| Change |
| I love my cricket and following England and this is why I write not to lament but because I care. Currently county cricket is a shambles. Thee are too many teams and too much games - the CCH should have 2 divisions each consisting of 6 teams. Hence 6 teams would have to go, geographical considerations should be taken into account plus the current state of counties. Personally what I would do is amalgamate certain county sides for example Notts and Derbyshire, oh there would be cries. The fact is though at some counties i.e. Derbyshire, only one man and his dog comes to watch on occasions plus the two sides in the example are very weak but between the both of them they could field a decent side. Fewer teams would improve standards making the gap between championship cricket and test match cricket smaller. The best batsmen in the country must face the best bowlers to improve and vice versa. As there would be fewer games there would be also more preparation time. There are too many bad pitches thus I feel that if a pitch is judged to be not of a high enough standard the game should be switched to an outground which is in better condition. The counties penalty would be to transport the spectators. This is a serious issue and I feel the best groundstaff must be employed, results are possible, look at the situation at Surrey. I could score runs with a stick of rubarb at Northampton the pitch is that flat. The game is unattractive to a wide audience because it is difficult to follow and the weather interupts many important encounters. Firstly, I would change the points system to a more understandable one and secondly I would encourage more flexibility in the organisation of games i.e. if the first day is rained of change the game into a 3 day one innings contest.. Fewer games would also help fix this issue. There are other factors I would consider and I could elaborate more on the points that I have made but unfortunately there is just not the space and its not worth my while, my friends will probably just have to put up with my views in conversation. Overall what must be considered is what is most important to the majority of people in cricket which is not there county team but there country, hence actions taken by the ECB should reflect this. Cricket is still ace though, but changes must be made in order to save it from obsecurity in Britain. I am aware that my views are radical but they have to be because the situation is getting that bad. I dream of England getting the Ashes back before I die. This won't happen barring major change or the existence of a few exceptional talented cricketers. Even this would be difficult as exceptional cricketers if they play a lot of county cricket will deteriorate instead of improving. |