England / News
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Board considers domestic overhaul
ECB considers cutting Championship fixtures
Cricinfo staff
July 1, 2009
As the Twenty20 juggernaut rumbles on, a report in the Daily Telegraph claims that the ECB is considering cutting the number of County Championship matches to accommodate the Champions League, which will take place in September 2010.
A proposal by Alan Fordham, the ECB's head of cricket operations, includes several schemes such as reducing the number of Championship games from 16 to 12, and possibly splitting the tournament into three divisions.
At the heart of the idea is the realisation that squeezing in two Twenty20 competitions from 2010 will mean an increasingly punishing schedule for county players. The ECB is also, so the article claims, interested in hosting the Champions League which would overshadow the traditional end to the season.
"I'm aware this is under consideration," Durham chief executive, David Harker, told Cricinfo. "We are torn between the current situation which from our point of view is about having enough time between games. This season we have had a number of horrendous journeys the length of the country and the schedule like that concerns me.
"However, we are aware that reducing Championship matches can eat into the supporter base and there's no easy answer."
A consultation paper was circulated to counties over the weekend, but it will face a hard time getting approval from chairmen as it will be mean a reduction in the number of matches available for their members to watch, as well quite possibly producing a far more complex schedule.
In a bid to appease these concerns, the ECB might be willing to introduce yet another late-season domestic competition.
A final decision is expected at the full ECB board meeting on July 29.
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A good move ... or throwing out tradition to chase more money?
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Why should Four Day cricket suffer for more Twenty 20, surely the 50 over game is the one that should make way. I can only see the longer one day competition being played less on the International stage. The Twenty 20 World Cup in England was a sucess and we should hold it every year. By cutting the 50 over game County Championship games could be moved to May to make room for the Twenty 20 season during the heart of the Summer. The England players should then be asked to play in the May games to prove their form against up and coming players.
Posted by Paul_JT on (July 04 2009, 09:46 AM GMT)Farcical - Having planned too much Twenty20, the solution is to change the Championship format of two divisions - the only recent change made for cricketing (instead of money) reasons. Keeping the domestic structure simple is key - especially the scheduling. I favour an increase in the existing Twenty20 Cup to 12 group games by including Netherlands, Ireland and Scotland. If the FP Trophy is scrapped (wrong format, wrong time of year), 4 day cricket could start; Fridays early season, Sundays with Twenty20 played on Friday evenings in June, and Tuesdays when the current Pro40 begins on Sundays in August. Excluding Bank Holidays and the odd change for TV, this provides a rest day between fixtures.Twenty20 should begin with a block around the Spring Bank Holiday and another block before the first Test in July (i.e. now). Twenty20 Finals Day must become a fixed date in the calendar - last Saturday in July? P20 could not be poorer planned with the football World Cup next summer - Forget it!
Posted by GOSMGR2 on (July 03 2009, 20:57 PM GMT)My suggestion for Championship cricket is as follows 3 divisions of 6,4 pts for a win,1 pt each for a draw,1 pt for first innings lead,and 1 pt if you win by an innings.Points tie-breakers should be results between teams and then run rate.There should be run penalties each session for slow over rates.At the end of the season the top four play off against each other to decide champions,1st v 4th and 2nd v 3rd.The bottom team in the top 2 divisions automatically gets relegated.The second to last team plays off against the runner-up of the division below.In the event of a draw in play-off matches,first innings lead is the tie breaker.Play a full set of fixtures every week till the end of May and then resume the final part of the Championship at the start of August.There should be a two division 50 over league(inc Scotland and Ireland) played on Sundays,with a 50 over cup competition as well on the same day running throughout the season.1 20/20 competition as now in June and July.
Posted by gallarate on (July 03 2009, 06:56 AM GMT)Suggest one 20-20 everybody plays everybody, top 4 playing off on finals day, one 50 over competition everyone plays everyone, top 4 playing off, 2 division championship as now but playing 8 matches - each other once, 2 up 2 down, then 4 day Chapionship Cup - 4 groups of 5 including touring A team plus Ireland or Holland, top 2 go through to quarter finals then draw for semis finals, using folllowing system of scoring to repllace present system of bonus points. 10 pts for win 2 for draw. 1 batting pt if match scoring rate over 3 runs an over 1 batting pt if match average runs per wicket is over 30 1 bowling pt for getting 10 match wickets 1 bowling pt for getting 20 match wickets 1 bonus pt for getting wwithin 2 wickets of win in drawn or lost match 1 bonus pt for getting within 30 runs of win in drawn or lost match. drawn matches won by teams with most bonus pts
Posted by CliffM on (July 01 2009, 12:33 PM GMT)Please let us not return to three-day matches with their dreary contrived finishes. Daniel is right - let's have a sensible number of competitions. Better still we could do this and structure the season properly with each type of cricket in a clearly defined part of the season. This season has been a complete stop-start shambles. One other thought: we could go to three divisions of seven teams in the County Championship by including Holland, Ireland and Scotland thus doing our bit to bridge the gap between the top Associates and the Test-playing countries.
Posted by Nickherts on (July 01 2009, 11:00 AM GMT)The ideal scenario would be to have one 20/20 competition rather than two. The best format would be a 22 game league. Each side would play the others from their current regional group home and away and the other twelve sides home or away. The sides would be ranked in one overall league table, like the IPL. At the end the top two would automatically qualify for semi finals. 3rd v 6th and 4th v 5th play-offs would determine the other two semi finalists. This proposal would actually reduce the number of 20/20 games planned for next season, thus leaving room for the Championship to continue as it is. As things stand there is one obvious solution to create space in the schedule. Go back to 8x4 and 8x3 day games, the 3 day games being played in July and August over 96 overs per day with 10.30 starts. The 8 days you save is the equivalent to two championship matches. Also, if no bonus points were to be available on the last day captains wouldl be encouraged to go for positive results.
Posted by JGG32 on (July 01 2009, 10:46 AM GMT)Totally agree with Daniel as well, surely dropping the Pro40 competition (a format of the game that, correct me if I'm wrong, isnt played anywhere else in the world?!) would provide a better solution to the problem of fixture congestion?
Posted by davidmoz on (July 01 2009, 09:22 AM GMT)I agree with the comment Daniel made, although maybe just having a Twenty20 league instead of a cup would be the way forward- Twenty20 attendances have bene declining in the past two seasons, partly as there are more games to go to, and also due to strange fixture arrangements- Lancashire had 4 games in a 2 week period, then a gap until our last game. Spacing the fixtures out (and perhaps holding the matches during the school holidays to get more children attending) may have been better. The Championship needs to be left alone. The two division system has worked well, keeping it interesting for more teams throughout the year, but three divisions would be ridiculous.
Posted by Daniel_Smith on (July 01 2009, 08:24 AM GMT)If you want to reduce the schedule for the players then why not have three competitions? The 20/20 cup, the County Championship as it presently is, and the 50 over cup competition. The more messing about and adding pointless competitions and the shameless pursuit of 20/20 money will only result in eventually killing the goose that lays the golden egg.