• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

Could promotion-relegation work between Division 2 and the Minor Counties Champions?

Dazinho

School Boy/Girl Captain
Given that the introduction of two divisions, promotion and relegation, has largely been a good thing in the county game, could the principle be extended to the bottom side in Division Two and whoever wins the Minor Counties Championship?

Appreciate the gap between the two leagues is pretty significant, but would incentivising the Minors increase interest/media coverage and help to bridge that gap?

It would effectively become a cricket equivalent of the Conference in football.

Automatic promotion/relegation took decades to be brought in and the old re-election system was pretty corrupt. Couldn't imagine league football without it now...

Thought appreciated - thanks.
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
The thing with county cricket is that, unlike football, the best players aren't all congested into the top teams. Even as it stands you can quite easily end up with a situation whereby the best player in county cricket, looking to force his way into the England side, ends up playing Division 2. That's far from ideal within itself without adding the possibility of such a player playing minor counties cricket which doesn't even have First Class status. He'd just move counties and you'd lose a lot of the continuity that makes county cricket easy to follow.

Beyond that, I'm not sure if a lot of minor counties would actually have the funds of the infrastructure to field a Division 2 side; most of them would probably decline the invitation.

I really like the English football pyramid, but I don't think it's work in cricket. There's too much of an obvious gap between First Class cricket and minor counties stuff.
 
Last edited:

flibbertyjibber

Request Your Custom Title Now!
No.

The minor counties simply couldn't afford to play in the championship and the majority of players who play minor county cricket wouldn't be available for a promoted side as they have jobs etc...

You'd end up with the squad that got relegated basically transferring to the promoted side to fill the squad up and do it as cheap as possible.
 

Cabinet96

Global Moderator
Yeah, I have to admit to not knowing how the minor counties work, but I imagine they only play on weekends? Them getting promoted wouldn't make them good enough to become professional cricketers.
 

Dazinho

School Boy/Girl Captain
The promoted side would benefit massively from the central money that is distributed to the first class sides, and afford for existing players to go full-time, or recruit professional players from other counties.

Perhaps a parachute payment, similar to that in football, could soften the blow for whoever is relegated.

Moreover, the fact that winning it would actually mean something creates media interest in the competition and therefore additional revenue, which would bridge that gap somewhat.

Over the 25 years since automatic promotion from the Conference was brought in, it has moved from being an entirely part-time league (promoted sides then go professional) to an almost entirely professional one.

The substantial difference is we don't have a huge history of Minor Counties sides scoring upsets in the Natwest Trophy, a la the FA Cup in football.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
Yeah, I have to admit to not knowing how the minor counties work, but I imagine they only play on weekends? Them getting promoted wouldn't make them good enough to become professional cricketers.
One of my mates in work played for Cheshire last year and had to take time off to do so
 

Dazinho

School Boy/Girl Captain
Ok - worst case the money would come by paying a couple of percent less to the 18 counties from the central pot. Parachute payment would basically be 50% of whatever is paid to sides in Division Two.

The three Leagues would be re-named as the Premiership, Championship and Conference, but negotiations remaining collective.

Aim would be that additional revenue could be raised to boost Conference prize money and close the (currently large) gap between the leagues.
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
Unless we're planning a revamped T20 league or flogging the England Test side into the ground, how exactly do you propose raising revenue? The First Class game in this country is completely unviable financially without being subsidised, diluting the money available to the counties, and the standard of the competition, is pointless.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
It's all very well speaking about raising additional revenue, but you're still not giving any example of how this could be achieved. You can't just pluck "additional revenue" out of thin air. I'd quite like to buy a house, but I very much doubt my bank would be particularly impressed if I walked in and proposed that I would pay for the mortgage out of "additional revenue" that I would later bring in.
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
It's all very well speaking about raising additional revenue, but you're still not giving any example of how this could be achieved. You can't just pluck "additional revenue" out of thin air. I'd quite like to buy a house, but I very much doubt my bank would be particularly impressed if I walked in and proposed that I would pay for the mortgage out of "additional revenue" that I would later bring in.
:laugh:

Love this post.
 

superkingdave

Hall of Fame Member
We need more geographical representation move Derbyshire to the Gower Coast, and start a new team in Western Scotland
 

Dazinho

School Boy/Girl Captain
We need more geographical representation move Derbyshire to the Gower Coast, and start a new team in Western Scotland
Many a serious point made in jest.

Fleshing it out in such a way as it works and keeps everyone happy would be difficult.

But there were two sports with contrasting ideas on this question that got me thinking - one is football (with promotion and relegation) and the other is rugby league (Super League being a closed shop with no meritocratic entry or exit).

Closed shops are never a good thing in competitive sport IMO.

The franchise system in RL has concentrated all of the media attention (and therefore revenue) within the Super League clubs. Nobody else gets a look in even if the same club dominates the second tier for several seasons in a row.

Promotion and relegation has transformed the championship in many ways, almost all of which have been positive.

Plus, the thought of 8th vs 9th in a last match Hereford vs Brighton style shootout would be epic, wouldn't it?
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
Again, that's all well and good, but you've not made any convincing argument as to how what you propose earlier in the thread might be financial viable, regardless of whether or not it'd be a good idea.
 

Dazinho

School Boy/Girl Captain
Again, that's all well and good, but you've not made any convincing argument as to how what you propose earlier in the thread might be financial viable, regardless of whether or not it'd be a good idea.
Fair point well made - I'd be pinning quite a bit of hope on the prospect of the Minors/Conference becoming a 'meaningful' league and therefore attracting greater media coverage. This could be used to increase the prize money, which would bridge the gap.

The parachute payment for the relegated team would have to come from the 18 counties taking a couple of per cent less, as a sort of insurance policy. Would the test ground county sides go for it? Unlikely - no argument there.
 

Top