The English Summer of Cricket

[Wembley1966]

Don't you mean:

Cricket in an athletics stadium would be excellent .I'd happily go to that .

[WestHamIFC]

I'm from South East London but live in Gidea Park. I care nothing for Essex cricket and watch Kent on a regular basis. I would watch Essex with my kids at Stratford if it was priced correctly. I won't pay the money they want at Chelmsford out of principle. My kids are Kent fans even though they have barely set foot in the place

Try comparing what Kent try and charge with the Essex prices - there's barely any difference!!:

http://www.kentcricket.co.uk/ticketing-shop/tickets

http://www.essexcricket.org.uk/tickets


I 'effin hate Kent for these 2 reasons amongst others:

- Essex's main local rivals

- Too many Millwall fans support them

[WestHamIFC]

"Howzat! Cricket at the OS

The chance of Cricket being played at the Olympic Stadium next year moved a step closer today."

http://www.claretandhugh.info/anyone-fo ... -at-the-os

Graham Gooch on the KUMB Podcast (28 mins in) has elaborated on what was discussed with Newham Council last November:

• http://www.kumb.com/story.php?id=129639

- Basically Essex CCC are hoping to play "4-5 games" of T20 cricket at the OS during an available window in July, starting from 2017.

A Drop-In Pitch will be used, same as the ones they've been using in Australia for the past 35 years.

[gavros]

I reckon Middlesex and Surrey might see the OS as something of a rival to Lords and the Oval, hence they may baulk at the idea of playing there. In which case Essex, Kent, Sussex and perhaps Northants in a mini tournament.

[WestHamIFC]

I reckon Middlesex and Surrey might see the OS as something of a rival to Lords and the Oval, hence they may baulk at the idea of playing there. In which case Essex, Kent, Sussex and perhaps Northants in a mini tournament.

Why play a mini tournament? I'm not sure how they'd possibly fit that into the already over-loaded fixture schedule?

Surely Essex would just play their T20 Blast home matches at the OS during the June/July window?


Years ago Essex used to play in Leyton so it would be nice to bring the club back to it's old stomping ground.

[costa75]

At some point T20 in this country will get it's act together and really start to try and compete with The IPL and The Big bash. A lot of people are talking about doing away with the county format and making this new T20 a city based league. We cannot have teams that basically play in glorified parks! As we all know, we are very slow to get things done in this country, but this will happen, probably when the existing T.V contracts expire. My guess for the teams would be.....

Southampton (Hampshire)..... The Ageas Bowl.
Cardiff (Glamorgan)................. SSC SWALEC stadium.
Leeds (Yorkshire)...................... Headingley.
Manchester (Lancashire).......... Old Trafford.
Birmingham (Warwickshire)..... Edgbaston.
Nottingham (Nottinghamshire)... Trent Bridge.
Newcastle (Durham).................... Riverside Ground.
London (Middlesex)..................... Lords.
London (Surrey)............................The Kia Oval.
London (Essex)............................ The Olympic stadium.

[WestHamIFC]

A lot of people are talking about doing away with the county format and making this new T20 a city based league.

I agree the English T20 needs to sort itself out but I don't see why or how re-naming the teams after cities/towns would make any difference?

If anything it will surely alienate fans from elsewhere within the county??

Can you honestly see Durham fans from Sunderland going to support the club re-named as Newcastle??!

Likewise folks from Portsmouth supporting 'Southampton', Sheffield residents supporting 'Leeds', etc, etc - it just wouldn't work here.

[costa75]

I agree the English T20 needs to sort itself out but I don't see why or how re-naming the teams after cities/towns would make any difference?

The IPL and The Big bash have both been a huge success and they will want to follow those models as closely as possible, as they should. The county model does not work the way it is now, and it will work if they put the money in and do it right, and not half arsed, as is often the way in this country. Rebranding teams from county names to the name of the city that the stadium is in has already started. Warwickshire now call themselves 'The Birmingham Bears!' I doubt if the people in charge of WCC were that concerned about the people of Coventry, Warwick, Stratford and other surrounding places. Durham may be a problem, as it's not in Newcastle or Sunderland, but I'm not sure they are even included in this new mooted format.

It would work for me...... I love my cricket but rarely get to domestic T20 games because I can't be bothered to haul myself all the way to Chelmsford. I would go if it was at Stratford, as I'm sure lots of others will! A lot more than currently go to Chelmsford anyways.

