[Cricket] The Hundred

[KeegansHairPiece]

Given the counties overwhelmingly voted in favour of The Hundred (in exchange for large amounts of what is essentially their own money), it seems unreasonable to throw the "counties are too old fashioned and incapable of change for the good of the game" arguments at them.

Most of the counties do bring in big overseas players specifically for the T20, and the best England players will barely be available for the Hundred just as they've always been barely available for any of the domestic competitions.

There is no intrinsic reason why either the existing T20 Blast couldn't have been rejigged and better promoted in order to widen interest, or why a new competition couldn't have been based around the existing county set up.

The counties have always been rejigging the Blast, they've consigned the county championship to be finished by mid July, they've made unilateral decisions to suit themselves and not the game overall. The England Test side is the biggest cash cow of them all, but the counties are happy to consign the 4 day game to the fringes - a dangerous decision. The Blast is great, but it's not creating new cricket fans, and not having free to air cricket has been harming for too long. If there is no intrinsic reason why the Blast couldn't be re-jigged or better promoted, why hasn't it, the counties have control over the county fixtures etc.

 

[de la zouch]

I seem to recall a lot of this same talk when t20 launched., how did that go?

I stick with my point and add that much of the hatred seems to stem from the fact that the “local” team is not based in Sussex. As a Sussex supporter who lives a long way from home I have not had to overcome this inconvenience.!

By the way go read the plethora of “death of cricket” articles when the ecb had the temerity to launch t20!!!
QUOTE=Braggfan;9939479]I dont think it's snobbery at all.

For me, the The Hundred epitomises the incompetence of the ECB. They've dropped the ball with our domestic T20 competition and have seen it fall way behind the IPL and Big Bash. They're jealous of the "product" that these other competions have and want their own version. I don't really begrudge that desire. But if they wanted a "product" to rival those other competitions, its so clear that it needs to be shown on domestic tv if it's to get a large broad appeal and reach new fans.

Unfortunately the tv deals they've already struck mean they can't show the domestic T20. So their own incompetence put them in a situation where they can't have a big T20 competition like India or Australia. Instead they've had to create this bastardised version of cricket because they can show that on domestic tv. They have the gall to tell us that it's a great idea, when really its the only way they've been able to dig themselves out of the hole that their other crappy ideas dug for them.[/QUOTE]

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

But you have not provided a single reason this could not be the a reformed blast.

Clubs across many areas of the country have waiting lists for kids to join. Where are the new clubs going to spring up from to offer cricket to the kids?

People sneer at county cricket but isn’t it behind all the big innovations? Limited overs cricket? T20?

I wonder how many people watched cricket on the tv because it was the only sport on during the summer holiday? Now they have a squillion channels and obviously YouTube and online gaming with mates. I will be intrigued to see the viewing figures for this.

It would be good to have an explanation of why this couldn’t be done by changing t20 though. In what way are people from the south west supposed to engage with a welsh team? Which big names have not played the blast who will play the hundred?

The counties didn't want the blast reformed or changed. As said, they control the calendar for this, and they didn't want that touched. The ECB came up with T20 btw, not the counties, and the cricketing world was massively resistant to that too until it proved popular with viewing figures.

I don't know where you've got this statistic that participation in cricket is up, it's falling statistically at least both adult and children.

 

[Sid in the Sharknado]

The counties have always been rejigging the Blast, they've consigned the county championship to be finished by mid July, they've made unilateral decisions to suit themselves and not the game overall. The England Test side is the biggest cash cow of them all, but the counties are happy to consign the 4 day game to the fringes - a dangerous decision. The Blast is great, but it's not creating new cricket fans, and not having free to air cricket has been harming for too long. If there is no intrinsic reason why the Blast couldn't be re-jigged or better promoted, why hasn't it, the counties have control over the county fixtures etc.

The solution to not playing 4 day matches in the middle of the season is not to have another competition replcing the T20 blast in the same slot. It's a completely separate problem that is well within the ECBs power to change if they really wanted to. The fact is that if there's any aspiration at all for domestic cricket of any form to have popular appeal it has to occupy the prime summer months, and it will always be a challenge to fit championship matches into that.

If the ECB have anything approaching the game's best interests at heart, they've had a funny way of showing it over the last 20years.

 

[Pavilionaire]

The fact of the matter is test cricket is dying on its arse, and faced with this problem the ECB have instead created yet another new one-day competition with an even shorter format.

