Captain... Posted 27 July 2015 Posted 27 July 2015 http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/32745399 Interesting article on how to rejuvenate the domestic game. I can see it from both sides, I wonder how a six team tournament would fair with franchises based in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, north England, Midlands and the South, or maybe squeeze up to 9 franchises out of it. South East, south West, north East, north West, east, East Midlands, West Midlands and home games are shared between the grounds in that area. Maybe even get a Dutch Franchise involved. I know there are a lot of cricket fans on here, interested in others thoughts on how an EPL, or BPL could work and if they would want it. Or are there already too many T20 tournaments going on to the detriment of the test game?
SMX11 Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 I wish we could actually come up with something unique instead of trying to copy everybody else. England is very tribal I cannot see a lot of fans buying the franchise thing.
Aus Fox Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 I can't see many Leicestershire, Northants or Derbyshire supporters heading up to Trent bridge to support the Middlands team. Or even worse Yorkshire supporters heading to Old Trafford to watch their local team it's a non starter for me. The way it works in Australia is the opposit with the main sides being the States, Victoria New South Wales etc. then in t20 they come in and we have Melbourne and Sydney teams so you arnt travelling to support another area as such.
ozleicester Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 Does anyone see a time when either 5- a -side or Futsal or some shortened version of Football will start to challenge our beloved game?
SemperEadem Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 Over my dead body would I go up to Trent Bridge and support a team that incorporated Derby and Nottingham.
RowlattsFox Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 Something needs to change definitely, the Big Bash is so much more exciting. Appears to be a different mentality though with fans, in the big bash families go and have lots of fun whereas here people go to get pissed and sing football songs. It would just turn out to be a big fight at Trent bridge. They also have the weather, the good batting pitches and better cricketers to make it more exciting. Some of the T20 games I've seen here have been awful. I don't think they need to change teams, use the same clubs and format but schedule it better. 4 week period in the summer holidays where teams and players can concentrate on T20.
SMX11 Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 They should have kept it in the block format as it used to be. Puts it fully in focus. Need to reduce the amount of international cricket to allow England players to take part but the ECB won't do that. Too many prelim games for my liking as well.
Guest MattP Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 It would be the death of smaller counties were we to try a shortened tournament, the T20 now pretty much keeps teams like Leicestershire alive financially. England is just so different, we don't have the small amounts of states that India, West Indies or Australia has to put together an 8-10 team tournament, I honestly don't know what we can do, that'a assuming we want to compete with the Big Bash or IPL, which I personally don't anyway.
Captain... Posted 28 July 2015 Author Posted 28 July 2015 I can't see many Leicestershire, Northants or Derbyshire supporters heading up to Trent bridge to support the Middlands team. Or even worse Yorkshire supporters heading to Old Trafford to watch their local team it's a non starter for me. The way it works in Australia is the opposit with the main sides being the States, Victoria New South Wales etc. then in t20 they come in and we have Melbourne and Sydney teams so you arnt travelling to support another area as such. Why not we all go to Trent Bridge to watch England, it's not that big a step to watch the East midlands, but I wouldn't go to watch a Nottingham franchise. The East Midlands franchise would play 2 home games at Trent Bridge, 2 at Grace road and 2 in Derby, tapping in to the potential of all cities and not favouring the bigger counties. The alternative would be to have pure franchises with a figure head, so a Flintoff XI, a Swann XI, a Vaughan XI, then each ground can bid for certain games so it is more of a roadshow with the franchises completely distinct from the counties.
Guest MattP Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 Why not we all go to Trent Bridge to watch England, it's not that big a step to watch the East midlands, but I wouldn't go to watch a Nottingham franchise. The East Midlands franchise would play 2 home games at Trent Bridge, 2 at Grace road and 2 in Derby, tapping in to the potential of all cities and not favouring the bigger counties. The alternative would be to have pure franchises with a figure head, so a Flintoff XI, a Swann XI, a Vaughan XI, then each ground can bid for certain games so it is more of a roadshow with the franchises completely distinct from the counties. It's a huge step, I've supported Leicester and England since I've been olf enough to watch the sport, never the East Midlands, would you go and watch an East Midlands football team alongside Derby and Forest fans? Of course you wouldn't.