[thosewerethedays]

You can't equate T20 cricket in England to the Big bash & IPL, as we just don't have the guaranteed warm weather of India and Australia.
Essex sell out their ground for all T20's as people have to buy in advance, if you have matches at the OS, no-one would buy in advance, as they know they could just turn up on the night, due to the capacity of the stadium. So in bad weather the stadium would be empty.
Also, unless there are very big crowds there would be no atmosphere in a stadium the size of OS.
The only possible advantage is that maybe due to the Asian heritage of large parts of East London, you might draw bigger crowds than are possible at Essex, due to capacity, but you won't know how many until you give it a try.
I think just playing some Essex T20 games at the OS is the best way to see what the demand is.
I don't think that just because it's easier for one person to got to OS rather than Chelmsford, is a guarantee that it's the right move to scrap county based cricket.

[Glory Hunter]

I think the biggest barriers to a franchise based league in England are a) the objections of the established counties, and b) the long histories of many English sports clubs.

With regard to a) I'm not sure how you will convince the chairman of Somerset that the sole franchise in the West of England will be based in Bristol (for example), ditto Leicestershire / Derbyshire with Nottingham.

With regard to b) there are very few examples of this in the UK - I can think of MK Dons and Wasps rugby who seem to have followed this model with some success, but both moved into areas where there was no real competition - I can't see lifelong Essex fans suddenly switching allegiance to the East London Leopards (especially when the existence of this new club has a direct detrimental effect on the old one).

There may be some mileage in regional franchises (similar to Welsh Rugby) where the financial benefit trickles down to the feeder counties - eg a South East Franchise could cover Essex and Kent, West Somerset and Gloucestershire, but even then, I can't imagine old rivals suddenly shaking hands and agreeing to support a new team based on a historically non-existent regional affinity.

The best I think we could manage is a two division T20 league which means the current County system can be retained without a bloated fixture list and the finals day could be a promotion / relegation play-off and a championship play-off.

[WestHamIFC]

The IPL and The Big bash have both been a huge success and they will want to follow those models as closely as possible, as they should. The county model does not work the way it is now, and it will work if they put the money in and do it right, and not half arsed, as is often the way in this country.

Agreed, with the exception of re-naming the county sides after a single town/city which will instead of gaining more fans, would have the exact opposite effect by ostracising fans not from that town/city.

Rebranding teams from county names to the name of the city that the stadium is in has already started. Warwickshire now call themselves 'The Birmingham Bears!' I doubt if the people in charge of WCC were that concerned about the people of Coventry, Warwick, Stratford and other surrounding places.

No they weren't, and that was the problem. The fans were certainly concerned though!!! It caused huge controversy and the club lost great hordes of T20 fans from West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Walsall, etc, etc:

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/c ... ut-6344025


Why on earth would any other county club want to follow that example and also lose a huge swathe of fans? Makes as much sense as a solar-powered torch...

I love my cricket but rarely get to domestic T20 games because I can't be bothered to haul myself all the way to Chelmsford. I would go if it was at Stratford, as I'm sure lots of others will! A lot more than currently go to Chelmsford anyways.

I agree 100% Essex should play in Stratford. I don't see why they should their name to a town or city though? Essex play in Chelmsford, Southend, Colchester, and in the past Ilford and Leyton. Changing their name to just one of these towns would utterly be non-sensical and a sure fire way of losing fans.

I think the biggest barriers to a franchise based league in England are a) the objections of the established counties, and b) the long histories of many English sports clubs.

Absolutely. Can you imagine Essex being re-named as Leyton CCC and then expect people from Southend and Colchester to support them??! Madness.

There may be some mileage in regional franchises... eg a South East Franchise could cover Essex and Kent

Has this even been suggested? What a dreadful idea!! As bad as re-naming county clubs after a single town/city.
Given how much Essex fans hate and detest Kent it would be every bit as crazy as suggesting merging West Ham Utd with Millwall FC!!

[Glory Hunter]

Yeah, I realised the idea of regional franchises was bobbins as I wrote it. The WRU have persisted with the idea in the hope that in a generation many of the old school fans will have gravitated to the franchises bit there is still a lot of resentment among the old school fans (I had a Pontypridd fan working for me, and he has basically stopped supporting Wales because the WRU ****ed Ponty over).

I really don't see how a city based system can work here, too many cities, too many old clubs wanting a piece of the action, if we want T20 to be taken seriously, we need to find a way to do it without alienating the existing counties.

