[Rik]

The 2nd Overseas Player will replace the weakest English player in the county - how's that going to make England weaker in the long run?

It'll increase standards in County Cricket, so it's surely a good thing?

Well where are you going to find a space for a promising young batsman if your team contains 2 overseas batsmen? Also look at Lancashire, they have signed a load of experianced English batsmen and are keeping Stuart Law...so what's going to happen to promising young batsmen like Chilton? Answer: They won't get a game! How can that be good for English cricket?

 

[Bazza]

I think a second overseas player wil strengthen England. When was theone overseas player rule brought in? 10 years ago or thereabouts? And how well have we fared since?

Mark Chilton isn't young is he?

 

[Rik]

I think a second overseas player wil strengthen England. When was theone overseas player rule brought in? 10 years ago or thereabouts? And how well have we fared since?

Mark Chilton isn't young is he?

Well he's not old is he? Also about the lack of success...what about Ray Illingworth? Don't you think he had something to do with that? Also look at the players England had in the mid 90s...the team was not as strong as it was in the late 80s so putting the results down to 2 overseas players is a bit rash! Also how can 2 players not qualified for England + all the EU Nationals in the CC taking up places that could be given to young players help English Cricket? We need more quality youngsters, we don't need to give batting and bowling practise to our rivals!

 

[marc71178]

A batsman that misses out will be the worst batsman in the side.

By your example, a side still has 4 English batsmen in their side, so the 5th best one is missing out.

Oh no, what a shame to see the 5th best batsman for anyshire not playing - he's not even in the top 50 English batsmen!

Also, a lot of the extra overseas pros will replace the England players who don't play much if any county cricket.

 

[Rik]

Well Marc...you don't like Rikki Clarke at Surrey but he's showing potential, and picking Azhar Mahmood will mean Clarke misses out! So how can that be good for English Cricket?

I feel we have enough overseas players already, because we have 18 (1 per county) then nearly every county has at least 2 EU Nationals...who arn't qualified for England...

And also the 5th batsman would usually be a young up and coming player

 

[marc71178]

But what about Clarke learning from the overseas pro?

The only way to improve these players is to not make it so easy for them.

Increased competition for places is a definite way to make it harder for them.

 

[Rik]

But what about Clarke learning from the overseas pro?

The only way to improve these players is to not make it so easy for them.

Increased competition for places is a definite way to make it harder for them.

What about Mahmood taking Clarke's place in the team? Then the only country to benefit is Pakistan, not England.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Interesting diverson off the topic, but hey...

If Clarke's not good enough to get in those nine other places then why should England care? His bowling, to be fair, is little better than Mark Butcher or Marcus Trescothick, and it's as a batsman where his merit lies.

A second overseas player will be good for the county game, if only to finally dump some of the journeymen that still stick about. County players need some testing.

 

[marc71178]

If Clarke's not good enough to get in those nine other places then why should England care?

Exactly the point I was trying to make.

2 overseas leaves 9 other places.

 

[anzac]

still off topic but couldn't resist.........

still too many bloody teams with too many mediocre players playing too much mediocre cricket (and being paid to do so)!!!!!

reduce the number of teams and matches played - make the buggers work for their keep!!!!!!

 

[anzac]

on topic.....

congrads to ND - my home province

 

[Tim]

Northern were very inconsistent in the prelims & i thought were fortunate to sneak in ahead of Canterbury & especially Otago who played very well up until the last 3 rounds.

However the 3 most important games they played in they won (win over CD to get them into the semi's, win over Wellington in semi & win over Auckland in final) so I guess you have to congratulate them for that.

Alot of their success came down to the fact that Ian Butler really did start to quicken up in the last couple of rounds & bowled several spells of vicious pace.

 

[Rik]

still off topic but couldn't resist.........

still too many bloody teams with too many mediocre players playing too much mediocre cricket (and being paid to do so)!!!!!

reduce the number of teams and matches played - make the buggers work for their keep!!!!!!

And I can't resist either...

Every league in the world has weak players, just because Australia have a strong International side doesn't mean they haven't got poor cricketers in their Domestic teams!

And about the 2 overseas players...I know of no other league in the world which would allow 2 players who are not qualified to play for the country, to get experiance and then use it when they play against the national team. Actually...most leagues around the world don't have overseas players, so why should we?

 

[Neil Pickup]

And I can't resist either...

Every league in the world has weak players, just because Australia have a strong International side doesn't mean they haven't got poor cricketers in their Domestic teams!

Name them.

And about the 2 overseas players...I know of no other league in the world which would allow 2 players who are not qualified to play for the country, to get experiance and then use it when they play against the national team. Actually...most leagues around the world don't have overseas players, so why should we?

How many other leagues in the world are so bloated with under-performing, past-it or talentless wastes of space?

 

[Rik]

Name them.


How many other leagues in the world are so bloated with under-performing, past-it or talentless wastes of space?

Bangladesh...India...Pakistan...

 

[hourn]

still off topic but couldn't resist.........

still too many bloody teams with too many mediocre players playing too much mediocre cricket (and being paid to do so)!!!!!

reduce the number of teams and matches played - make the buggers work for their keep!!!!!!

EXACTLY MY POINT!!

theres a simple rule when it comes to IT and it can be used in just about every facade of life. BS in, BS out.

Yes, there are probably a number of players in the Australian domestic competition who struggle at that standard, but there aren't many and those who do struggle don't get a run.

To put it more simply, there are very few FC cricketers in Australia who are not capable of pushing for a test position, and while a player is still capable of pushing for a test spot, then he is not wasting resources.

The problem the English cricket has is there are a number of players who no longer (or never had in the first place) the ability to push for a test spot, and hence they are wasting resources.

just because Australia have a strong International side doesn't mean they haven't got poor cricketers in their Domestic teams!

as i said, there are a few players who i think are wasting space, but not many.

 

[Rik]

as i said, there are a few players who i think are wasting space, but not many.

Yeah cause they all get dumped down to Grade level.

 

[hourn]

Yeah cause they all get dumped down to Grade level.

shouldn't that be what happens?

 

[chris.hinton]

There is simply a lot of cricketers who are not good enough yet picking up salaries for Englaish Cricket and stopping the youngsters Progressing.

Warwickshire for example have 33 professionals on there staff whilst Worcester have 17, there has got to be a Balance between this. Perhaps 6 regional sides would do the trick.

 

[Rik]

There is simply a lot of cricketers who are not good enough yet picking up salaries for Englaish Cricket and stopping the youngsters Progressing.

Warwickshire for example have 33 professionals on there staff whilst Worcester have 17, there has got to be a Balance between this. Perhaps 6 regional sides would do the trick.

And about 30 of them would walk straight into the Worcestershire 1st XI...:rolleyes: