24/06
STILL WAITING FOR THE PROMISED SLIDES LISA!
Still waiting for a meaningful consultation...
23/06
Still waiting for those slides to arrive, as promised by the CEO. The same slides that were used to waste most of the lunch break...
22/06
THE POSITION IS NOW CLEAR
THE MEMBERS WANT ONE THING
THE NOTTS TOP TABLE WANT SOMETHING ELSE, which of the five options that they went at lengths (22 minutes) to present, is their preferred option was not made clear and indeed a preference was denied.
THAT WAS NOT A CONSULTATION.
A consultation would require both sides to listen to each other
The women's game argument is now wearing a bit thin. Taking on extra teams without making provision for accommodation, pitches and facilities beforehand are the acts of myopic money driven fools. The Blaze arrived at TB with ECB monies attached.
The ground staff are apparently stretched, overworked - why not emply more ground staff if that is the case? Really it's wickets/grass that they are short of which requires extra venues and time.
An impassioned plea from the floor promoted Chesterfield Queen's Park as a possible solution to wicket shortages - it turns out the club will be discussing with Chesterfield with view to future staging of Blaze matches there, later this week.
That same impassioned speaker went on to breakdown the myth that there is too much cricket, even though it can be statistically proven that there are less balls being bowled now than at any other time for "a hundred years".
For the most intensively worked player, that equates to a 3 day week for six months of the year of his 12 month contract. Only one player in 2024 for Nottinghamshire had that "heavy workload". Mick Newell shook his head, trying to turn the argument around to how many hours his backroom army work.
All Trent Bridge eggs are firmly in the H*ndred basket to the support of a minority of Members (that filled in the flawed survey sent out by the club that only had multiple choice directed responses for members to select). That minority only responded to a question asking if TB should be a hosting venue for a H*ndred franchise - the only "surprise" there was a vast majority, in spite of the £ millions attached to being a hosting county still felt TB woud be better off for not being involved in the franchise circus. The positive minority response was read by the CEO as a seal of approval.
Yes the CEO used those results to make her points, selectively using the gathered data, ignoring any responses that she didn't want to acknowledge, to make her case that the membership is generally in favour of allowing her to steer the club/cricket in the direction that demands less men's cricket, more women's cricket and make room for future expansion of franchise cricket.
19/06
Pravda has confirmed: A members’ forum focusing on discussions around the cricketing schedule will take place at Trent Bridge on Sunday 22 June – day one of the Rothesay County Championship fixture against Yorkshire.
A panel consisting of Chair Andy Hunt, Chief Executive Lisa Pursehouse and Director of Cricket Mick Newell will share updates and take questions from the audience during the Lunch interval, which is scheduled to commence at 1pm.
With the Derek Randall Suite being used as a facility for members this summer, the Hadlee Hall, on the second floor of the Radcliffe Road Stand, will play host to the event.
17/06
Hi Everyone,
Given that a lot of people are dissatisfied with Notts’ survey on the ECB’s schedule review, I thought we should have our own with more detail in it. The anonymised results will of course be shared with the club. Please fill this in ASAP, it would be great to get the initial results to them before the members’ forum on Sunday.
Here’s the link: https://forms.gle/yC8c5XHa25p8LtnaA
Best wishes,
Nick Evans
24 Enfield St
Beeston
Nottingham
NG9 1DN
16/06
We'll know or more likely won't know by this time next week where we stand for 2026.
Yesterday this appeared
The schedule, retaining 14 county championship matches etc etc would be relatively easy IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT PRIORITIES
10/06
In twelve days time...
Andy and Lisa wrote:
We have put together a summary and background information to provide context on factors ranging from major matches to the player pathway and facilities. Browse the summary in full here…
We will also hold a members’ forum on during the lunch interval of Nottinghamshire vs Yorkshire on Sunday 22 June (scheduled for 1pm), in the Radcliffe Road Stand's Sobers or Hadlee Hall.
We will also hold a members’ forum on during the lunch interval of Nottinghamshire vs Yorkshire on Sunday 22 June (scheduled for 1pm), in the Radcliffe Road Stand's Sobers or Hadlee Hall.
You may have shared your thoughts on the survey emailed to you by the club, though questions were loaded and aimed in only one direction - a cut in the amount of cricket, the only undecided topic of discussion being where the cuts will be and how severe.
That is what the heirachy of the club call consultation.
It is my belief that the schedule and structure of the cricket season is complicated but if you have the right priorities, everything fits together if you avoid blocks. It would be a cake walk if the August competition never existed, but we're lumbered with that. Despite what we read from the ECB and PCA, there is less county cricket now being played by the average county cricketer than at any time since the reign of Queen Victoria, apart from in times of war or global pandemics but...
...if the recent article in the Cricketer is to be believed, there will be a cut in the T20 Blast. There will also be a cut in the number of championship matches, with one of three options, all of which are pretty dire and dreamed up before any consultation. Any changes to the structure of schedule needs 12 counties to vote in favour of it, but the cunning ECB want to avoid a vote all together and for county heads to come to a consensus.