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

The solution to not playing 4 day matches in the middle of the season is not to have another competition replcing the T20 blast in the same slot. It's a completely separate problem that is well within the ECBs power to change if they really wanted to. The fact is that if there's any aspiration at all for domestic cricket of any form to have popular appeal it has to occupy the prime summer months, and it will always be a challenge to fit championship matches into that.

If the ECB have anything approaching the game's best interests at heart, they've had a funny way of showing it over the last 20years.

If it wasn't for the ECB and the England Test team, Test cricket and longer forms of the game may already have been dead. Make no mistake, around the world appetite for Test cricket is falling, and falling dramatically. The ECB effectively hold other countries to ransom that we'll only play shorter format series if they commit to tests.

The trouble is, this is why the counties clash with the ECB, it's never the bigger picture, the wider context of what is going on. If anything the ECB wants the county game to continue to nurture and produce the best quality long format players for the test side, and while it may seem like an attack, removing a shorter format out of the counties control, may well put their energies back into longer formats.

Time will tell, and the ECB gets many things wrong, the continued reliance of Sky one of them, but seriously, even before the pandemic, watching test series after test series played to empty grounds is heartbreaking, it's going to take more than just rejigging and tinkering to save it.

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

The fact of the matter is test cricket is dying on its arse, and faced with this problem the ECB have instead created yet another new one-day competition with an even shorter format.

I think the theory is a pathway for new fans to be attracted to the game and work their way in as their interest increases. It's a shame it has to be like that, but a quick, 2.5 hour game is like an after school cricket match, I think we played 12 or 15 overs each back in my youth, 20 overs as we got a bit older.

 

[Braggfan]

I seem to recall a lot of this same talk when t20 launched., how did that go?

I stick with my point and add that much of the hatred seems to stem from the fact that the “local” team is not based in Sussex. As a Sussex supporter who lives a long way from home I have not had to overcome this inconvenience.!

By the way go read the plethora of “death of cricket” articles when the ecb had the temerity to launch t20!!!
QUOTE=Braggfan;9939479]I dont think it's snobbery at all.

For me, the The Hundred epitomises the incompetence of the ECB. They've dropped the ball with our domestic T20 competition and have seen it fall way behind the IPL and Big Bash. They're jealous of the "product" that these other competions have and want their own version. I don't really begrudge that desire. But if they wanted a "product" to rival those other competitions, its so clear that it needs to be shown on domestic tv if it's to get a large broad appeal and reach new fans.

Unfortunately the tv deals they've already struck mean they can't show the domestic T20. So their own incompetence put them in a situation where they can't have a big T20 competition like India or Australia. Instead they've had to create this bastardised version of cricket because they can show that on domestic tv. They have the gall to tell us that it's a great idea, when really its the only way they've been able to dig themselves out of the hole that their other crappy ideas dug for them.

[/QUOTE]


How did T20 go? It's been a huge commercial success. BUT it's undisputable that its led to a decline in the longer format of the game. I don't need to go and read those articles you you refer to, because I've read some of them before and heard the arguments countless times, and they have a very valid point that T20 would fundamentally change the game, which it has. You might think for the better, but there are still plenty of fans who don't agree with that. So I don't really think you can use them as evidence to say those people were scare mongering and that everything worked out fine.

Secondly, I disagree that "much" of the hatred stems from their not being a local team. I wouldn't dispute that people feel left out by the franchises being based in other cities, but there are plenty of cricket fans living in cities who are hosting franchises that think its a crap idea. Far from being snobbery, I think reforming the counties into franchises is clearly and legitimatelly seen as a threat to the county game. And that upsets fans who can already see that its struggling.

All of that is before we even start on changing the rules that make up of the game. Which just comes across as gimmicky.

Personally I have no problem with the idea of attracting new fans, but I do object to the ECB redesigning the basic game to attract people who currently don't it. Why should the game be changed or simplified? The only changes I'd like to see, are of those clowns running the show.

 

[keaton]

The counties didn't want the blast reformed or changed. As said, they control the calendar for this, and they didn't want that touched. The ECB came up with T20 btw, not the counties, and the cricketing world was massively resistant to that too until it proved popular with viewing figures.

I don't know where you've got this statistic that participation in cricket is up, it's falling statistically at least both adult and children.

The ECB control the calendar. The counties and fans have been complaining for years about the poor scheduling of the T20 tournament and 4 day games in particular.

 

[keaton]

If it wasn't for the ECB and the England Test team, Test cricket and longer forms of the game may already have been dead. Make no mistake, around the world appetite for Test cricket is falling, and falling dramatically. The ECB effectively hold other countries to ransom that we'll only play shorter format series if they commit to tests.

