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Strongest First-Class Competition

Strongest First-Class Competition

  • West Indies Regional Four Day Competition

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Sri Lanka Premier League

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Logan Cup

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • National Cricket League of Bangladesh

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    42

Noble One

International Vice-Captain
Throughout the 1990's and 2000's it was rightfully claimed that the Sheffield Shield was the premier format of First-Class competition. The standard of cricket was high, it was tough to break into a state squad, and many regarded it as the perfect mix of team numbers and games played.

In recent seasons, it has become clearly obvious that the Sheffield Shield has experienced a significant decline in quality. The six state sides no longer have the depth of talent and the likes of James Faulkner (a modest left-arm seamer) can dominate the competition.

With the Sheffield Shield no longer the clear number one, which competition now holds the mantle of the strongest First-Class competition in the world? Have all competitions experienced a decline due to the decreased involvement of international players? Is a strong domestic structure still necessary to produce consistent World Class talent?

Vote away. Apologies if I have a local tournament named incorrectly.
 

fredfertang

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Probably wouldn't have gone for the CC even five years ago, and even now don't seek to suggest the second division is all that strong, but the top half dozen in Division one are very competitive
 

vcs

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The South African system seems to produce a lot of talent, so I'll go for them.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
I'd be whistling in the dark, really. We very rarely get any county championship stuff shown up here (Sky carries about two non-test FC games a season, one of which is sometimes a Loins game) and never any other countries' domestic games.

I'd guess logic would say the SS or the Currie Cup (or whatever it's called now) would be close tho. Fewer FC entities means a greater concentration of talent.
 

Cevno

Hall of Fame Member
Tough one this.

Do not really know what to rate the competitions against each other on.
 

Ikki

Hall of Fame Member
In the 90s and 00s it was a bit easy to say since SS was so ridiculously rich with talent. Nowadays I doubt that is still the case. Plenty of talent there but the Test team struggling leaves one to doubt it. Don't know enough about the others to honestly compare and vote.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
I suppose the dear old CC has a decent case too, now I think about it.

The majority of the last two dominant test nations (Windies and Oz) have at least been partly schooled in the CC. When they weren't terrifying test batsmen yer Ambroses and yer Walshes put in full shifts with Northants and Glous.

Even now our being in the EU means anyone with a European passport can play here as a "domestic" player. The rules over Kolpaks have (thankfully) been tightened, but we're powerless to stop the likes of Pothas (Greek passport), Di Venuto (Italian) or ten Doeschate (Dutch).
 

morgieb

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Shield is probably still #1. Too many gun Saffies don't play in their domestic comp, and the Pommy one is propped up by overseas players.
 

Borges

International Regular
Don't think there is anything much to debate over this. South African FC cricket is clearly well ahead of those in other parts of the world.
 

Athlai

Not Terrible
Indian stuff tbh, when they do those North Zone vs. South Zone style matches. Easily the highest quality.

The next tier down would be Saffa first divison, English first division and Aussie stuff.
 

Blaze 18

Banned
Not really sure about this one. Gut says Australia so SS has my vote.

Ranji Trophy has way too many teams which dilutes the quality.
 

Cevno

Hall of Fame Member
Indian stuff tbh, when they do those North Zone vs. South Zone style matches. Easily the highest quality.

The next tier down would be Saffa first divison, English first division and Aussie stuff.
The Duleep Trophy.

The standard is pretty good in that tournament and it is also a first class tournament,but still the primary competition is the RanjI Trophy.
 

Noble One

International Vice-Captain
It would be interesting to hear more about the impact of the IPL on the Indian first-class competition.

An expected outcome of having the best young cricketers in India exposed to some of the worlds best coaches, the wisdom of some of the worlds best cricketers and the pressure of playing in front of packed crowds would have a flow on effect into the Ranji Trophy.
 

vcs

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I think the IPL produces cricketers (basically batsmen!) that are generally more confident in their abilities (see the likes of Raina, Yusuf Pathan etc.), but it's hard to see how it would help groom cricketers' technical skills for the acid test of Test cricket.
 

Borges

International Regular
Indian stuff tbh, when they do those North Zone vs. South Zone style matches. Easily the highest quality.

The next tier down would be Saffa first divison, English first division and Aussie stuff.
Yeah, if you just take the Duleep Trophy part of Indian FC cricket (just the five zonal teams playing), it is the strongest FC tournament in the world. However, it consists of just a few games; a minuscule fraction of the total number of Indian FC games.

Indian FC cricket is primarily the Ranji Trophy, with twenty-seven teams and close to a hungred games. IPL notwithstanding, it remains the source of living for the majority of Indian professional cricketers. Also the biggest stage for aspiring players to showcase their talent - the Duleep Trophy is typically played by those who are already established.
 

Flem274*

123/5
I have nfi tbh.

On the Duleep Trophy: India has several rubbish test seamers, so wouldn't the seam bowling quality be a disappointment at lower levels? The spin and batting would be awesome, but how much would the seam bowling hamper the competition?
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
And yet some seam bowlers still amass pretty awesome records in the Duleep Trophy.

It's definitely the Duleep Trophy if it can be counted as a standalone entity; it certainly weights the highest in the CPL database for those who know that is. :p

The Shield is probably still second but I doubt there's much difference between it SuperSport these days at all. The top few counties are strong are would probably go well in the best competitions in the world but the lower end of Division 1 and Division 2 as a whole drag it down IMO; the mean standard overall would be lesser.
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
On the Duleep Trophy: India has several rubbish test seamers, so wouldn't the seam bowling quality be a disappointment at lower levels? The spin and batting would be awesome, but how much would the seam bowling hamper the competition?
It is difficult to say. The likes of Sreesanth, RP Singh, Unadkat, etc, do not take as many FC wickets as other seam bowlers who have less speed and therefore are not considered for Tests. These bowlers with less speed may perhaps get punished at Test level and would also be 'rubbish test seamers', but I feel it is worth noting that Sreesanth, RP Singh, et al. do not top domestic wicket takers lists. If you are looking for the top domestic seam performers in recent times, look at the likes of R Vinay Kumar in the IPL.
 

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