Natwest Challenge

[Richard]

got to agree on this...these tournaments are a joke (This Natwest Challenge thing just isnt needed in my opinion.nor this Holland thing either..they are the ODI equivalent of a touring team playing vs some WA Country XI for warm up for the test series..th eresults dont mean anything and so I have to question why they are considered full blown ODI's) I would much prefer to see each country warming up vs the county teams.

maybe I am just being a bit stuck in the mud though

As Pratyush says, it all comes down to money - we can get a bit of extra cash here, so why not?
Why not? Because it's better for the game of cricket for you to be playing some proper stuff or resting before the really good stuff to make it even better.
Some players, and certainly some CBs, are wholly selfish.

 

[Swervy]

As Pratyush says, it all comes down to money - we can get a bit of extra cash here, so why not?
Why not? Because it's better for the game of cricket for you to be playing some proper stuff or resting before the really good stuff to make it even better.
Some players, and certainly some CBs, are wholly selfish.

yeah you are right..

and I am sure I read somewhere that the Dutch game gets no money whatsoever out of this tournament...now wouldnt it have been great if the 3 countries boards made some sort of gesture to the DUtch cricket board (or whatever it is), just to help with the further development in Holland..then I could see some good coming out of it.

 

[appiraj]

http://www.setanta.tv for webcast

 

[appiraj]

[No message]

 

[Richard]

yeah you are right..

and I am sure I read somewhere that the Dutch game gets no money whatsoever out of this tournament...now wouldnt it have been great if the 3 countries boards made some sort of gesture to the DUtch cricket board (or whatever it is), just to help with the further development in Holland..then I could see some good coming out of it.

The whole point of the Knockout\Champions Trophy (at whatever stage in it's evolution) was to raise cash for the minor nations. That's why it was first held in Bangladesh (Willis World Cup 1998\99), then Kenya (Knockout Trophy 2000\01).
Now the "warm-up tourneys" aren't even being used for that purpose.
And it seems, somewhere along the line, to have turned into the second biggest tournament The World knows. Not sure when that happened, but UIAVMM the last one didn't even manage to attract the crowds in Sri Lanka, where, to borrow Matthew Engel's phrase, "people will normally watch grass grow if you sell it to them as a 50-over grass-grow".