Captain... Posted 28 July 2015 Author Posted 28 July 2015 It's a huge step, I've supported Leicester and England since I've been olf enough to watch the sport, never the East Midlands, would you go and watch an East Midlands football team alongside Derby and Forest fans? Of course you wouldn't. Cricket isn't football, it isn't as tribal, but you wouldn't need to go to Nottingham, you just go to the games at grace road to see some of the best cricketers in the world have a slog. Geographical franchises would just be a way of dividing up the country and try and instil a bit of support, if there was a T20 competition that was held in the UK and one of the Franchises was the East midlands, would you have a natural affinity with them? We would effectively have to start from scratch with cheap tickets in the summer holidays trying to get kids involved and is shown on terrestrial TV.
Voll Blau Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 As others have said, are you really going to get better crowds and a higher TV audience for it? Nobody outside Nottingham is going to support a team with that name. Even in a cricket mad county like Yorkshire I can't see folks from Sheffield or Hull or wherever supporting a club called Leeds. Why the need to compete with the IPL? There's such an unhealthy obsession in modern sport with governing bodies thinking their league has to be the one that makes the most money and has the most appeal. Just market T20 county games as a great lads' night out, as it was originally, and get the crowds in that way.
Guest MattP Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 Cricket isn't football, it isn't as tribal, but you wouldn't need to go to Nottingham, you just go to the games at grace road to see some of the best cricketers in the world have a slog. Geographical franchises would just be a way of dividing up the country and try and instil a bit of support, if there was a T20 competition that was held in the UK and one of the Franchises was the East midlands, would you have a natural affinity with them? We would effectively have to start from scratch with cheap tickets in the summer holidays trying to get kids involved and is shown on terrestrial TV. I think Leicestershire's fans are actually very tribal, from Stench's boys on the benches to the same people you see at ther pavillion every match. To still be going to watch Leicestershire these days you have to have an incredible sense of loyalty and tribalism, I think you are seriously underestimating the people who goto county cricket, Trent Bridge gets very close to a sell out as does our own place, why would either of us risk this for a shot at an East Midlands team? Who would even fund it? How would the teams be selected? It would be Nottinghamshire I presume just under the name of the East Midlands? Terrestrial? So the best thing about T20 that is the Sky team who cover it also have to go? The more I think about this idea the more I think it would kill the one successful thing county cricket has done in the last twenty years.
Captain... Posted 28 July 2015 Author Posted 28 July 2015 As others have said, are you really going to get better crowds and a higher TV audience for it? Nobody outside Nottingham is going to support a team with that name. Even in a cricket mad county like Yorkshire I can't see folks from Sheffield or Hull or wherever supporting a club called Leeds. Why the need to compete with the IPL? There's such an unhealthy obsession in modern sport with governing bodies thinking their league has to be the one that makes the most money and has the most appeal. Just market T20 county games as a great lads' night out, as it was originally, and get the crowds in that way. It's a fair point, but the domestic game is dying on its arse here, and you can understand why they are looking enviously at the IPL and the Big Bash and would look at trying to use this as a springboard to boost the county game.
Guest MattP Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 As others have said, are you really going to get better crowds and a higher TV audience for it? Nobody outside Nottingham is going to support a team with that name. Even in a cricket mad county like Yorkshire I can't see folks from Sheffield or Hull or wherever supporting a club called Leeds. Why the need to compete with the IPL? There's such an unhealthy obsession in modern sport with governing bodies thinking their league has to be the one that makes the most money and has the most appeal. Just market T20 county games as a great lads' night out, as it was originally, and get the crowds in that way.
Captain... Posted 28 July 2015 Author Posted 28 July 2015 I think Leicestershire's fans are actually very tribal, from Stench's boys on the benches to the same people you see at ther pavillion every match. To still be going to watch Leicestershire these days you have to have an incredible sense of loyalty and tribalism, I think you are seriously underestimating the people who goto county cricket, Trent Bridge gets very close to a sell out as does our own place, why would either of us risk this for a shot at an East Midlands team? Who would even fund it? How would the teams be selected? It would be Nottinghamshire I presume just under the name of the East Midlands? Terrestrial? So the best thing about T20 that is the Sky team who cover it also have to go? The more I think about this idea the more I think it would kill the one successful thing county cricket has done in the last twenty years. But the point is not to attract the county stalwarts who go to every game, it is to attract new fans, but then if you say that they are more or less selling out then maybe it isn't necessary, the impression I got from the article was that T20 games were not well attended.
