Who writes the Schedules?

I note with interest, in an ever changing cricketing landscape, the scheduling for next year for England's forthcoming games and I find it amazing yet again, the lack of insight and consideration given to Cricket by its own administrators.


http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/story/474490.html


Following the World Cup's 6 weeks of 50 Overs cricket in February to April, the England team will be playing another 10 ODI's in the English season, 2 less than this year but with only 2 T20 internationals, at Bristol and Manchester - one against Sril Lanka and India.


I never thought I would say this but with England being T20 champions and all that, and both Sri Lanka and India having a big T20 following and some talented players in that format, are the ECB not missing a big opportunity? After all, T20 games are a guaranteed packed house and can be scheduled to start at 5pm to catch post-work or corporate business. One singular game does not mean very much against either opponent and gives a mixed message considering the English domestic season now has eight weeks of T20 cricket, it seems scantily represented internationally.

This is especially true when you consider that the 50 over format has been killed domestically.



The bidding process and feeding frenzy between the counties to stage Tests is distasteful and doesn't benefit the England team or indeed the spectators – remember them? We now have a seven-test summer and nine grounds that could, or have staged test matches with the addition of the Rose Bowl. 7 into 9 doesn’t go, so the highest bidders will always win.

Next year Old Trafford only gets an ODI and T20I and Headingley only gets a solitary ODI. The North-West and Yorkshire is a cricketing hotbed, especially amongst the Asian community who show great interest in Asian teams playing (I'm not doing a Tebbit here, just stating facts.). Traditionally, Headingley and Old Trafford are also good grounds for England's seam and swing bowlers - are the ECB valuing money over using the home conditions? Could you ever see a situation where Australia don't stage a test at the MCG because Hobart or even the bloody Ballarat Oval have outbid them? Me neither.


This morning, the Chief Exec of MCC was on TMS (198LW, not this one http://www.testmatchsofa.com) and bemoaned the fact that Lords have "only" been awarded one test match for 2012 as opposed to two. Well, as per the maths above 7 into 9 doesn't go. This year and next there are three test matches in London and yet next year only one north of the Midlands, and that is in Chester-le-Street. Even with me living about as far south as you can get in the UK without getting wet, this seems unduly London-centric.


As the MCC guy stated, the bidding process has also meant that there is huge financial pressure on the counties to break even, and he was quoting ticket prices this morning of £60 upwards for a day of test match cricket and yet they were "disappointed" to still have 1500 seats available for today’s game against Pakistan and more seats across the weekend if you turn up. These are prices far out of reach of the casual viewer especially if you factor in travel, accommodation (if you are coming from Yorkshire to actually see some bloody test cricket) and food. With three tests to choose from in the capital, and potentially 15 days cricket starting at £60 each day is it any wonder they have spare seats? Test Match ticket pricing needs to reflect the times in which we live and simple supply and demand. There used to be waiting list for test tickets, and guaranteed full houses. When you have 1500 seats left unsold I say you have missed an opportunity.

 Of course, Lords and the MCC are missing the revenue they used to get each year from two packed houses witnessing the domestic knockout trophy finals. Remember them? They used to be the pinnacle of a county cricketer’s career. Can you imagine the FA ditching the FA cup and a Wembley final in favour of a 5-a-side tourney? Thought not. However, the removal of the knockout trophies and the complete car-wreck that the domestic schedule has become is another can of worms.

What the authorities fail to realise is the precarious position in which cricket, and specifically Test cricket sits. The ECB are doing everything they can I feel to make money in the short term and accelerate the decline. Cricket needs to grab the casual fan and make test matches accessible and affordable, not price them out of the market and extort more from the dying breed of fanatics reared on free-to-air TV coverage like myself.

IPL for the purist...surely not?

Hi. This is my first Blog. A little nervous actually...how ridiculous. Anyway, thought I'd start a blog to muse about Cricket, Music, modern life and whatever I see and hear whilst I moto around the South Eastern corner of our green and pleasant land.

This year, thanks to ITV4, is the first year I have watched any of the brand of Cricket served up by the IPL. And to be fair, I have seen a lot of negatives written about the tournament and its rather overt commercialism. But I have seen quite a few encouraging positives too.

First things first. I consider myself a knowledgeable and committed cricket fan. I have played to a decent club standard in my time (and once sledged Marcus Trescothick....!) and have followed cricket since the mid 1980's - the Ashes in '87 aside, a pretty grim time for England it was too.

All this means my first love is test match cricket, and always will be. Very few ODI's stick in the memory, and I'd take one ashes series over a dozen world cups. But generally I love the game in all its forms.

Therefore I am presented with some FREE cricket on my television courtesy of the IPL. I dont have Sky Sports, I dont follow any other sports so I can't justify the monthly cost from our family budget. Anyway, I find TMS on Radio 4 immensely enjoyable and if I am honest, there is something that appeals to me in that I listen to a LW radio station that breaks for Prayers, Parliament and the Shipping Forecast in the age of the Internet.

So ITV4 are broadcasting this glitzy tournament and for me to have some free-to-air cricket is a massive plus. And to be fair, what I have seen so far has been pretty good. Well aside from the excruciating links. Poor Graeme Hick and Embers. The criciticism I have seen is that the tournament is a slog fest and is overly commercial - the renaming of sixes as a "DLF Maximum" and so on.

Well, despite my position as a test match purist of sorts, I beg to differ. I think we can look past some of these obvious commercialisms to see some pretty good cricket. Aside from Yusuf Pathan whacking a 37-ball hundred, the leading batsmen so far in this tournament have been Ravi Bopara and Jacques Kallis. Fair enough we are only two games in, but these are not sloggers. Bopara has played attractive wristy, but orthodox shots and Kallis has seemingly shaken his stodgy reputation and has looked to find the gaps. Neither of them has been seen playing the Switch Hit or the Scoop. The bowling too has been interesting, with swing and seam movement, and a number of leggies and offies on show.

The other major plus for me is seeing the major stars of world cricket, and some of the up and coming players especially Eoin Morgan, who has had a fantastic start to his international career.

I think the IPL is of benefit to world cricket, and may in fact help preserve test cricket for the fans like me who cherish the form of the game still played in whites. By grabbing the casual fan, hopefully there will be a greater fan base and finances to allow test cricket to continue.

Take Rugby. I'm a casual rugby fan, I like watching the game when I can. But I only played a little and I don't fully understand every technical nuance. So when its a backs-dominated, attritional game then I get a little disinterested that I cant see the ball, and there's no running or passing.

Now think about England against Bangladesh in this week's test match. Starting at 3:30am for English fans, this was a one-sided affair on a flat pitch, which, once England had scored 374/3 at the end of the first day, was pretty much an assured win for England. The fifth day saw a morning session with 80 runs from 30 overs, and no wickets. Still fascinating for the enthusiast, but not the greatest spectacle for the casual sports fan who is likely to want to see wickets tumbling and some boundaries.

So, fair play to ITV for giving cricket some vital free-to-air exposure. Had the BBC not shown cricket in the 80's I would never have been hooked in. And just maybe, the IPL and 20/20 cricket in general can have a role in preserving the game I love and not endangering its existence as the naysayers have stated previously. I for one will watch with interest.