The trouble is, this is why the counties clash with the ECB, it's never the bigger picture, the wider context of what is going on. If anything the ECB wants the county game to continue to nurture and produce the best quality long format players for the test side, and while it may seem like an attack, removing a shorter format out of the counties control, may well put their energies back into longer formats.

Time will tell, and the ECB gets many things wrong, the continued reliance of Sky one of them, but seriously, even before the pandemic, watching test series after test series played to empty grounds is heartbreaking, it's going to take more than just rejigging and tinkering to save it.

And if it wasn't for the county game and supporters the England team wouldn't have got to No1 and people wouldn't watch the England team on TV or at the grounds

 

[Pavilionaire]

I think the theory is a pathway for new fans to be attracted to the game and work their way in as their interest increases. It's a shame it has to be like that, but a quick, 2.5 hour game is like an after school cricket match, I think we played 12 or 15 overs each back in my youth, 20 overs as we got a bit older.

I cannot see how today's young generation with such a short attention span could progress from watching the 100 - where 300 runs will be scored in a couple of hours (mainly in 4s and 6s) and very few dot balls - to watching test cricket where attrition is the name of the game.

Never mind test cricket, I'm starting to fear for the future of the 50 over format.

 

[Sid in the Sharknado]

If it wasn't for the ECB and the England Test team, Test cricket and longer forms of the game may already have been dead. Make no mistake, around the world appetite for Test cricket is falling, and falling dramatically. The ECB effectively hold other countries to ransom that we'll only play shorter format series if they commit to tests.

If the ECB were remotely concerned with the health of the game there are plenty of better ways than forcing other countries to host test matches against their will. They could start by going back to sharing the costs/profits of tours between the two sides, rather than it all going on the host nation. The current distribution completely screws over the West Indies in particular, as well as any touring side who come to England.

But they won't do that, because they're only interested in lining their own pockets.

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

The ECB control the calendar. The counties and fans have been complaining for years about the poor scheduling of the T20 tournament and 4 day games in particular.

Yeah, an ECB board made up of the 18 county chairman, and since 2019 set up the CPA.

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

I cannot see how today's young generation with such a short attention span could progress from watching the 100 - where 300 runs will be scored in a couple of hours (mainly in 4s and 6s) and very few dot balls - to watching test cricket where attrition is the name of the game.

Never mind test cricket, I'm starting to fear for the future of the 50 over format.

I think every youngster that has ever picked up a bat or ball started by playing 10, 15, 20 over cricket. That is what you played at school, it's what you played in junior leagues. It didn't stop those youngsters growing up to love longer formats.

The issue isn't attention spans its Sky subscriptions. Kids today aren't watching Dominic Cork skittle a hattrick eating their Saturday lunch because they flicked on BBC1. Yeah, they might have far more choice, but at least the choice should be there. Who actually got to watch Stokes single handedly win an Ashes test? In 2005 it felt like the entire country was watching Vaughan's team win the Ashes, now it's a couple of million at best. These moments shape generations. Make heroes and legends, but enough people need to have seen it for that to be true.

 

[Simster]

Never mind test cricket, I'm starting to fear for the future of the 50 over format.

I don't see what the 50 over format offers anyway. Would it be remotely relevant if there wasn't a world cup in that format?

If I was running domestic cricket, I'd run 2 competitions only and I'd run them side by side over the duration of the season:

1) T20 - people will and do pay to watch this format live. i.e. a match completed in an evening after work, big hitting, athletic fielding = sold out crowds everywhere. As a result, TV companies would pay for rights.
2) County cricket - not a particularly easy sell in it's current format, but Test cricket will whither without it. Not enough is done about games fizzling out because of the weather, so I'd rather see fewer games and extra days provided. Make the standings mean something.



50 over and Hundred formats really can just do one.

 

[KeegansHairPiece]

I don't see what the 50 over format offers anyway. Would it be remotely relevant if there wasn't a world cup in that format?

If I was running domestic cricket, I'd run 2 competitions only and I'd run them side by side over the duration of the season:

1) T20 - people will and do pay to watch this format live. i.e. a match completed in an evening after work, big hitting, athletic fielding = sold out crowds everywhere. As a result, TV companies would pay for rights.
2) County cricket - not a particularly easy sell in it's current format, but Test cricket will whither without it. Not enough is done about games fizzling out because of the weather, so I'd rather see fewer games and extra days provided. Make the standings mean something.



50 over and Hundred formats really can just do one.

Sadly though, the rest of the world ODIs then T20s are their preferred format. Test cricket is withering regardless of what we do in the county format sadly.