Guest MattP Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 It's a fair point, but the domestic game is dying on its arse here, and you can understand why they are looking enviously at the IPL and the Big Bash and would look at trying to use this as a springboard to boost the county game. More people attended T20 cricket last year than in it's history in England. http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/articles/domestic-t20-crowds-break-700000-barrier Comparing us to Australia or India just isn't right, cricket is the national sport in both of those countries, it's not here.
RowlattsFox Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 People of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Essex, Durham, Warwickshire, Essex etc all already unite for a regional based team. Is that any different to an East Midlands team other than perhaps tradition? I personally think T20 should be about fun, introducing kids to the game and not about tribalism. I follow Leicestershire but I wouldn't say I'm hardcode, maybe others are different but for me it should be about an enjoyable day/night of cricket.
Captain... Posted 28 July 2015 Author Posted 28 July 2015 More people attended T20 cricket last year than in it's history in England. http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/articles/domestic-t20-crowds-break-700000-barrier Comparing us to Australia or India just isn't right, cricket is the national sport in both of those countries, it's not here. Fair enough, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Lionator Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 Would never work. It'd instantly kill off many counties who use the income from T20 to stay afloat. The Big Bash is a success because they have 6 state teams which is easily transferable to 8 franchises. South Africa tried it with their 18 provincial teams being squeezed into 6 franchises and in T20 terms, it has never ever taken off.
Voll Blau Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 People of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Essex, Durham, Warwickshire, Essex etc all already unite for a regional based team. Is that any different to an East Midlands team other than perhaps tradition? I personally think T20 should be about fun, introducing kids to the game and not about tribalism. I follow Leicestershire but I wouldn't say I'm hardcode, maybe others are different but for me it should be about an enjoyable day/night of cricket. Well yes, but those examples you've just mentioned all have their roots as historic counties. The East Midlands doesn't. People in Blackpool, Preston, Manchester etc all still feel Lancastrian even if their main ground technically isn't in that county any more. If you want to introduce more kids to the game, surely having more of an opportunity to do that by having teams based near to where they live has to be the way to go. How many parents would be willing to drive their kids up from Leicester or the south of the county all the way to Nottingham for a game of cricket? It's a big ask for a weekday evening.
Guest MattP Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 Fair enough, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Plenty of things we can still do to improve it, but I don't think destroying the county system is the way forward. Aiming for a Big Bash or IPL isn't going to work though, we don't have the billionaires of India or the weather or fanatical state support of Australia.
chrishlcfc Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 As many have said this would spell the end for Leicestershire, we barely survive on the money we earn anyway and 90% of that money comes through the t20 games that we play. I can't realistically see any reasons why this would work it would be completely different to the ipl and big bash.
CosbehFox Posted 28 July 2015 Posted 28 July 2015 I'd make the format smaller and include all counties with possibly Scotland, Ireland or Netherlands within. Therefore lends itself to 4 groups of 5 making the tournament smaller and the period shorter. The line commonly cited by world class players are that the period of the competition is too long. This wouldn't just hurt the counties likes us or Derbyshire but even well run counties like Worcestershire who've done excellent over the past few years with player production, to ask them to go in with Warwickshire is terrible.
Captain... Posted 28 July 2015 Author Posted 28 July 2015 I'd make the format smaller and include all counties with possibly Scotland, Ireland or Netherlands within. Therefore lends itself to 4 groups of 5 making the tournament smaller and the period shorter. The line commonly cited by world class players are that the period of the competition is too long. This wouldn't just hurt the counties likes us or Derbyshire but even well run counties like Worcestershire who've done excellent over the past few years with player production, to ask them to go in with Warwickshire is terrible. What the IPL has that the English t20 league currently doesn't is the absolute world class talent. Fewer games is one thing, but they need to make the time scale shorter and relax the number of foreigners. Have it over 4 weeks if possible then a finals weekend for the winners of each group or two go into quarter finals.The other problem is the timing we could only do it in the summer, and that is dominated by test cricket, which means the main draws, the English players would be ineligible to play. So you either fit it in around the tests, which makes the tournament last a lot longer, or you squeeze it in between the 2 test series. Which would mean that we would potentially lose out on an ODI Series, but if for example we had had a tournament between NZ tests and the Ashes the kiwis and Aussies would be very likely to play as they would already be in the country. Problem is I don't see the ECB compromising the tests for a T20 tournament.
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