It doesn't surprise me that only five sides picked up more bowling points than us - having Abbott and Abbas in April and May will always help there. But for only three sides to pick up more batting points than us is a big (but pleasant) shock.
Well done Hampshire (and Summerzet) and I hope being in División 1 makes up for a disappointing T20 season.
I was always expecting that for at least the first half of the competition, due to Russell playing for WI. But I had hoped that things might have improved sufficiently by next month to allow him to get over for the second half. Alas not. But with CDG now staying in the country essentially until D1 commences, I guess it now offers the question as to who will be our second overseas player for D1. We were quite clear at the start of the season that we would look to get Abbas back if we made D1 (but no point spending the money on him if in D2 or D3). But I don't know how much cricket he's had since he went back. Whilst CDG has done great in his two CC games for us, and will already be in the country. So if he wants to extend his stay even further, it does open up the question of Abbas or CDG? (I don't think CDG was originally in the IPL. But if I'm wrong on that, or he gets called up as replacement, then that becomes case closed. He'll obviously choose the UAE to spend his September.)
Given the schedule the ECB came up with for this season, it’s about the only sensible thing they’ve done. Starting the red ball season in April and having none at all for more than half of July and all of August is just ridiculous.
I wonder if they'll now use these 3 divisions going forward and the top 2 from 2 and 3 get promoted and the bottom 2 from 1 and 2 get relegated.
I've wanted three divisions for some years now. But in reality that means only ten four-day matches per season, and in the main there isn't sufficient support for such a reduction. Which I can understand.
I've been saying this for years. Finishing the season in the last week in September! Might be worth switching the last round of matches to venues around the UAE to ensure a full day's play. Likewise the Bob Willis trophy
Yep. Surprised BBC didn’t put up immediately. They stated the points but no league. Fairly obvious but nice to see.
Arguably the "weakest" team of the 6 start with the most points. I think a lot will depend on how many players from each team get called up for the India test series.
Possible but I think they'll stick with Crawley at 3. And I don't think they name big squads for the test matches. 12 or 13 I think.
You could still have some sort of playoff at the end of the season, in the same way this season has been structured.
Could do. But that still only extends a 10 game season into an 11 game season. Just going from 16 games to 14 games had a lot of opposition.
No, I meant a similar format to this season, where the 3 divisions are equal status. Top 2 from each plus 2 best 3rd places have a knockout. That adds 3 extra games for the best 8. The rest could have a separate knockout for the booby prize. Or something.
A repeat of something like this season is certainly an option, yes. But I was more referring to a normal three division structure. With promotion and relegation between them each season.