Of course we don't even know what the consensus (of opinion) of the membership of Notts CCC is, the club have not bothered to find out, probably knowing that they will need deniability in discussions with their peers.
So dear member, on 22nd June Mr Hunt and Ms Pursehouse have invited us to a lecture on why members will lose another chunk of cricket that they enjoy and explain how as a democratic institution, owners of the club will be disenfranchised.
If the chair and the CEO love the championship, as they say that do, why don't they say that they will fight to preserve the integrity of the competition?
EGM Petition as mentioned in the recent View from the Bridge pod cast, "Future of the county game"
This what the CEO wrote to members in September 2016, was this the thin end of the wedge?
Dear Member,
When we wrote to you back in July to introduce an overview of the game’s new strategy, ‘Cricket Unleashed’, we said we would keep you informed in relation to any topics and themes that developed in the months that followed.
With that in mind, I am now writing to let you know the outcome of the recent meeting, attended by first class county Chairmen and Chief Executives, in relation to the future direction of domestic T20 cricket.
The priorities of ‘Cricket Unleashed’ are ‘Great Teams’, ‘Inspired Fans’, and ‘More Play’. The game has for some time been considering how it can increase participation, widen its reach and most importantly underpin the financial sustainability of all 18 first class counties and the recreational boards.
Given the uncertainty around the future volume of international and in particular Test cricket, domestic T20 cricket was identified as the format of the game best suited to deliver the above objectives.
Over the last few months, work has been on-going to identify the best possible domestic structure and five prospective options were considered. They ranged from maintaining the existing T20 Blast in its current format to the introduction of a brand new ten-team city-based competition. There has been a significant amount of independent analysis undertaken including financial modelling which was presented to us.
As you may have read by now in the media, the result of the meeting was that a preferred option was identified for further development. That option was for the existing T20 competition to remain and for a new eight-team competition to be created.
As a Club we believe that all 18 counties should continue to play domestic T20 cricket, so that the existing audience can be maintained. Given the financial pressures on many counties it was also important that any new competition would be jointly owned and the financial uplift shared equally amongst all 18. The preferred option delivers those two objectives and gives scope for the game to widen its appeal by attracting a new audience.
There is still a significant amount of detail that needs to be worked through in terms of how such a competition could work in practice. These considerations are many and include how the new competition will dovetail with the existing one, the composition of the playing squads and the selection of venues. The ECB and the Counties will now work together with the Professional Cricketers’ Association to develop the preferred option into a proposal that can be shared with you, our members, for your consideration.
This piece of work is likely to take a number of weeks and we will of course continue to keep you updated as we receive more information and as the process develops. However, should you wish to share any feedback now, there is a way for you to easily do so online here.
Finally, we would like to thank you for your support during what has been a testing 2016 season. Winter well, and we look forward to welcoming you back to Trent Bridge in 2017.
Ms LJ Pursehouse
Chief Executive
Mr R Tennant
Chairman
Has the fight gone out of the members/former members ? It is 9 years now since the decision, the first unofficial, but in practice binding decision in Sep 2016, to support a franchise short format competition, later to morph into the Hundred. The brave resistance and hard work put in by many, here and across the country, could not stem the tide . Are we beat ? Is cricket lost to greed and self interest ?
ReplyDeleteI've added that letter above now.
DeleteThanks
Delete82 NOT OUT
ReplyDeleteTHE QUESTION THAT SHOULD BE ASKED - — BUT ISNT?
At the end of the day do the ECB top brass simply want to see the end of the Blast Competition ? And then increase the 100 teams to ten or twelve and of course expand the number of 100 ball games ? Or will the 100 Ball game simply turn into a twenty over format and thus increase it appeal to foreign parts ?
What do others on here think the long term ECB plan is ? Talked about behind closed doors but never mentioned in public . Nudge nudge - wink wink - if only we knew !
Man the barricades
ReplyDeleteThe alternative survey link works for me (who does not sign into Google if it can possibly be avoided). Virginia.
ReplyDeleteTa
DeleteMy feeling is that the T20 blast will become like the one day cup. And the hundred will expand taking all the best players. Interest will wane with counties fielding under strength sides.
DeleteThe county Championship will be splint into small localish groups with quarterfinals
Semis and a final at the Hampshire Dust bowl.
Im sorry it sounds bleak but from what I'm hearing it's a sad destiny.
I think the answer is simple - one division, 17 games, of THREE-DAY cricket! That's 51 days instead of the 56 we have now, which should please those determined to reduce the number of Championship days, but an extra half-an-hour of play per day (total 104 overs) should help to mitigate the loss of overs.
DeleteAnd what would we gain?
- the integrity and fairness of the County Championship
- local derbies every year, for everyone
- more chance of international players appearing, as they're required for a shorter time
- an extra one or two home matches for each county
- more possibilities of cricket festivals at outgrounds.
