No 111, Dec 18 - The Grumbler's County Cricket Newsletter

🟣 Can members' counties survive? 🔵 Essex racism report, financial probs 🟡 Lancs coaching change 🔴 Big signings - Pujara, Sutherland 🟢 Surrey stars to play 'only 6 games' 🟤 Final survey results

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The new Essex chair puffed out his cheeks at my question. His answer began with two crucial words - “That’s hypothetical”.

I had asked about the club’s approach to winning back the supporters if they agree to the ECB’s expanded version of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named having not asked members for a vote and they faced some sort of grey-haired rebellion.*

As impressive as he was at the Essex AGM, even his skills as a KC only allowed him to stumble out a largely inadequate answer.

And, more importantly, the question might not be hypothetical for much longer.

Apparently, the ECB’s plans for you-know-what, broken by their favourite paper The Daily Telegraph, are barely formed. There is not enough substance to vote on anything yet. However, they want an answer from counties in May.

Wait? What?

So the ECB have flagged a fundamental change with long-term ramifications, not given anywhere near sufficient details on it and want a decision in a few months.

Of course, all this is far more member awareness than we had in the original introduction of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named. But it does feel this event is always rushed through with undue, unnecessary haste.

We know why.

Members retain a crucial element of control in the county game and the powerbrokers in the game do not like it.

So now we have a situation all too familiar in English cricket, especially since you-know-what. The ECB press the counties for change, the counties throw the question to members, who then push back hard.

This is an unhelpful adversarial situation that will not (and probably should not) be allowed to last for too much longer.

At the Essex AGM, the club’s bleak financial position was spelt out. The current level of losses is not sustainable and a couple of red flags had already been raised (then lowered) about fulfilling its short-term commitments. Funding from the ECB was 50 per cent of revenue and, thanks to the television deal negotiated by Teflon Tom Harrison just before he left, will be flat for five years despite rising cricket costs. Membership provided just five per cent, a fact that critics suggest the ‘tail is wagging the dog’.

Essex are looking at major change - ground redevelopment or even a move, selling assets. Tellingly the finance member on the board thanked head coach Anthony McGrath for “difficult decisions”.

So when players earning many hundreds of thousands from franchise deals are discussed by ex-players-turned-pundits as “looking after their families” they might want to think about those further down the food chain who were released and will struggle to get another contract.

It is likely this story of financial doom and gloom will be played out all over county cricket in the next few months. The early signs are there. Yorkshire are getting financial assistance from the ECB, Middlesex are in deep trouble and Gloucestershire are looking to move.

There is a concerted effort to get members’ voices heard (and even binding votes agreed) by counties over the new proposals (see link below if you want to get involved). After the ongoing destruction wreaked on the traditional game by the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named, you can understand it. It worked with the Strauss Report and, who knows, it may work this time too.

Still, in the long term, the positioning of county members has to change.

If you are perceived as saying no to every innovation, especially those pushed by the moneyed and the powerful, they will find ways to work around you.

Or simply destroy you.

Nothing energises these elites as much as being defeated by those they previously considered poor and powerless.

One tactic is to starve you of funding. Then present ‘facts’ that ‘prove’ the status quo is not working and, as part of “sweeping, necessary” changes, bring in measures that lock out a troublesome faction or lock in a greater slice of the pie.

This is how the UK ended up with the internal market in something as important as health care. Meanwhile, our trains and water were privatised because of ‘inefficiency’ yet continued failing and the profits were syphoned off to shareholders and, most recently, laws of assembly partly rushed through for the Queen’s funeral have long-term ramifications for street protests.

Expect membership ‘control’ of counties to be a bargaining chip in order to release just enough money to survive but not thrive. Or neutered to such an extent that they do not matter anymore.

Likewise, I’ll bet the £1.3m annual payment to counties for you-know-what will disappear or at least be reduced in one or other upcoming re-organisation. Bait and switch is another standard tactic.

