I can only see this appealing to those people who like cricket, but didn't grow up in a county with a team to follow. I've got a couple of friends like that who only follow international cricket. Otherwise I just don't see why anyone would follow another domestic team who only play in one tournament.
Sussex backing down on opposition to STUPID 20/20
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brakespear
Doctor Worm
I have to admit to not being totally averse to some T20 (primarily as it's about the only form of cricket I can watch on TV - and therein maybe lies part of the problem) but it dominbates the whole spectrum of cricket too much. All about the heavy bats, and not how good you are as a bowler, more whether you can bat a bit as well. Far prefer the long form of the game.
Marty McFly
Seagulls Over Canada
I'd rather an FA Cup style Twenty20 competition involving MORE teams, not less.
Yes it was, in fact I think it was the largest crowd ever for a county T20......Then ask me how many people were actually watching cricket , not many.
I think the danger is that the cash cow that could be T20 will quickly disappear after a wet cold summer, and the city types with their Carva in one hand and a Amuse bouche in the other hand will drift away and your left with empty grounds and sky TV . And the real art of cricket, building a innings on a tricky surface against a tricky attack as you try and save the match for a draw will be lost to batsmen, who look at their strike rate instead of runs scored.
but that doesn't meet the small band of elite T20 players demands for lucrative contracts.
Scotty Mac
New member
- Jul 13, 2003
- 24,405
Give me the chance to watch the London Leopards with the best T20 players on the world on show in front of 60,000 odd at Wembley or the Olympic Stadium at £10 a ticket and I'll be all over it
Having witnessed many league matches, with a handful of people, I'd say that this revenue is essential and not desirable, if you want a County club to remian solvent. Whether people wathc the match or not isn't relevant to many, I go to F1, Horse Racing, etc and don't always pay full attention to the goings on because I'm there to meet people, host people or have just got involved in a conversation by a bar, it happens in all sports. I'm not saying it's good for the 5 day game but it's essential for the Cricket Club finances.
It's a fair point, T20 is a good entry point for people who don't like / get bored by 'proper' cricket.
For the record (in case this thread gets linked and quoted as an example of what a load of reactionary old cricket duffers think about the modern game), I like T20. I prefer Test cricket but ultimately I like all forms of the game as they all showcase different aspects, and I accept that T20 has been a marvellous shot in the arm for the game.. However I'm a Sussex fan and I'm concerned for what this means for us smaller counties. Will the best T20 players just play in this franchise league and not for the traditional clubs? Will our 'local' club be in Southampton or Kennington? Will we in effect become a 2nd class county? I'm concerned that the English authorities have seen the big crowds in the big stadiums in India and Australia and have been blinded by the spectacle.
Mackenzie
Old Brightonian
From what I've read, it doesn't seem like Sussex had much of a choice.
Horrible concept. I quite liked 20/20 when it came out as a little side show but I've gone right off it. What is so wrong with traditional cricket? It's a wonderful sport.
Why do the youth of today need everything instantly and at a million miles an hour? Is their attention span so limited?
Why do the youth of today need everything instantly and at a million miles an hour? Is their attention span so limited?
Cheshire Cat
The most curious thing..
Might as well be watching baseball - it has all the subtlety of grown-up rounders.
I'm a traditionalist and prefer test cricket to any other form, but T20 has been keeping the counties afloat for years now. Sussex will have almost literally a handful watching a 4 day game, but will be at or close to sell-out for a Friday T20 on a warm evening. It's fast-food equivalent of cricket, and is as much a social thing for many - sure half the people there barely watch any of it. Done in 3 hours, you can have a beer at your seat and if you do watch there's plenty of action. It has it's place, will be interesting to see if the franchise game increases or decreases numbers. Not sure the county affiliation is such a big deal for this form of the game, people will still go anyway. It's a night out more than a partisan supporting thing.
YES. If they can't half engage whilst fiddling with their smart phone they're not interested.
My generation - born 1980 - that just about gets both sides of the coin will be the very last to see the relative merits in the long and short form of Cricket let alone any other sport that requires more than the attention span of an Amoeba to fathom what the funk is going on.
AlastairWatts
Active member
Asking existing county cricket clubs to support this is a little like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas. It also has the horrible aura of the (cricket) first class game scrabbling around for money. Seems to me that they'd do better to start some kind of 20/20 cup competition along the lines of the FA Cup into which even little village teams could enter in qualifying rounds.Trouble is I have the uneasy feeling that cricket is also controlled by the same bunch who attracted criticism for the efforts with the FA Council a little while back.
I think a fair few people in India watch them tho.
This city based tournament will need to attract the biggest stars to succeed. Fans will have no real connection with either of the teams tho
Might as well be watching baseball - it has all the subtlety of grown-up rounders.
My point though is that County Cricket Clubs aren't awash with cash and many are financially at risk, threrefore if T20, big bash, etc draw such large crowds and gain larger TV revenues I guess they have to follow this to survive.
Franchise T20 cricket is successful throughout the world. 75K+ at MCG in BBL. Average crowds of 50K plus in the IPL.
Provided the money is there to attract the best players in the world and we get our pitches sorted out (120/130 scores in the Blast doesn't make for much entertainment) it could be huge. If the mens franchise T20 is run alongside the womens comp (as with BBL) it gives more exposure to the womens game too. (And credit to Clare Connor who showed the decaying blazers at Lords a thing or two by negotiating a TV deal for the Kia comp this year)
Like it or not, T20 is the future of cricket. It is what the paying punters want.
Provided the money is there to attract the best players in the world and we get our pitches sorted out (120/130 scores in the Blast doesn't make for much entertainment) it could be huge. If the mens franchise T20 is run alongside the womens comp (as with BBL) it gives more exposure to the womens game too. (And credit to Clare Connor who showed the decaying blazers at Lords a thing or two by negotiating a TV deal for the Kia comp this year)
Like it or not, T20 is the future of cricket. It is what the paying punters want.