Bears/Pears/Domestic Cricket Thread 2016

[Chris Jameson]

All came down to the last ball, been pacing the kitchen listening to the final few overs, superb advert for the long form game.

[paul_e]

And you'd do what about the rain and snow?

Nothing but that is exactly where the problem is with playing in April and Early May  and it doesn't really help the county game.  It's often too cold to sit and watch the entire thing, you get lots of gaps in play and you get too many draws which all combines to keep attendances down.  It's a shame that a big part of the best form of the game is relegated to these shitty parts of the season (I'm including the september matches as well but they're less of a problem) to accommodate T20 and limited over cricket.  Warwickshire, for example, had their first match start on the 10th of April and they'll finish with a match starting 20th of September.  But they'll go 4 weeks without a 4day game in late may-late June and then 3 weeks again late July-mid august.  I'd like to see something done to put more 4 day games into those nicer parts of the summer so that we see less draws caused by the weather.

[Chris Jameson]

I wish they'd play the T20 early in the season, get it out of the way whilst the weather is dodgy.

[cdbearsfan]

Never going to happen. It's a cash cow. I still think you could improve the game dramatically by having the option to reduce the game to an innings each if more than a day's play is lost.

[paul_e]

Never going to happen. It's a cash cow. I still think you could improve the game dramatically by having the option to reduce the game to an innings each if more than a day's play is lost.

I could go with that, I just think something needs to happen because I find the early part of the season to be a big waste of time where not much happens and the sensible teams are playing to get batting bonus points as their priority pace yourself for 3.5 an over, keep wickets in hand and after 100 overs throw your hands at it and try to get the 5.  By doing that you make the likely result a draw (once you account for the lost time) and you'd expect 2-3 bowling points so you're just ticking over at 11-12 points a game and giving yourself a chance later on.  Warwickshire have played it perfectly this year so far but it's not particularly satisfying.

[peter w]

Never going to happen. It's a cash cow. I still think you could improve the game dramatically by having the option to reduce the game to an innings each if more than a day's play is lost.

The big problem with that is that if any play has already happened the side batting second would be hugely favoured. However, if the side batting first batted in relatively good weather and then there were two days of inclement weather, the side batting second would behind the 8-Ball. For that reason I wouldn't go for it.

[junxs]

I've never understood why the county game is 4 days rather than 5.
They got rid of the very entertaining 40 over one day game because "it doesn't match international cricket" yet they stick with 4 days rather than 5 in the county championship.

Nearly every county game loses some time in the UK because of weather. If there was a 5th day like "International standards" we'd get a lot more results.

It doesn't seem like that long ago they were still playing 3 days let alone 4.

[Villan For Life]

I've never understood why the county game is 4 days rather than 5.
They got rid of the very entertaining 40 over one day game because "it doesn't match international cricket" yet they stick with 4 days rather than 5 in the county championship.

Nearly every county game loses some time in the UK because of weather. If there was a 5th day like "International standards" we'd get a lot more results.

It doesn't seem like that long ago they were still playing 3 days let alone 4.

The thing is most tests finish inside 4 days now anyway.

As others have said it's the re-arrangement of the fixtures to play the T20 on the warmer evenings to maximise revenue that's the cause. The non-test venue counties rely on the money that the T20 brings in and in some cases it keeps them in business.

[Whiney MacWhineface]

The IPL game today - the ground is covered (and I mean covered) in large insects. Ugh!

[Dave Cooper please]

The IPL game today - the ground is covered (and I mean covered) in large insects. Ugh!

Crickets?

[junxs]

I've never understood why the county game is 4 days rather than 5.
They got rid of the very entertaining 40 over one day game because "it doesn't match international cricket" yet they stick with 4 days rather than 5 in the county championship.

Nearly every county game loses some time in the UK because of weather. If there was a 5th day like "International standards" we'd get a lot more results.

It doesn't seem like that long ago they were still playing 3 days let alone 4.

The thing is most tests finish inside 4 days now anyway.