• ECB are helping to pay staff wages as the heating breaks down in Headingley pavilion with the club waiting for Mike Ashley's rescue (Mail)

• Gloucestershire Cricket exploring new stadium opportunities in South (Gloucestershire CCC)

• ECB seek decision on private investment in Hundred by spring 2024 (Cricinfo)

• Durham ‘100 per cent committed’ to bringing Hundred franchise to north east (Independent)

• Counties pushing for own franchises in two-tier Hundred in 2025 (Times)

I bow to no one in my disgust at the way the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named was introduced. Right now, I believe it would be best to disband the ECB and start again with an agreement over what the bloody hell we want from our cricket. Please stop reeling off made-up numbers about franchise valuations from organisations who benefit from such over-exaggeration as if it will give me anything for which I do not have to pay top dollar. Certainly, the ‘product’ will be better but fans will be gouged for tickets, merch, F&B and, most importantly, TV subscriptions. In this world, hype has to create perceived value where little really exists. It will never provide what I most treasure in sport - meaning. That matters much more than money to me and I despise the elitism and agism shown towards counties and their members, especially from those who used both as a springboard for their career.

But if, as it appears from this distance, Sky are the power behind the throne and The Richards bent to their will, then the bad guys have won.

And from their actions, they just do not seem to care about the things that matter to me.

Certain voices are now criticising county members for, effectively, not enthusiastically taking up the opportunity to be turkeys voting for Christmas. But this group are only asked when the options are chosen, they are not allowed a part in creating the future.

Some of the critics are ‘clients’ looking to curry favour for their next gig, others simply do not perceive the county game as I do. Perhaps this is because the governing body has allowed it to become so utterly irrelevant in the consciousness of the British sporting public over the past few decades. The younger, energetic generation lost in the process is exactly the one needed now to fight back and offer solutions.

I’d love to think rapprochement is possible, there is a win: win. A situation where tradition and vision can be combined, money can be made yet members can have a respected voice in creating, not just blocking, the future.

Alas, they do not trust English cricket’s authorities and the former do not respect the latter or believe they can offer any value.

And, more importantly, they do not care.

Call me overly pessimistic if you like but show me evidence to the contrary.

PS I really did not intend to write another deeply depressing rant. Honestly, I am tired of them. I was planning a much lighter introduction. But the bad news keeps coming and we need spread awareness now. Apologies.

PPS If you want to get involved in any groups to change this situation. Then there is the County Cricket Members Group and, of course, the Cricket Supporters Association.

*The club are discussing whether to put it to a members’ vote in the next board meeting.

**If you are offended by the politics of this newsletter, please unsubscribe. The tactics of the powerful, whether it is sport or politics, are worryingly similar. And they both spin tales to support their interests over those of the majority. I will continue to call this out.

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PPS I have set up a County Cricket Chat space on Reddit - r/CountyCricketChat

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Players and coaches - moves, signings, contracts

Signings: Brookes (Warwickshire to Middlesex), Sutherland (Somerset - overseas), Mir (Worcestershire - overseas - Blast), Pujara, Hughes (Sussex - overseas), Young (Durham - overseas - 7 Champ, Blast)

Contracts: Finch (Kent - 2yrs), Virdi (Surrey), Middleton (Gloucestershire - 1yr), Turner, Albert, Middleton, Prest (Hampshire), Robson (Middlesex - 3yrs)

Sam Billings signs white-ball only deal with Kent, wants to pursue overseas contract (Cricketer)

Clash between MLC and Blast could see English players miss chunk of county T20 (Cricinfo)

Tom Curran and Jason Roy agree new Surrey contracts accommodating county and franchise commitments (Cricketer) ($)

This article says that Tom Curran and Roy may only feature six times for Surrey. Coach Alec Stewart has already spoken about counties reframing contracts if their players’ franchise commitments took them elsewhere for too long, so one assumes he has put this into practice here. Perhaps we are not far from the truly freelance player in the middle or start of their career. I would be in favour of my county releasing a player who made it clear from their actions that their priorities were entirely elsewhere.

