Words of Warning from a Victor

County cricket’s shake-up would push away young fans.

Vic Marks.

The Guardian.

Sunday, 4 November 2018

Viewed in isolation, the proposals for English domestic cricket from 2020 onwards from the men’s domestic playing program (MDPP) group, which was chaired by Leicestershire’s chief executive, Wasim Khan, display rare common sense. The problems arise when all the packages outlined are put together.

The most striking change has the First Division of the County Championship containing ten teams in 2020 with the Second Division reduced to eight, a reversal of the current format. This is a good idea that more fairly reflects the strength of the counties. It removes the necessity for a quarter of the sides in the First Division to be relegated each year.

With the retention of 14 championship fixtures, the First Division will become asymmetrical; it will not be possible for each team to play one another twice. However, this is far from unprecedented. It was very often the case until the advent of two divisions and the champions retained their integrity. There will be relief among most cricket fans – and players – that there is no reduction in the number of championship matches but no surprise and some disappointment that the bulk of the fixtures will continue to be played at the extremities of the season.

The counties, most of whom have managed to make the Twenty ‘Blast' work better and better as the years pass, will also be relieved the structure of that tournament remains the same, with 14 fixtures per team before the knockout stages. The majority of clubs know how to make this competition work and it has become their financial lifeblood.

The proposed 50-over county competition, at a time when it is hoped that England will be the 50-over world champions, plus the notion of an occasional match with a local minor county sounds fine. But this is where the buts arise. These 50-over games will be contested only by all the players not involved in Tests or what is mysteriously now called “The New Competition”, formerly 'The Hundred'.

For those who live beyond the seven urban centres, all that will be available at our county grounds while the new competition takes place is a series of matches contested by sides composed of a mixture of first- and second‑team cricketers. These are the least attractive of matches on offer yet they will be played in the school holidays, the time when the magnet to attract young fans should be strongest.

So the MDPP group has fulfilled its brief conscientiously enough but that brief does not appear to include ensuring that the overall balance of the domestic season works. Moreover, details of the new competition are conspicuously absent. All we know for certain is it will be played in the prime months of July and August alongside the 50‑over games. There is no discussion of whether the overall structure of the domestic season provides an appropriate balance for players and punters alike.

However, we can calculate and speculate. Some county players will become the first in the world to play in two short-form competitions in the same domestic season. An up‑and-coming youngster, adept at T20 cricket, will play a minimum of 14 matches in the ‘Blast', while hoping to appear in two or three more in the knockout stages. 

In all probability he will then appear in the same number in the new competition. Excellence in the shortest of formats will become his overriding goal. The longer formats, which now include 50-over cricket, will be of secondary importance. Meanwhile, informed speculation suggests that no one in the shires will travel more than 20 miles to watch this new competition.

The justification for all this, beyond an infusion of cash from the broadcasters, is that the presence of a handful of matches of the new competition on terrestrial TV will somehow transform the fan base of the game. It is easier to believe in a harmonious Brexit.