Leave the County Championship Alone

[fredfertang]

Plea to mods - I suspect that technically this might breach some rules - if so please give it some thought before closing the thread as the issue it raises is important to a number of us - Ta


Leave the county championship alone!


County Cricket in this country is facing a severe threat from the money men at the big grounds who are seeking to create a second IPL in the UK.

Currently they have made proposals to reduce the County Championship on the grounds that there is too much cricket played at the moment. The real reason to destroy the County Championship is to create space for more commercially driven 20 over rubbish.

The inevitable outcome of these proposals will be the demise of First Class 4 day cricket in this country and the death of great county cricket clubs like Sussex, Kent, Somerset and Derbyshire.

Please sign the petition and pass it on to anybody else who you think might be willing to sign it.

George Dobell the author of the petition is a young professional cricket writer who is exactly the right person to co-ordinate this effort.

If you are interested in keeping in touch with the debate and the associated issues please let me know.

After signing the petition you will be asked to make a donation to the website which hosts these petitions - this is entirely voluntary and there is no need to do so.

[Sir Alex]

The IPL reference is ill advised. There is no evidence that IPL has anyway affected Domestic cricket in India,

[Indipper]

They could scrap some of the OD cricket, no?

[Goughy]

Originally Posted by Indipper

They could scrap some of the OD cricket, no?

Or move back to 3 day cricket which a lot of wise old heads think produces better cricketers.

One thing is certain, IMO, is that the CC is essential and the centre of the British cricket calender.

[andyc]

Originally Posted by fredfertang

Plea to mods - I suspect that technically this might breach some rules - if so please give it some thought before closing the thread as the issue it raises is important to a number of us - Ta


Leave the county championship alone!

Nothing wrong with something like this, ftr. It's when someone signs up to the forum solely to spam that an issue arises

Anywho, can't see any reasoning behind three day games producing better players myself. What's the point in producing young talent for the Test team if they're suddenly going to have to bat and bowl for almost twice the time?

[Pothas]

Yeah agree about the 3 day thing but the county championship must be protected, hate the conferance idea.

[Goughy]

From the beginning I was in favour of 4 day cricket and have been firmly in favour until quite recently

Originally Posted by Goughy

4 day games bring more games to a natural conclusion and are far closer in length and tempo to test cricket than 3 day cricket is.

Now if Tests reverted back to uncovered wickets then Id be all for 3 day CC games on uncovered wickets but they haven't.

You obviously have to play a game most similar to the Test format. 3 day games are thankfully a thing of the past.

However, I think I was hasty and, dare I say it, wrong to take the lazy leap of 4 days is closer to 5 therefore better at preparing players for Test cricket. It isnt that simple and the 3-day argument has many advocates (Boycott, Fletcher, Appleyard etc) that know a lot about the sport and how players are developed and present points that Id not previously considered.

With everything there is a trade off and no system is perfect but the arguments for 3-day cricket are, IMO, strong. Im not suggesting 3-day cricket should be introduced next season but I think it should be considered. There is a great deal of merit to it, as there is also for 4-day cricket.

[vic_orthdox]

Are you saying three day cricket, and no covers?

[Goughy]

Originally Posted by vic_orthdox

Are you saying three day cricket, and no covers?

Nah, covers. The arguments for 3 day cricket seem counter intuative but within the context of County cricket make a lot of sense and are a little deeper than the obvious (and are well documented). Certainly enough to be discussed.

[andyc]

What's the benefit of 3 day games, Goughy? Just more rest for the players in between games?

[GingerFurball]

Originally Posted by andyc

What's the benefit of 3 day games, Goughy? Just more rest for the players in between games?

At a guess I'd say there's less time to win, so players have to try to seize the initiative in a game in order to win instead of letting the game meander along.

[marc71178]

Or more likely they'll end up agreeing a target.

[Autobahn]

Originally Posted by GingerFurball

At a guess I'd say there's less time to win, so players have to try to seize the initiative in a game in order to win instead of letting the game meander along.

You could argue that the bonus points being limited to a certain amount of overs in each of the first innings gives the players the incentive to kick on with the game.

[Jungle Jumbo]

Originally Posted by marc71178

Or more likely they'll end up agreeing a target.

It does all seem too contrived, looking back on old scorecards. There would have to be a significant incentive for risking a win or teams would end up settling for comfortable draws.

[andyc]

Originally Posted by GingerFurball

At a guess I'd say there's less time to win, so players have to try to seize the initiative in a game in order to win instead of letting the game meander along.

Same goes for one day cricket, but that doesn't prepare players for Tests. The closer the FC games are to Test cricket the better IMO.