Then again, if IPL teams are opening academies in the UK then counties might be cut out entirely in the not do distant future. Hence my opening salvo to be more useful. IPL's Rajasthan Royals launch London cricket academy (SW Londoner)

Dale Benkenstein joins Lancashire as head coach (Cricinfo)

Steven Croft signs T20 contract and joins Lancashire’s coaching staff (Lancashire CCC)

Northamptonshire bring in Greg Smith as batting coach (Cricketer)

Steven Mullaney signs three-year player-coach contract with Nottinghamshire (Cricketer)

News, Views and Interviews

Essex County Cricket Club will conduct their own disciplinary procedures after an independent report found three ex-players were victims of racist abuse, with the new chairman admitting 'fundamental errors' (Mail)

Essex players were victims of racist abuse, independent report concludes (BBC Sport)

Essex report upholds claims that ex-players suffered racist abuse (Cricinfo)

Jahid Ahmed: 'Racism and bullying never leave you,' says ex-Essex player (BBC Sport)

Bananas thrown at players and ‘bomber insults’ – Essex’s racism shame (Times)

Essex racism report as bad as Yorkshire’s, so where’s the mass outcry? (Yorkshire Post)

Here’s the abridged version of the Newton Report into racism at Essex. It makes for shocking reading.

The previous regime running the club have huge questions to answer. Quite rightly, there will be punishments:

As with the Yorkshire scandal, I favour this approach:

• Full open discussion, no redaction

• No pile-ons. Believe in the power of redemption. Good people do bad things. Allow them the space to change

• Swift punishments that scream ‘no more’

Essex should get a points deduction and a fine. There is a possibility it could be less than Yorkshire because the club responded swiftly and did not try to hide their failings.

I really should have expected this nonsense from the Yorkshire Post. For me, their coverage has backed the established voices at Headingley far too often. These were the ones saying ‘there is nothing to see here’. There has been precious little push to admit the existence of the problem so it is a bit of a switch to call to start saying ‘look, look they are as bad as us’.

There were those at Essex too. At the recent AGM, the new chair spoke strongly of people trying to create ‘fiefdoms’ and campaigns of ‘deliberate misinformation’. Hopefully, the backwards-looking voices will now be quiet and skulk away. Although I am expecting a few parting harrumphs.

Of course, I am wide open to accusations of bias so let’s make this clear. I utterly condemn the incidents and actions in the Newton Report. As so often in life, the reaction is the key. And, in this regard, the new regime at Essex acted relatively well and have been able to navigate the response of reactionary forces much better than at Headingley. Though Yorkshire are a much bigger club and the scrutiny is greater.

Still, external governance is less necessary if you show you are capable of putting your own house in order.

Essex and cricket have a long way to go.

But Yorkshire, it seems, have even further.

Jamie Cox is Somerset County Cricket Club’s new chief executive (Somerset County Gazette)

Worcestershire: Pears seek new chair after Fanos Hira retires (BBC Sport)

Surrey chairman outlines plans to bring Oval Invincibles under club banner (Cricinfo)

Sussex CCC: County to prioritise Championship, says head coach Paul Farbrace (BBC Sport)

English cricket must take lessons from the IPL and embrace private investment (The Independent)

“In five years’ time, I think the landscape will look very different. There will be more private ownership. I do think that sport is very sexy in the investment marketplace and within cricket in particular. The growth of the international franchises is on a bit of a roll. We’d be negligent if we didn’t open our eyes and take advantage of it.”

This is Rob Bransgrove, a man who changed Hampshire’s future and put a cool £15m of his own money into county cricket. I do not agree with his views on private equity but, unlike others, you have to look at his record in the game and listen.

I would argue he is one of the “benevolent dictator” types who work best as football club owners. Remember as part of his investment in Hampshire, they ceased to become a members’ club. He was not perfect but he delivered. There was trust over his motives.

As football has proved, the real issue comes a few years later when the organisation is sold to someone who has pound signs where their hearts should be.

And it only takes one of those to destroy 150 years of history.

Speaking of private equity and football, German fans are pushing back on Bundesliga’s move to open up to outside investment. The authorities say they need it to try and catch the Premier League. The fans say they would rather concentrate on the tradition, history and specialness of the German game, including their 50+1 ownership rule.

Here’s a round-up of the argument

And here’s a graphic I found on the benefits they can bring to football.

You have heard the negatives from me before, so here is a little balance.