[brownout]

I will watch Essex at Chelmsford or the OS (or Lords, Oval, Southend or Colchester), but I have no interest at all in watching and 'London' cricket team any more than I would an 'Essex' football team. The IPL like any competition with manufactured sides will come and go as there is no tradition or loyalty. English counties & football clubs survive forever (even if as has been seen with a number of football clubs, fans have to reform them and start again at a low level).

[Trap1]

At some point T20 in this country will get it's act together and really start to try and compete with The IPL and The Big bash. A lot of people are talking about doing away with the county format and making this new T20 a city based league. We cannot have teams that basically play in glorified parks! As we all know, we are very slow to get things done in this country, but this will happen, probably when the existing T.V contracts expire. My guess for the teams would be.....

Southampton (Hampshire)..... The Ageas Bowl.
Cardiff (Glamorgan)................. SSC SWALEC stadium.
Leeds (Yorkshire)...................... Headingley.
Manchester (Lancashire).......... Old Trafford.
Birmingham (Warwickshire)..... Edgbaston.
Nottingham (Nottinghamshire)... Trent Bridge.
Newcastle (Durham).................... Riverside Ground.
London (Middlesex)..................... Lords.
London (Surrey)............................The Kia Oval.
London (Essex)............................ The Olympic stadium.

Little chance of that happening I'm pleased to say!!

The counties have given themselves until 2019 to change the narrative on franchises (of which they would own in any case). Floodlights across the board by 2017, a summer holiday T20 block and various other initiatives are being planned to help broaden appeal for the next tv rights deal. The opponents of a franchise system are from both ends of the spectrum, while smaller counties have been very vocal for obvious reasons, Surrey objected as well. That said, counties are going to need to shape up. The most vulnerable being Worcestershire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Sussex, Kent and Essex. The latter showing their willingness to confront that by using the OS to build a bigger support and make it difficult to dislodge. Good on Essex, they are a well supported county who can make that a success.

I personally hate the idea of franchises, its supporters all are haunted by huge ground development debt.

[UptonPK]

Not a massive cricket fan by any means so don't really care about the politics but I could definitely see myself going to watch it at the OS.

[WestHamIFC]

Little chance of that happening I'm pleased to say!!

The counties have given themselves until 2019 to change the narrative on franchises (of which they would own in any case). Floodlights across the board by 2017, a summer holiday T20 block and various other initiatives are being planned to help broaden appeal for the next tv rights deal.

Glad to hear it Trap1!

Any idea when the "T20 block" will be? I think it needs to be in June to coincide with when the OS is available for Essex to use...

[Trap1]

Glad to hear it Trap1!

Any idea when the "T20 block" will be? I think it needs to be in June to coincide with when the OS is available for Essex to use...

It will follow the Royal London final which will be mid July. The idea is to run it for six weeks until the August Bank holiday. The Championship will be played in two blocks, start and end of season. Eight team first div and 10 in the second with 14 rounds in both divisions. With that in mind, only one promoted from the second this year. The Royal London and T20 format is unchanged.

[WestHamIFC]

It will follow the Royal London final which will be mid July. The idea is to run it for six weeks until the August Bank holiday.

Oh dear. The OS will be back in Football mode by then so I guess Essex will have to play their T20 games at Chelmsford..

[AMC1964]

Trap1 is pretty much spot on here. I have some interest being an Essex member for years. I bumped into Irani in our local the other week along with a few committee blokes, most of whom are Orient supporters having been at Leyton in the old days.

Essex are very much reliant on T20 income to support the rest of the cricket at chelmsford, it's basically a million quid a year in the bank. There is no way that they can afford to lose that by not having a ground big enough to get a franchise. Therefore proper formal negotiations are in progress to ensure Essex have sole use of the OS for T20 cricket from 2017 onwards.

The comments about weather killing crowds are valid. But they will still look to sell thousands of cheap tickets in advance. they do have Weather insurance in event of a total washout. Tickets are likely to be a tenner for adults and a quid for kids.

Lastly, I know a fair few Kent lads. None of them support Millwank., Palace, Charlton, West Ham and Gillingham seem to be the popular choices...

build it and they will come....

[WestHamIFC]

Therefore proper formal negotiations are in progress to ensure Essex have sole use of the OS for T20 cricket from 2017 onwards.

But if the T20 window is going to be in August that will be impossible, surely? The football season will be well underway by then...