Leicestershire County Cricket Club

[Cake]

Good point. 

 

Kent got rolled in about 3 sessions over 4 days

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

On 13/06/2019 at 18:06, everton carr said:

Should have declared and put Middlesx in reckon Abbas would have been unplayable in the conditions 

Lol and Middlesex could of declared as well, then bowled us out, not sure about Abbas and the conditions, pitch looked ok and the ball was wet.

[Corky]

Oh look, another weekend when there is no county cricket. Let's get the crowds in.

[Voll Blau]

3 minutes ago, Corky said:

Oh look, another weekend when there is no county cricket. Let's get the crowds in.

Don't worry. I'm sure we all can't wait for The Hundred to magically get prime slots next summer...

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

4 minutes ago, Corky said:

Oh look, another weekend when there is no county cricket. Let's get the crowds in.

It’s bizarre isn’t it, the loss of the 40 over  Sunday league is a real shame

[CosbehFox]

1 minute ago, Voll Blau said:

Don't worry. I'm sure we all can't wait for The Hundred to magically get prime slots next summer...

ECB really don't work in tandem do they?

 

World Cup on, get some interest in Cricket and nothing on domestically. 

Edited 15 June 2019 by Cardiff_Fox

[Corky]

I don't get the logic of playing Monday to Thursday. Surely a Friday/ Saturday start would be ideal? There is no one-day cricket, no T20 so why not put the schedule in place to get the best opportunity of enticing people?

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

There is no logic with the ECB, they’ll run our domestic T20 down instead of revamping what could still be a good competition if done correctly (more overseas players, games played in a shorter period) and they’ll push the 100 when we didn’t need another competition, it’s all designed to make the big clubs richer and reduce the chances even further of lesser countries being successful until they decide they’re not needed anymore 

[CosbehFox]

17 minutes ago, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

There is no logic with the ECB, they’ll run our domestic T20 down instead of revamping what could still be a good competition if done correctly (more overseas players, games played in a shorter period) and they’ll push the 100 when we didn’t need another competition, it’s all designed to make the big clubs richer and reduce the chances even further of lesser countries being successful until they decide they’re not needed anymore 

Ultimately it's all about the TV audience rather than trying to raise participation levels and crowds at all grounds. TV deals pay the ECB suits. 

[everton carr]

55 minutes ago, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

Lol and Middlesex could of declared as well, then bowled us out, not sure about Abbas and the conditions, pitch looked ok and the ball was wet.

Yes but you only get  bonus points for 1st innings so wont have been any point

[everton carr]

49 minutes ago, Corky said:

Oh look, another weekend when there is no county cricket. Let's get the crowds in.

The surprising thing though is  that when they do have Sunday starts they get less crowds then during the working week

[Walshy5]

1 hour ago, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

There is no logic with the ECB, they’ll run our domestic T20 down instead of revamping what could still be a good competition if done correctly (more overseas players, games played in a shorter period) and they’ll push the 100 when we didn’t need another competition, it’s all designed to make the big clubs richer and reduce the chances even further of lesser countries being successful until they decide they’re not needed anymore 

My thoughts exactly. Spot on unfortunately!

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

1 hour ago, everton carr said:

Yes but you only get  bonus points for 1st innings so wont have been any point

I know that but what if they’d bowled us out? We declare, they declare and we could get knocked over for not many, that’s why the scenario you suggested didn’t happen, too risky.

[everton carr]

3 hours ago, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

I know that but what if they’d bowled us out? We declare, they declare and we could get knocked over for not many, that’s why the scenario you suggested didn’t happen, too risky.

True but with the forecast there were never going to be enough overs to force a result just think the extra point or 2 would have been nice

[Cake]

On 15/06/2019 at 11:25, Corky said:

I don't get the logic of playing Monday to Thursday. Surely a Friday/ Saturday start would be ideal? There is no one-day cricket, no T20 so why not put the schedule in place to get the best opportunity of enticing people?

I don't understand it either. I see very little due to this. I can't see how the game will continue to exist as it is. 

 

Something along the old Sunday league would be great, could run through the season. Nothing really to watch in high summer at the weekends. 

[Voll Blau]

On 15/06/2019 at 10:47, Cardiff_Fox said:

Ultimately it's all about the TV audience rather than trying to raise participation levels and crowds at all grounds. TV deals pay the ECB suits. 

I don't even think the audience factors in, just the money. TV audience levels would be much, much higher if games were available on free to air.

[The People's Hero]

Doesn't even seem to be a livestream today? Usually is for the Home CC games?

 

Horton gone already. Not his year. Not sure I'd keep him around to be honest.

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, Voll Blau said:

I don't even think the audience factors in, just the money. TV audience levels would be much, much higher if games were available on free to air.

TV Deal I suppose I was getting at more than anything. 

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

18 minutes ago, The People's Hero said:

Doesn't even seem to be a livestream today? Usually is for the Home CC games?

 

Horton gone already. Not his year. Not sure I'd keep him around to be honest.