‘End of 50-over cricket’: BCCI plans its next move, IPL-like T10 tournament to boost revenue streams (Mint)

Michael Atherton slams cricket’s hectic scheduling; says sport is ‘devouring itself’ | (The Indian Express)

Here’s another issue I have with private equity and the approach of the ECB. They are trying to hang on the coattails of the IPL. They admit that second-best is the highest they can hope for. Funnily enough, that admission did not crop up at the inception stage.

But the IPL is not stopping. This T10 event would be in September, scuppering the final month of the English season and, just maybe, the end of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named. Major League Cricket is already likely to hem in the event at the other end as it expands.

Year-round contracts with IPL organisations seem inevitable. If UK franchises are sold to private equity then it will be dominated and controlled by Indian money. Ironically, this dictatorship may be the only thing that streamlines the English season.

In their chase for money to pay players, the UK cricket authorities are allowing foreign control which, as football has proved, will create a rich and hyped yet corporate and detached version of the game.

No thanks.

Somerset to provide additional coaching for state school cricketers (Burnham and Highbridge Weekly News)

These schemes are fine but remember 93% of people go to state schools.

That’s 93%, needing this sort of positive discrimination.

Ninety. Three.

If you step back and look at the game from a distance, English cricket is largely a game played by the 7%. Reported on by the 7%. Definitely run by the 7%. And, some would argue, exists for the benefit of the 7%.

Which makes this body very important…

Independent regulator for cricket introduced by ECB (BBC Sport)

This is positive but it is limited in scope.

It still leaves the ECB as both the commercialiser and competition organiser. That is the fundamental tension in English cricket and this does nothing to solve it.

However, it will improve the diversity in the game. So that is good news.

Just remember social class, eh? See above.

England chief explains why Hampshire's Dawson is left out of squad (Daily Echo)

“You almost have to disregard what’s happened in county cricket…” said Rob Key.

“It’s about trying to work out who’s going to be the best players for what we’re coming up against, and that’s where we’ve ended up.”

Err… if that is true why does the ECB muck around with the Championship so much?

We have a full four rounds with the Kookaburra ball in 2024. Two years ago, the need for batters to ‘bat long’ led to the creation of dead wickets and lots of pointless games. Before that, they pushed spinners and three Conferences. Every season there is something new designed to feed the England team. Again, from a distance, it does not work and now, according to Key, it does not matter anyway. Just look at England’s international record since the ECB began 30 years ago in comparison to the resources we have.

You can only point to patches of success.

And, yes, that could be down to the structure of county cricket. We all get that bowlers, in particular, can be successful in domestic cricket without the skills necessary to excel in international cricket.

But, more influential, is the failure of the leadership, endless reports and ‘brains trusts’ to exploit the advantages it could offer.

Here’s George Dobell’s response to this...

English cricket's various moving parts cast a shadow over Test selection (Cricketer) ($)

Inside ‘Project Darwin’: the plan that will revolutionise women’s cricket (Telegraph)

Somerset to reinstall Hall of Fame at County Ground in Taunton (Chard & Ilminster News)

Cricket’s radio daze: When leather hitting willow was a pencil striking a desk (Sydney Morning Herald)

Understanding the Laws of Cricket (New Yorker)

Swansea University honours Welsh cricket legends (Cymru News)

The Grumbler’s County Cricket Survey Results

In edition No 108, I linked to a short survey on the county game. I set it up using freebie software that only took 112 responses. I thought that would be more than enough. But it maxed out in a few days.

Here are findings from the remaining questions.

Of course, 112 respondents is hardly representative (unless you look at the surveys on those cosmetics adverts) and the audience for this newsletter is, shall we say, ‘traditional’.

How satisfied are you with the CRICKET (quality, entertainment) in the following domestic competitions?

How satisfied are you with the ORGANISATION (format, timing etc) in the following domestic competitions?

Anything else you want to add?

This was the final ask in my questionnaire. The below is a selection of comments, lightly sub-edited. I have taken out most of the “Scrap the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named” messages, honest. There were just too many.

Somehow fans/supporters need to have a voice. A voice that will be listened to, it’s important.

English cricket is going nowhere until the 100 is removed, and replaced by a re-vamped T20 competition.

