The Cricket Thread

Players back out....tough period for Somerset to see out.

 

Aaaaand off they go again!

 

3 this year. 1 down, 3 up, 10 team D1 as from next season.

 

Thought it was 9 and 9. My bad.

 

Which is good, giving up and coming England candidates 18 4-day games instead of only 14 this season.

 

Nope. Still only 14 matches.

 

Oh for ****’s sake, that makes no sense whatsoever!

 

To be fair, it would be difficult to fit 18 matches into the season.

 

Drop that ridiculous 100.

 

Still in two minds about that. It will bring the biggest names in cricket to England but not sure about the format.

 

Still the same as this season (and the last two seasons).

All that is happening is that the 8-10 split is being reversed to 10-8. But all 18 sides still have 7 home and 7 away matches.

Counties complained that the 8-10 split meant that relegation from D1 had become too big a risk (which it had - the last two years have been a case of musical chairs for 7th place). By reducing that risk, counties/captains can take bigger risks now on the field; sacrifice the odd draw, in an attempt to win. Which should lead to more exciting cricket. When survival is on the line, you can't really do that.

And ditching the 100 wouldn't really be an answer to playing 18 D1 matches, because the 100 isn't using up its own section of the county schedule. It's being played at the same time as the one-day cup.

 

Lets hope we avoid going to Somerset and Essex next season.

 

I don’t think anyone wants to go to Fortress Chelmsford!

 

Middlesex doing themselves proud yet again. 39/6 having dismissed Lancashire for 250 odd. Something is not right there for that county to produce such inept batting performances year after year, Deserve the wooden spoon!!!

 

Somerset have lost 3 wickets already this morning. To my mind it is a farce playing in the third and fourth week of September due to number of overs lost because of bad light up and down the country, and the clatter of wickets due to the prevailing conditions on these autumnal mornings. Time for the ECB to reschedule the County Championship and have it concluded by the end of the first week in September. I am sure if we trawl through the playingschedule of each county in June, July and August many had a week´s idleness, often two during this period.

 

Abbott tearing through Somerset.

 

It’s beginning to look like last season all over again!

 

Come on Somerset. Fight back!!!!!

 

In very helpful conditions!!!!! He is not the only one benefitting from this. The Essex bowlers are doing likewise against Surrey.

 

Number 6 for Kyle!