As others have said it's the re-arrangement of the fixtures to play the T20 on the warmer evenings to maximise revenue that's the cause. The non-test venue counties rely on the money that the T20 brings in and in some cases it keeps them in business.

That would have been true seasons past, but now with the clear structure of splitting the season into parts, I don't understand how that can still be the blocking factor.
Especially in the early part of the season with the weather being so bad. Surely 5 day games until the T20 starts (keeping the 50 over games to weekends) would be beneficial to all concerned, maybe drop down to 4 days when the T20 finishes if they have to.

They should have a reserve day for 50 over games too, I remember a few seasons back, we (bears) were due to play Scotland or Holland in a 50 over group game which was a guaranteed win but not a ball was bowled and the game was called off (awarding 2 points each), the next day was glorious weather and we didn't have a game for another few days. On the back of that we failed to qualify for the knock out stages, if memory serves correct we missed out on net run rate, but those extra 2 points would have meant we made it regardless of run rate.

[Villan For Life]

I've never understood why the county game is 4 days rather than 5.
They got rid of the very entertaining 40 over one day game because "it doesn't match international cricket" yet they stick with 4 days rather than 5 in the county championship.

Nearly every county game loses some time in the UK because of weather. If there was a 5th day like "International standards" we'd get a lot more results.

It doesn't seem like that long ago they were still playing 3 days let alone 4.

The thing is most tests finish inside 4 days now anyway.

As others have said it's the re-arrangement of the fixtures to play the T20 on the warmer evenings to maximise revenue that's the cause. The non-test venue counties rely on the money that the T20 brings in and in some cases it keeps them in business.

That would have been true seasons past, but now with the clear structure of splitting the season into parts, I don't understand how that can still be the blocking factor.
Especially in the early part of the season with the weather being so bad. Surely 5 day games until the T20 starts (keeping the 50 over games to weekends) would be beneficial to all concerned, maybe drop down to 4 days when the T20 finishes if they have to.

They should have a reserve day for 50 over games too, I remember a few seasons back, we (bears) were due to play Scotland or Holland in a 50 over group game which was a guaranteed win but not a ball was bowled and the game was called off (awarding 2 points each), the next day was glorious weather and we didn't have a game for another few days. On the back of that we failed to qualify for the knock out stages, if memory serves correct we missed out on net run rate, but those extra 2 points would have meant we made it regardless of run rate.

I don't think 5 day Championship cricket is the way forward. It will have the net effect of increasing overheads for the cash-strapped non-test counties. Northants came very close to going under a few months ago and were saved by the local council. It won't be long before a county goes under. You would also have to question how many games would last 5 days. To me, four day championship cricket has worked and as a result there are some strong sides in the top half of the first division.

[cdbearsfan]

Never going to happen. It's a cash cow. I still think you could improve the game dramatically by having the option to reduce the game to an innings each if more than a day's play is lost.

The big problem with that is that if any play has already happened the side batting second would be hugely favoured. However, if the side batting first batted in relatively good weather and then there were two days of inclement weather, the side batting second would behind the 8-Ball. For that reason I wouldn't go for it.

So you mean sometimes conditions would favour the side batting first, and sometimes they'd favour the side batting second? That sounds like every cricket match, ever.

I'd only bring it in if both captains agreed. Even if it did disadvantage one side, under the CC points system you'd be better off winning one and losing one than drawing two games anyway. Plus it would be better for the fans.

Not that they care about fans anyway, as the ludicrous decision to play all the matches from Sunday-Wednesday or from Monday-Thursday proves.

[ACVilla]

Somerset 118/4 against Warwickshire, Barker with 3 more wickets. He has got to be pushing for a test place soon surely.

Anyway, Westwood retains his place but he must be drinking in the last chance saloon.

[pooligan]

Decent enough day for the Bears to get Somerset out for less than 300 with their batting strength As for Westwood,yet again he has failed ,out for 3 .Just how bad does this guy have to be to be dropped ?