If you want to keep a four-week period free for one particular short-format tournament (of whatever nature), then ok. But do it in a way that doesn't wreck the county championship. I'd suggest breaking the season mid-July to mid-Aug, so that there could be (under the current format) a block of 7 championship games each side of the break.

I strongly believe that the Championship should consist of two divisions of nine clubs, playing each other home and away (16 matches per team).

The Championship should be played between early May and mid-September, with matches starting on Sundays and finishing on Wednesdays. One-day and T20 matches can be played on Thursday and Fridays (daytime, day/night and all day) and Saturdays. Few players play all three formats to player burn-out should not be an issue.

The stats released from the 100 are misleading. I accept it has been a good vehicle for women's cricket although many double headers built their crowds during the earlier women's matches as people arrived for the main event. I am typical of supporters of the non-test match counties in recording the televised games just to fast forward to the cameos of our county players. In my case, Somerset who had one or two players in nearly every side, one or two were not picked but still not released to play in the county 50-over matches.

The H*ndred messes things up, including all the other competitions.

T20 Blast I don't like the huge gaps between groups and finals

The calendar needs to be streamlined.

There shouldn't be any 2 competitions going on at once. Cut the championship to 3 divisions of 6. That will create room for a 1st XI 50 over competition. If the format still exists

English cricket is going nowhere until the 100 is removed, and replaced by a re-vamped T20 competition.

In its place, we will have a merry-go-round of 'stars' playing for franchises in order to keep the Asian betting market working. 

I can't help thinking that cricket will survive as a betting vehicle, thereby joining horse racing.

I am worried about the future of county and Test cricket.

Cricket's timetable. 4-day cricket in early April and late September thanks to no 4 day cricket in August (thanks to the H*ndred) is ridiculous.

Love outground cricket - suited to championship crowds

The game is an absolute mess at present in this country and the problem is too much short-form cricket. The ECB's pet project taking up August and bankrupting the game v the counties wanting T20 blast matches played on Thursdays and Fridays to attract the out-of-season soccer fan and booze sales not a formula for a family-friendly or diverse sport.

If the future of the game is wall-to-wall T20 / 100 with ODI's fading away and Test Cricket boiling down to a bi-annual Home and Away Ashes series becoming like the America's Cup. I want no part of it.

County Championship,  Red ball 4-day game should  - must  - be and be seen to be the centre of cricket in England and Wales.

Members of any county playing away should be allowed in free and given members privileges for that particular game. Cricket is a social game. Nothing better than chatting to the opposition.

A level playing field needs to be created to ensure smaller counties have the same advantages as those with test grounds. I fear the gap between the haves and have-nots will only grow wider, leading to the demise of some counties.

The ECB needs to listen to the grassroots supporters and the 18 county clubs. Without adequate support for County Cricket the red-ball game will ultimately decline.

100 ruining all other competitions. Money should have been spent on the Blast which was well supported.

My three priorities at present:

• Scrap the Hundred!

• Encourage List A cricket by playing it when full-strength teams are available.

• Level up the balance between bat and ball by providing more competitive pitches, especially spin-friendly ones

For the record, though it probably hardly needs mentioning, I think the creation and primacy of the H*ndred has been a disaster, most recently reflected in England's performance at the World Cup.

I would like the Counties to reclaim the running of CC, 20 & 50 over by pooling resources for fixtures, marketing and finance.

Two divisions and playing eachother home and away.

No surprise:

• Get rid of the H*ndred.

• Return the County Championship to two leagues of 9 playing 16 matches and play mainly in the summer.

• Return one day to the old B&H format.

• Promote the Blast properly and fully.

• And lots of other things.

Norfolk for 1st class cricket, driest county in the country

Get rid of the H*ndred and invest in the other three formats

The constant changing of the format is annoying. I have just been asked to renew my membership for 2024 without any guarantee of what cricket might actually be offered. Now they're talking about getting rid of 50-over cricket which we finally settled on after years of having 40, 55, and 60 overs. I'm not interested in 20-over bish-bash-bosh cricket so getting rid of 50-over cricket would remove the only one-day matches that I watch.