Where I am with the ECBs thinking, is why counties need to be the sides that compete in all formats?

Take internationals, it's pretty much 3 seperate captains and squads for the 3 different international formats, treated as 3 distinct entities.

Why do the counties need to be the only teams that compete? Why not a County Championship, a City team T20 or Hundred, a Regional team OD format? So Sussex County Cricket Club compete only in the County Championship. Brighton Braves compete in the T20 / Hundred, The South East Seagulls compete in a OD competition playing around Kent and Sussex. I don't know.

But I personally don't think being wedded to county teams being the custodians of all formats is the way to go as they will always favour the profitable one, or where their success lies. They concentrate on the longer format. It all links up anyway, because the ground would still be the host for the other formats, so the money rolls in, just the entity running the team changes.

 

[de la zouch]

It might succeed, it might fail. We simply can’t predict this nor the impact on the fortunes of the England test team or county cricket. The doom mongering is just that and it is to be expected. As I said previously we had exactly the same doom mongers shouting about how t20 would kill the game, it didn’t! My favourite form of the sport is high quality international test cricket, I adore the sport, played to a very good standard and now enjoy my son following in my footsteps. He’s excited about the hundred so I am too. It is laughable that a format that hasn’t even started is already being blamed for some of the current short comings of the England test team

 

[Berty23]

The counties didn't want the blast reformed or changed. As said, they control the calendar for this, and they didn't want that touched. The ECB came up with T20 btw, not the counties, and the cricketing world was massively resistant to that too until it proved popular with viewing figures.

I don't know where you've got this statistic that participation in cricket is up, it's falling statistically at least both adult and children.

I didn’t give a stat did i? I am quite involved with cricket in the Midlands and loads of clubs here are oversubscribed. Clubs are folding due to lack of people to keep the grounds, selling pitches to housing developers etc. I don’t understand where all of these newly interested kids are supposed to go. That is ignoring the fact that most kid cricket has stopped now anyway due to school holidays and our leagues are finished because players go on holiday etc.

So is the idea that 7 year olds get excited about cricket and then can’t do it until April. Who remembers when they were 7? At that age the 6 week summer holiday felt like a lifetime so roll forward 8 months and will they be nagging parents to join cricket or back on the Xbox/playing football?

I don’t see the plan.

 

[Berty23]

It might succeed, it might fail. We simply can’t predict this nor the impact on the fortunes of the England test team or county cricket. The doom mongering is just that and it is to be expected. As I said previously we had exactly the same doom mongers shouting about how t20 would kill the game, it didn’t! My favourite form of the sport is high quality international test cricket, I adore the sport, played to a very good standard and now enjoy my son following in my footsteps. He’s excited about the hundred so I am too. It is laughable that a format that hasn’t even started is already being blamed for some of the current short comings of the England test team

This nonsense about people saying t20 would kill cricket has got to stop. It is just lies. Some traditionalists didn’t like it but it was completely different to this because it used existing teams and was just a shorter game. The moaning started when a game was rain affected and it was five overs. I seem to recall Ali brown kicking off about it being silly.

But please share all the negativity at the time - the internet was about at the time so please provide the links. All I remember is going to loads of matches and it being great fun. I don’t remember people saying it would kill counties but that is because they didn’t. They thought it could harm the first class game but that is completely different to a complete ripping up of the game’s structure by creating new teams.

Lots of people claim this is “exactly the same” as opposition to t20 but it is completely different.

 

[Berty23]

Sadly though, the rest of the world ODIs then T20s are their preferred format. Test cricket is withering regardless of what we do in the county format sadly.

Where I am with the ECBs thinking, is why counties need to be the sides that compete in all formats?

Take internationals, it's pretty much 3 seperate captains and squads for the 3 different international formats, treated as 3 distinct entities.

Why do the counties need to be the only teams that compete? Why not a County Championship, a City team T20 or Hundred, a Regional team OD format? So Sussex County Cricket Club compete only in the County Championship. Brighton Braves compete in the T20 / Hundred, The South East Seagulls compete in a OD competition playing around Kent and Sussex. I don't know.

But I personally don't think being wedded to county teams being the custodians of all formats is the way to go as they will always favour the profitable one, or where their success lies. They concentrate on the longer format. It all links up anyway, because the ground would still be the host for the other formats, so the money rolls in, just the entity running the team changes.

So who leads the development of youth cricketers? The England players don’t just appear - the majority come through county age groups. Counties obviously don’t make a profit from their age group cricket so if they can’t subsidise this where will the players come from?