Pretty sure he’s got another year 

[The People's Hero]

1 hour ago, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

Pretty sure he’s got another year 

That's good because we'd struggle to replace his County Championship average of 24.

 

And that's before his duck today!

 

 

[AjcW]

I'd really like to hear some actual opinions on HOW the ECB could keep the county game thriving.... this thread has a lot of statements and anger but not a lot of solutions (not a criticism, just want to hear peoples ideas)

I'm keen to write a bit of a piece about this from a marketing perspective so would be really interested to hear from those of you who actually go regularly/watch the streams.

[Voll Blau]

1 hour ago, AjcW said:

I'd really like to hear some actual opinions on HOW the ECB could keep the county game thriving.... this thread has a lot of statements and anger but not a lot of solutions (not a criticism, just want to hear peoples ideas)

I'm keen to write a bit of a piece about this from a marketing perspective so would be really interested to hear from those of you who actually go regularly/watch the streams.

*Rubs hands*

 

- Scrap The Hundred. Now.

- Negotiate to get more county games on free to air TV, preferably hallmark T20 fixtures like the Roses match, London derby etc - as well as finals day. If more people are aware of the county game's existence, and can see matches which have notably good atmospheres on TV, then more people are likely to get involved in following it.

- By the same token, don't put all your eggs in the T20 basket. Remember what it was invented to be - a great after-work/lads' night out involving local derbies with the aim of getting more people into cricket. It might be a golden goose, but English people will get bored if there's too much of it. Less is more, and the IPL model will never work here because we simply don't buy into it. Have it in a dedicated window with helpful start times which will enable more people to attend.

- Play as much county cricket as possible around weekends and bank holidays, so Friday starts for Championship games for example. You can be a bit more flexible about this during the school holidays, when it can be billed as a great way to get the kids out of the house for a day in the week with dirt cheap tickets for under 16s.

- During term-time, invite schools in to grounds for free to fill up seats which would otherwise be empty - let them play mini games on the outfield during breaks, and even tie it in with a bit of education too to convince the teachers it's a good idea (there's shitloads you could do around maths and cricket for example).

- Revive the old one-day Cup format to involve Minor Counties, unis and County Board sides. Big it up as the FA Cup of cricket. Oh, and put at least one game per round, and the final, on free to air TV too.

- Play more games at out-grounds to get it out to the public (this is being done to some extent right now due to the World Cup, hopefully they get decent crowds in).

- Make England players available for as many games as possible. Oh, and put some England games on free to air TV too so members of the public actually know who they fvcking are!

Edited 17 June 2019 by Voll Blau

[CosbehFox]

17 minutes ago, AjcW said:

I'd really like to hear some actual opinions on HOW the ECB could keep the county game thriving.... this thread has a lot of statements and anger but not a lot of solutions (not a criticism, just want to hear peoples ideas)

I'm keen to write a bit of a piece about this from a marketing perspective so would be really interested to hear from those of you who actually go regularly/watch the streams.

The T20 Blast is a perfectly good tournament which sells out grounds repeatedly. However it goes on for too long meaning that it's difficult to keep momentum with it and players aren't willing to come over for such a long spell of time. Equally as much as the T20 has certainly got 'lads' interest in it, the sport needs to make a play for youngsters too. Tweak the format to make the tournament shorter. Counties want more fixtures but I'm not particularly sure that even works as it always leads to awkwardly arranged fixtures on Tuesdays/Wednesdays. 

 

The ECB has allowed its 50 over competition to deteriorate as well. Personally I like the knockout cup nature of the old Benson and Hedges. But the counties want more fixtures, more chances to get money and went to a group system. This is largely played on midweek days as well rather than old Sunday format which worked well. The groups are largely based on positioning as opposed to locality. 

 

The Championship has to stay in some form - the format of that I don't think really matters to a degree but it has to be established by all that it's a necessary part of cricket. The likes of the Sheffield Shield are in much the same dilemma but it's just accepted that to get test match players you need a longer form of cricket as part of your domestic scene. 

 

Get English cricket regularly back on free to air. It's last spike in big popularity was based around the famous Ashes series of 2005 but that was of course shown on Channel 4 and accessible. This World Cup has highlights but post midnight. 

[The People's Hero]

Play more at out grounds and encourage  free ticket issuance to schools and more importantly, cricket clubs with colts/youth sections. (Do we still call them colts? Or am I old now?)

 

County clubs to push players who aren't in the first XI to go out in to the community to schools or village matches to talk to people and increase engagement.

 

Make sure the county cricket calendar continues regardless of international commitments. There should be cricket for people to watch every Saturday and Sunday. Maybe every time a 1st XI plays away, the reverse fixture for the 2s should be at home.

 

Get rid of the hundred idea altogether.

 

 

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

Both the above posts pretty much answer the question asked perfectly in my opinion. And let England stars play for their counties when available instead of wrapping them up in cotton wool.

 

As for the foxes Dexter is looking on for a 100