Why does Everyone in England Hate May Tests?

[Uppercut]

Hampshire for no particular reason (just always have), and as a second side Lancashire, for proximity reasons.

 

[zaremba]

Well I suppose one of those clubs has a Test Match ground...

 

[Uppercut]

Bangladesh are being hosted next May, less than a mile from my Manchester home I'll have you know.

I'll have to try making the journey across the treacherous mountains into Mordor Yorkshire for the Pakistan-Australia test next year.

 

[GIMH]

If tix are cheap I'll consider that one as well

 

[superkingdave]

Not sure I will with these visa restrictions they are bringing in.

Already having enough trouble getting the money back off them for this year's debacle, mind you its not like they haven't got a reputation...

 

[GIMH]

My Edgbaston refund only came through yesterday, 14 days over the 30-day promise

 

[four_or_six]

Bangladesh are being hosted next May, less than a mile from my Manchester home I'll have you know.

I'll have to try making the journey across the treacherous mountains into Mordor Yorkshire for the Pakistan-Australia test next year.

Yeah, Pak-Aus is top of my wish-list for matches next year. Should be awesome.

 

[Richard]

and it is bi ... ttt . . .e . .rrr . .ly co . . . lll . . .ddd too

Funny thing is that on both of the occasions Sri Lanka have toured England since the introduction of May Tests the sun has shone brightly on the international season's opening day and the batting side has made hay (Atapattu and Jayawardene in 2002; Trescothick and Cook in 2006). Pretty much every other year it's been grey, drizzly and fairly (by UK standards; very by all other cricketing countries') cold.

 

[Richard]

This is what I think tbh. Went to county cricket on some glorious days in the middle of May.

A lot of the complaints aren't really related to the month of the year. England-Bangladesh is crap, correct. Two-test series are crap, correct. Test matches are usually of low quality, correct. The ODI series is better placed before the tests, correct.

Those are all problems independent of when they occur. I'll happily object to ****ty two-test series against Bangladesh, plagued by low-quality and followed by a pointless 7-match ODI series. Nothing to do with what time of the year this occurs.

A lot of the complaints are related to other issues, true - but I'd still be far from happy with an important four\five-match series starting in mid-May. It's not like May Tests are a non-issue.

As I say - for me the ideal UK summer schedule would be:
five-match ODI series from ~15 May - ~25 May;
three-match Test series from ~7 June - ~1 July;
five-match ODI series from ~6 July - ~16 July;
four-match Test series from ~30 July - ~5 September

Sadly that would need to include a couple of sets of back-to-back Tests (ideally I'd only like one set per summer). But I'm not hugely keen on playing less than 10 ODIs per summer and I honestly do prefer seven Tests to six.

 

[GIMH]

Quite like that schedule. A Test on my birthday would be a winner, for celebratory purposes.

 

[Richard]

Obviously it'd have to change a little according to which day of the week things fell on. But those'd be the dates which would form an approximation.