I think that all Championship games should be played in midweek because clubs can make more money doing other events and from my experience crowds particularly on Saturdays are awful

Would like 10.30am starts in the CC all season.

Stop the rule allowing England discards to replace players who've already started a CC game.

Expand CC to include Scotland and Ireland + automatic promotion/relegation from minor counties league = three leagues of 7.

Spread CC more evenly throughout summer, with games over weekends.

I am a member of 2 counties and manage to watch around 50 to 60 days of county cricket most seasons but am fed up with the constant reorganisations of the formats and competitions and the continued threat to cut the Championship (which will resurface before too long).

Any further downgrading of the championship will see me finished with the game as I do have other sporting interests.

I don't watch games played in pyjamas so have not expressed a view on how satisfactory they are.

If we were to maintain two divisions, they should be of nine sides each and each side should play the other home and away.

I am increasingly frustrated by both the ageism in cricket (that when you hit a certain age your viewing habits and attendance count for nothing as you are not the next generation - hold on, I may be 50 but I hope to have several decades left as a paying spectator) and the patronising attitude taken towards younger supporters, which seems to assume they will never like cricket unless it comes with constant whizzbangs and is over in a flash. Yes, children today have access to different distractions than we did but they haven't become alien creatures; they will like sport if it is good and not denigrated by its own leadership.

The 4-day game needs to be nurtured and better marketed. The fact that, especially on week-days in school terms, most spectators are pensioners is something to be celebrated not decried - the pensioner population is growing and, on average, is better off than at the turn of the century. Youngsters are better off playing rather than watching - that is why the initiative to put extra funds into Chance to Shine and the MCC Foundation is to be applauded. If some top players want to play for franchises instead of English domestic competitions, we should be relaxed (provided, if they have central contracts, these don't allow players to take the benefits of those contracts when they feel like it - or when their franchise ambitions are unfulfilled). On The Hundred, we should oppose its expansion to buy off, say, Somerset and Durham. The 18 counties - and especially the non-Hundred venues  - need to stick together. I'm concerned that Somerset are angling, behind the scenes, to get in (see also all the marketing blurb on their website emphasising Somerset as representing the region and celebrating the delights of Devon & Cornwall).

re the Blast in previous questions, I'm simply not interested in the 20-over format - not long enough to provide. a meaningful competitive experience in my view and an unpleasant experience to attend in terms of crowd behaviour - excessive alcohol, unsavoury chanting and other behaviours - but recognise the format has become essential to the financial survival of many - and particularly our smaller counties.

Please keep up all your good work - the Grumbler newsletter is a terrific digest source of news and views - I wouldn't be able to source the various blog and other links you provide myself so really appreciate your service.

Also liked your efforts at promoting reciprocal membership arrangements last season - please keep up your promotion of this idea - would love some wider regional or even national scheme and would be willing to pay small premium (£30/40/50) to achieve this if a collection and distribution mechanism could be identified outside of ECB auspices. Also, I would like more promotion of 'taster' membership products like the Kent 'Six Day' package or Somerset Associate Membership (five days attendance at 60% of the price of the Kent scheme so astonishing good value) to encourage take-up of county membership.

Daft that the top division has teams only playing certain teams once, can you imagine the Premier League agreeing to that!

Appreciate it would see a drop in the number of championship games, but I think 3 conferences - or my preference 3 divisions of 6 is the way to go. 2 up 2 down. 10 games - the possibility of extra games with play offs maybe.

50 over comp is great in some respects to see the younger players come through as they have done in recent years with the 100 taking over, but would be tempted to go back to the old B&H Cup days and have this as an early season comp - 2 leagues of 9. 8 games each. Top 4 from each go through to knockout and quarter -finals. Final at Lords mid season!

Seems that the 100 is here to stay for at least a few more years, but would like see the Blast given that level of publicity and backing - I'm sure it would be just as successful.

Ditch the H*ndred. Reduce the amount of international matches (E.g the recent England/Ireland ODI’s) but give more (meaningful) matches to the “lesser” nations. Get cricket into state schools.

There are many problems to solve. It would be nice to see some progress by the new ECB…what have they achieved to date?

