The International Cricket Thread

[Rory]

I’m claiming that one Rory….back at start of December :-)

Then you were bang on, sir!

312 over two innings in Hobart. Fucking shameful.

[Rory]

Just can’t see England getting anything over there, if Root doesn’t get a century (which he hasn’t done over there yet) I don’t see England getting 300+ in any innings

For the avoidance of doubt.

I hope you put a bet on, Gareth?

[Lastfootstamper]

Agnew is proposing a radical restructuring of the domestic red ball game as a solution. That's not going to change anything if our top players don't ever play in it, whatever shape it takes. Wasn't that little cameo from Woakes at the arse end of last season his first Championship games for the Bears since he was about 9?

[PaulWinch again]

I guess it’d work two ways. You structure it in such a way that enables the top players to play more. Although clearly they’re always going to miss games that overlap with Tests etc. But also by getting the structure right you develop more players who have better rounded games, ultimately meaning the players knocking on the door are of a higher quality - then inevitably they county game is higher quality.

At the moment there are too many games and too much focus on short-term returns. But counties and the ECB need to sort it. If England’s Test cricket dies - and it is in a really bad place - then the first class game dies and the other stuff will follow.

[Gareth]

Just can’t see England getting anything over there, if Root doesn’t get a century (which he hasn’t done over there yet) I don’t see England getting 300+ in any innings

For the avoidance of doubt.

I hope you put a bet on, Gareth?

Unfortunately not :-) though I suspect the odds wouldn’t have been great anyway

[Gareth]

Agnew is proposing a radical restructuring of the domestic red ball game as a solution. That's not going to change anything if our top players don't ever play in it, whatever shape it takes. Wasn't that little cameo from Woakes at the arse end of last season his first Championship games for the Bears since he was about 9?

He is another falling into the trap of heading towards franchise cricket - the solution is not just saying we are stuck with the Hundred - if true cricket fans don’t attend it or don’t watch it on TV the tourists will soon get bored and it will hopefully die on its arse.  T20 is the only shit & giggles format needed.

Start the season with 50 over comp group games, have a 3 week window early summer for Blast group games (double headers with womens game giving spectators more cricket) & a 3 division Couny Championship with promotion / relegation played over the summer months so the batsmen have a chance of actually batting rather than surviving against a moving ball.

[tomd2103]

I agree Gareth, but think there is and has been for some while, a case for a level of competition above the County Championship to be introduced and run alongside it, not replace it.

I don't like the idea of Franchise red ball cricket, but think regional cricket might be a better way to go.  6 regional teams from the 18 counties (Warks, Worcs and Northants would make the Central region) and schedule the games in the lead up to the test series.  Maybe try and include Scotland and Ireland and you could do it in two groups of four and every County in the region would get to host a game. 

Having a draft etc. for a red ball competition just sounds a bit rubbish.

[PaulWinch again]

What I hope is that through the passing of time between the conclusion of this series and the completion of this “review” there isn’t an appetite to rationalise this tour away. Make no mistake this is the exclamation point of an extended period of neglect and decline. We’ve been rubbish for a while, and this embarrassment of a tour is the just culmination of a long series of bad decisions. They have to make changes all over the place, and it won’t improve overnight but this cannot continue.

[Steve67]

So, Agnew's big idea is to get rid of the County Championship in favour of the hundred?  RIP Test Cricket if that's the case as it won't be long before they all get bored of it and make money from the wham bam type of cricket.  Sod the purists.   Bloody stupid idea.   There has to be room for the longer version of the game.  6 teams in a division is ok but relegation and promotion needs to be included to make it properly competitive, therefore, reducing the regional idea.  Not sure how they make up the divisions to start with but start it they need to.

[PaulWinch again]

It doesn’t need to be ripped up, although I think trimming the number of games would help. I think it would make a big difference if you played the bulk of the season from May-end of July and worked out a way of incentivising counties to produce good pitches.

[PaulWinch again]

Looking back one of the big indicators of problems with the culture of the team was Ed Smith being got rid of. You can argue about his data analysis etc, but he was removed because the way he approached things ruffled the feathers of key players.

That is clearly indicative of too much player power and a team unwilling to listen to challenging voices. That team needs to get out of its echo chamber, because indulging it like this has clearly failed.

[tomd2103]

So, Agnew's big idea is to get rid of the County Championship in favour of the hundred?  RIP Test Cricket if that's the case as it won't be long before they all get bored of it and make money from the wham bam type of cricket.  Sod the purists.   Bloody stupid idea.   There has to be room for the longer version of the game.  6 teams in a division is ok but relegation and promotion needs to be included to make it properly competitive, therefore, reducing the regional idea.  Not sure how they make up the divisions to start with but start it they need to.

Don't think he was advocating that Steve.  He was suggesting bringing in a red ball version of the tournament, with the idea being to condense the talent into fewer teams.  He did say he would keep the County Championship as well to provide a breeding ground for players coming through. 

[Risso]

So, Agnew's big idea is to get rid of the County Championship in favour of the hundred?  RIP Test Cricket if that's the case as it won't be long before they all get bored of it and make money from the wham bam type of cricket.  Sod the purists.   Bloody stupid idea.   There has to be room for the longer version of the game.  6 teams in a division is ok but relegation and promotion needs to be included to make it properly competitive, therefore, reducing the regional idea.  Not sure how they make up the divisions to start with but start it they need to.

Don't think he was advocating that Steve.  He was suggesting bringing in a red ball version of the tournament, with the idea being to condense the talent into fewer teams.  He did say he would keep the County Championship as well to provide a breeding ground for players coming through. 

Terrible idea. It would be like doing away with Premier League teams and having "West Midlands Wizards" and "North East Knights" etc.

[Gareth]

So, Agnew's big idea is to get rid of the County Championship in favour of the hundred?  RIP Test Cricket if that's the case as it won't be long before they all get bored of it and make money from the wham bam type of cricket.  Sod the purists.   Bloody stupid idea.   There has to be room for the longer version of the game.  6 teams in a division is ok but relegation and promotion needs to be included to make it properly competitive, therefore, reducing the regional idea.  Not sure how they make up the divisions to start with but start it they need to.

Don't think he was advocating that Steve.  He was suggesting bringing in a red ball version of the tournament, with the idea being to condense the talent into fewer teams.  He did say he would keep the County Championship as well to provide a breeding ground for players coming through.

That is basically the Nottinghamshire model-they used the other non test ground counties to build their team.

I can see the benefits of a competition where the best players come together ie Warwickshire / Worcestershire / Northants best XI vs Somerset / Gloucestershire / Glamorgan best XI BUT the first requirement is to get back to red ball County Champioship cricket as THE priority in the actual summer months.  Maybe the representative games could go to Dubai after the season has finished or before it begins in UK. 

[tomd2103]

So, Agnew's big idea is to get rid of the County Championship in favour of the hundred?  RIP Test Cricket if that's the case as it won't be long before they all get bored of it and make money from the wham bam type of cricket.  Sod the purists.   Bloody stupid idea.   There has to be room for the longer version of the game.  6 teams in a division is ok but relegation and promotion needs to be included to make it properly competitive, therefore, reducing the regional idea.  Not sure how they make up the divisions to start with but start it they need to.

Don't think he was advocating that Steve.  He was suggesting bringing in a red ball version of the tournament, with the idea being to condense the talent into fewer teams.  He did say he would keep the County Championship as well to provide a breeding ground for players coming through. 

Terrible idea. It would be like doing away with Premier League teams and having "West Midlands Wizards" and "North East Knights" etc.

Think the counties would still exist In his model, but there would be a level above that, which would be the new franchise league he is talking about