MaidstoneFox

Handscomb to keep then. Wonder why Currie is not back?

Agree really. They should have a playing budget at the start of the season and work within that, allowing a contingency for emergencies. Other clubs do more to engage the community and get people to the ground. But other clubs have more non-cricket income as well. Changes to the ground have just been tarting up the edges really, there's been no major building change since the indoor cricket school and media centre, which is now 1993 in the Mike Turner era. We've been left behind from that point of view, even if the cricket side of things is now more encouraging. The Meet should have been knocked down decades ago, it's like a giant air raid shelter.

It's a tricky balance the club has to make between retaining players, showing ambition and balancing the books. Part of our remit is also to develop players for England, which we're clearly doing with Rehan, Hull, Patel and Green in the under-19s. Remains to be seen where Rishi will be in 12 months, performance wise. I didn't think he'd have such a good Blast season and all it takes is a run of good form, a couple of injuries and you can end up in the England picture. Jordan Cox was nowhere near the England side last year. I know Northants have made a profit this year but they've also been unable to retain their talented opening bat, who has gone to Durham. I've no idea how county have managed to make a loss of £500k this year and £400k last, when we've been trimming the squad to reduce the wage bill. Paying off Nicko probably had an impact in one of those years. The concerts haven't been a big success, I think Elton was the only one they made decent money from.

And he scored 98. He's been doing well in the Birmingham Premier League, which is a good standard, as much as a batter than bowler, so maybe the club are taking another look at him. Good to see quite few of the under-18s in that second XL.

Wright - because he's our best bowler and a great pro who will help the younger bowlers. Patel - because he's a great prospect and the only way of holding on to him. There is also the chance he may get an ECB contract which would relieve us of some of his wage load. OS players - we're defending champions. Only right we gave it a go at defending our title, and we weren't far off. Rahane - I don't think it's just about appealing to Indian fans. He's a quality player and we still have a chance of promotion to div 1. Furthermore, he's an ex-Indian captain and another experienced pro that the youngsters can surely learn from. Aside from all that, it's surely Claude's responsibility to decide on players and contracts. Jarvis would just sign off his recommendations.

I think Cooper means that he's just not ready for the Premier League, rather than not rating him. He's a decent champ striker, but needs a season on loan and games at his age. He's barely played any first team football.

You get to see both games with one ticket.

Prices can be very low. I paid more for an ice cream than one of my kids tickets at Lords! But that's the point. ECB is auctioning off the future here. They'll get a short term influx of money to the games that will be redistributed, but once that is all used up by the counties 5 years down the line to cover losses, what then? You have a game with county fixtures marginalised in the schedule around the Hundred and international fixtures, which will lead to even less income. Therefore you'll get around 12 counties that can sustain themselves, while the other 6 have to go semi-pro.

If we can get it to 100 off the last 10, then we have a chance.

It is fantastic. Comms good as well.

But this has been an issue for as long as I've been supporting them, which is over 40 years. Various schemes down the years such as flats at the Milligan Road end, which never happened and it's quite a while now since they were given the covenant by LCC, allowing them to redevelop. It's the largest county ground and there are separate nets as well, which most counties don't have, so the space is there, but where is the money coming from?

Next 5 overs are key as they'll start to take risks. Important we take any chances.

Domestic cricket loses money for the reasons you mention - low crowds and people don't spend anything. Whereas people spend a small fortune at Hundred games and test matches, all helping the test match counties. Leicestershire needs to increase non cricket revenue but unfortunately the concerts didn't sell many tickets this year. I don't know how the ground redevelopment is going, but I think the Meet is being replaced.

That's not sustainable every year. What about a ground share with Derbyshire? Build a new facility halfway between Derby and Leicester, big enough for international matches and sell off both grounds to fund it.

I know he's nearly 34, but holland would be a good signing, useful all-round cricketer and will provide much needed experience in the dressing room.

Let it slip a bit there. I don't think the bowlers were managed as well as they could have been when Walker and Green bowl the last 4 overs. Green looks very promising.

Partly a problem with having radio commentary over TV feed and not enough commentators for a whole day given the restricted budget. It means they end up commentating too long without a break and talk over images when not always necessary. Therefore you get inevitable mistakes and rubbish spouted. Also, nobody on hand with accurate stats and facts as well, as you do on TMS. Counties with a dedicated TV commentary crew like Lancashire are much better, but it costs.

Right-arm, fast medium. Very tall, so gets some bounce

Good crowd at Scarborough. Be nice to see Alex green bowling; the under-18s have some great prospects.

Certainly a link. He mentioned Saudi Airlines starting up flights from Newcastle Airport as a potential income driver for the north east. He did an interesting job of excusing their human rights record - we've got to help them change and not keep them on the outside! The Saudis have been trading with us and buying property for decades, that's hardly having them on the outside.

Interesting discussion with the Durham CEO, Tim Bostock on Simon Hughes' podcast. He has high hopes of the income that the hotel they are building will bring and that they'll get an expansion team for The Hundred franchise. They are also being courted by Saudi Arabian money for a take-over, which he seemed ok with. What was relevant to Leicestershire, was that he believed there may not be 18 first class teams in 5 years and that he would be pushing to improve the quality and standard of the first class game, to attract overseas players. If this meant less first class counties, then so be it. The other point he made was that given the dire financial straits of so many counties, the sale of the Hundred franchises are the only thing that will keep them afloat. I do think the next 3 or 4 years are crucial to Leicestershire, they need to invest in non-cricket activities to increase revenue. As Bostock says, domestic cricket itself, is basically a loss-making business. I also think this means we have to take every competition seriously.

Kiss of death!

Looks like Budinger is finally starting click, in white ball at least. Can take a long time for players to make it in cricket - good job they can play until late 30s, in many cases. The coaches have really persisted with him and given him chances.

Italian Gymnast, Giorgia Villa, holding her favourite cheesy knob.

Ticket sales are well down apart from London, which is why the ECB are trying to hawk it to the IPL franchises. Things aren't helped by the absence of all the star names who are currently playing in the States. But if the IPL franchises take charge, they'll put their players on multi-franchise contracts which will include the hundred.