I know county cricket is a unique, complicated, bizarre thing with multi-formats and archaic aspects but I feel this should be embraced rather than be seen as something to be fixed.

But, firstly, to totally contradict that, a few 'quick fixes' would for me, put the game on a more sensible path.

If you culled the H*ndred (a big if)... you could have an even championship with consistent games from April to mid-September.

Split the T20 into 2/3 blocks allowing it to be spread a little more over the season and target school holidays (you could have T20 weeks where each county plays 3 games) The argument against this is usually that it makes it hard to attract overseas stars but so be it - most fans like their own players best anyway!

And, you could do a similar thing with the one-day cup, targeting games on weekends and Bank Holidays, a few games at a time, building to an August showpiece final at Lord's.

Pipe dreams I know.

PS: For the record, with international cricket, I'd also go back to the white ball series being played before Test series. Most of England's ODIs and T20s seem completely pointless cricket.

After 17 years I am not renewing my membership. I was pleased to leave my money with the club during the pandemic, knowing that I would not be able to see any county cricket that year. The club put out the begging bowl and pleaded poverty. Since then, I have been cynically exploited, as the lack of county cricket at Trent Bridge during the height of summer has become an annual event. The product that I pay for is not available. This year there was no Nottinghamshire cricket at Trent Bridge for 59 consecutive days during the height of summer.

I worry about the dominance of T20, but am sure that the franchise bubble will burst in a few years.

The ECB is not fit for purpose, and hasn't been for years.

County cricket succeeds in spite of the ECB

County Cricket must change and evolve to survive. The ICEC Report was much needed and should be used by all counties as a catalyst for change. Sadly, I am not certain all counties view the changes recommended by the ICEC as important or, indeed, relevant to them. If that is the case, they have already missed the Pont of the Report and failed in their duty as local custodians of the game.

You did not ask if the Hundred should be scrapped!  My answer to this question is yes.  Concentrate the money spent on that competition on to the Blast.

We should revert to two overseas players appropriately rewarded for each county.

No more spending thousands flying players across the world for a single T20 match, which devalues the homebred players and indeed the competition.

English cricket is in a horrible mess and despite initial confidence that the two Richards will sort it out, I’m starting believe nothing will change for the better.

Bin the Hundred as soon as possible. Support the Counties, who will provide future England players if the counties disappear.

I seriously think the game is dying very quickly, turning into baseball.

Expand the Blast to include the Minor Counties.

Best thing in recent years has been streaming games. Big step forward being able to see domestic cricket without Sky.

Worst thing, lack of local players in The H*ndred. Feels mercenary and I question whether I should have loyalty to my local team. Also means there’s a month in the middle of the summer when I don’t care about cricket.

There is no way to shake the pervasive sense that county cricket is coming to an end. And that will probably me be gone from the sport. The sad thing for me is that I almost welcome it. Hanging on, unloved, half-usurped by the marketing men and women, hasn't been fun these last few years. It's pessimistic, but I almost wish that the ECB would just put an end to it all, rather than subject county cricket fans to death by a thousand cuts.

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My monthly coffees: Gary Prail, William Dobson, George Dobell, Long Leg, Kevin Roome, John Lucey, Sophie Whyte, Cow Corner Slog, Graeme Hayter, Chris Moody, Martin Searle, Ben Hieatt-Smith, Russell Holden, Adrian Partridge, Sam Morshead, Steve A, Simon Hemsley, Ralph, Alastair Wilson, Steve Hart, Bill Dove, Steve Thomas

Patreon: Simon Burnton, Bob Christie, Richard Maslin, Duncan Lewis, Chris Lowe, Steve

Coffees since the last edition: Mike Hamilton, David Harrison, Andrew

Classifieds

Links

Join the Cricket Supporters Association, it’s free

County Cricket Matters - Buy the magazine direct or on Kindle

Guerilla Cricket - irreverent, online commentary and jingles all the way

Leading Edge - County stats dashboard and podcast

98 Not Out - top interviews and cricket chat on the podcast

Also, there’s my book, Last-Wicket Stand.

• Buy through Amazon or through me for an autographed copy ✍️

• 🏴‍☠️ Indy bookshop | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇦🇺 Australia