Obviously 17 games of four-day cricket would be preferable, but it's clear that will not happen, and a number of matches never make it to the fourth day anyway. Three-day cricket should encourage adventurous cricket, and teams to play for the win, particularly with a reduction in the number of points for a draw. Surely it's better than some of the hideous ideas that are currently being suggested?
Ian
Yes Ian, I too have thought out going back to 3 days with longer days -daylight might be the limiting factor for overs in April and September but hey the County Championship coped for 100 years, but wait didn't the season start in May and played matches in August also then?
DeleteLosing the 2 divisions might be retrograde step too far, even for members judging by preliminary survey results.
Steve D, a proper knock-out cup in either List A or T20 formats is what is required. Bring in the National Counties, Scotland, Netherlands, Jersey, Guernsey etc make it a National cup - spreading the game and hopefully growing the game. Obviously it would need some qualifying groupings first to get the numbers right for the straight knock-out rounds.
Delete82 NOT OUT
ReplyDeleteIt’s obvious to me that next season will see 12 Blast games and 12 four day Championship matches . Thats a potential reduction of 10 days cricket during the domestic 2026 . Think that will be the main change but with other bits of tinkering here and there . Very few on here like the 100 Ball comp ( me included) . But without it and the promised millions I wonder how many of the current 18 County Clubs would still be in existence - playing full time ? Sometimes you have to deal with the hand that is presented to you and make the best of it !
Very good point. The other option is to walk away from the sport, for me virtually done that, after 60 years, man and boy. Went to Nottingham Tennis Tuesday. Really felt looked aftera d valued as a disabled person. A sport that honours and develops its traditional competitions.
Delete82,NOT OUT
ReplyDeleteReference earlier postings . What with the horrendous cost of staging 4 day games - especially for the AWAY team I suppose it would make sense to reduce them to 3 days cricket during. Many finished in 3 days anyway . A lot of 4 dayers peter out to a last day of tedium with no result possible and teams just going through the motion and wishing they were elsewhere doing something useful ! The 4 th day at Edgbaston that Notts played in recently springs to mind .
joelandethan
DeleteI don't necessarily disagree with the thrust of this but the Edgbaston game seems to me to show the contrary argument. The rain in that game would have killed a three day game off for all purposes whereas because four were scheduled there could still be a competitive match. If most games end in three days (not sure they do really) then with our weather scheduling four days in the hope of getting at least three days' play in has merit. And a result was still possible even after all the rain even on the last day. I reckon the team would have been a little disappointed to see Barnard and a number 11 nightwatchman bat Warwickshire to safety for over an hour after clearly deserving the win. It may have been about the latest possible start to permit us to win but I had some hope at the start. In any event please do complete the above survey if you haven't yet.
Yes JoelandEthan you have a vaid point. Back in the day (of 3 day games), many a contrived result was had in rain affected games. Three declarations on the morning of Day 3 was a bit of a lottery. Schedule 4 days and hope to get enough overs works better and has results from more realistic contests.
Delete82 NOT OUT
ReplyDeleteJOE AND DAVE - good points made . I understand where you are coming from . But as we all know these days everything revolves around money and producing a financial return . It didn’t used to be like that but times have changed so much in the past 15/20 years. Our Princess ( Lisa) said recently that the pace of ongoing change was totally bewildering .All Counties say that 4 day matches over a whole season lose money - and a lot of it on some games . Look at the crowds of spectators ( no insult intended) at some Derby and Leicester home 4 dayers . Pitiful is the word I would use .
Loss making shops , pubs, banks , post offices , cafes and restaurants are being closed daily . Cricket is not immune from the vast increase in everyday expenses- not forgetting players salaries .
Sometimes it’s a case of adapt or die .
Change is coming from all directions in cricket . You can’t hold the tide back . The old days have gone - they aren’t coming back . At aged 82 I yearn for a return of yesteryear - but it ain’t gonna happen . . R
A point in favour of red ball cricket emerging from Surrey: 50% of cricket's revenue in this country comes from Test cricket, so only an idiot would neglect the county championship. It's like neglecting schools because they only soak-up money with no direct, immediate financial return. Spectator-wise it's the same in my view, if you put stuff behind paywalls or charge silly money to get into grounds it will kill interest and there will be no rich fools paying test match prices in the future. Chucking all the bargain shiny eggs into the H*ndred basket isn't going to grow interest in counties or test cricket - the past four years have proved than. We should always invest in the future, it's not just about instant monetary gratification for a very few.
DeleteThink the next CEO should be called Ruth. Cos Notts these days, are "ruthless" (as far as club members and supporters of County Cricket are concerned).
ReplyDeleteDid I miss it or did the CEO not give out the number of people who had filled in the NCCC survey?
ReplyDeleteShe never said but of the 6000 members, 600 odd I believe filled in the survey - from a source close to a source that ought to know
Delete