Food for thought from a superb museum

Excellent blog (as ever) Brian. From watching TV and reading the websites, it does seem as if attendances are generally down. And this seems pretty natural to me. Novelty has won off for non cricket fans and, maybe, just maybe, cricket fans are cheesed off with T20 being rammed down thier throats as if nothing else matters. Expanding something just as its audience is declining seems odd. But expanding something whose success is, in part, due to being a short sharp "Event" played in high summer so that its a long drawn out league with games played in April is even odder.

Have a T20 league instead of the pro 40 by all means. But leave it at that.

Brian I am going to have one of my infamous rants over this blog. I love your blogs, so please foregive me ! My fingers have tripped fast over the keyboard ;-)

I have no problem with people not likeing T20, no problem with a future without T20 - but where is the vision ....... what is the view of the future of the next 10 to 20 years?

As for some of the comments..... well you can go into the members bar at Edgbaston and see people playing cards or watching the tennis on TV. As for leaving before the end - a common feature of a lot of sports this day. I've been in the Warwickshire museum when theres been no one else in there..... does that pass comment on the CC or Pro 40..... No of course not. Worse still look at some of the attendances for the FPT.

So where is the vision ? There isn't - just negativity from many respected members of the cricket press - sad really.

I'm sorry but its the same old story that will end up destroying the game. We can not rely on a 4 day championship to keep an 18 county professional game going in this country. We need ideas - not "ha ha" I told you so moments from the press. 23,000 at the Oval for the Kent game. 17,000 at Lords last night is 16,500 more than the last championship game they played there. Thats still more that quite a few football matches played in the United Kingdom last season. More than the average for Hull, Stoke, (despite both being promoted to the premiership)Watford, Bristol City and QPR.

Remember counties have been heamoraging members and supporters for years. We need to get people going to our grounds. We need young people to attend.

My real concern is the way supporters are treated. A cash cow in times of hardship. £ 20 on the gate prices do not wash - we cant compare the game to premiership football. Non members Tickets for tomorrows ODI at Edgbaston havent been flying off the shelves at £ 50 to £ 60 each.

Very sadly Worcestershire and some other counties set the scene last year when they didn't hand back any money to those who bought tickets in advance for their washed out t20 games. A desion that in the long term was going to be verybad for the game. A poor descion that was well discussed on these boards and in the press. The ECB wouldn't even allow at the time games to start late or be moved to new venues. If the weather is chilly and damp, why take the risk ? Cricket shot its self in the foot last year with some poor handling of the wet weather. At Warwickshire we have all our T20 games in a week. Far, Far too many in too short a period by anyones standards. Indeed in 2 weeks we have an ODI, 5 T20's and a 4 day game at home after nearly a month with no cricket. This is a bit lop sided IMHO. Cricket adminsitrators need to get their act together.

Just look at this list of the next two weeks:

Wednesday ODI
Friday T20
Sunday T20
Tuesday T20
Thursday T20
Friday T20
Sunday CC
Monday CC
Tuesday CC
Wednesday CC

Thats the type of planning and thinking that will destroy the game.

Warwickshire have had to take a reality check on the cash cow brought about by Povey's now infamous "cricket on the cheap" comment, by reintroducing the £ 25 JB membership, the £ 35 T20 season ticket (but again too many games in a week) and the £65 membership. Even some of us were very close to not renewing our memberships. Remember its not just the cost of watching cricket, but also what you spend when you are there.

I think back to Bears v Glamorgan in 2003 - for the first time I was able to take children to a game without them being bored. Better still I found the game exciteing myself. Sadly some out there have been having a pop at T20 since 2003. I still remember the cheap trick following the trent bridge final in 2003 when one of the "cricket journalists of the Times" described it as a drunken orgy. A put down that was far from the case - just a cheap dig following the competitions success. Remember those embarrising FPT finals at Lords - quite a few a third empty ? Anyway I never see a plan for the future from these so called experts of the Guardian, Times etc. I hear some calling for a return to a one division 18 county 3 day system, I hear some say - dispand the pro 40, I hear some say play all T20 in a week...... but if we are not careful we will enter the failed festival fiasco mentality. No plans on what really to do ...... a case of it will be all right..... a case of a pro-am 9 region system funded by few hundred die hard members. Its always easy for the "purists" to come up with a negative and not a well planned out thought of the future.

What of the future ? I suspect in truth the memberships around the country are slowly dismantling the county structure themselves. No big picture, no big plan and perhaps little future. A bit like the King with no clothes - no vision.

As a lover of the 18 county system, I fear that the 'enemy within' are destroying the future commercial viability of the game. We are perhaps on the brink of either having a commercial structure for the future that helps in the 18 counties in all forms of the game - or little more than a pro-am minor county regional system.

Cricket is lucky to have different formats of the game to suit different people tastes. The trick is to incorporate the best of each.

I love the county championship and I love T20 !

Appologies Brian - Rant Over. Please foregive me ;-)

The ECB will kill the golden goose, just like they squandered the legacy of 2005. Give them a modicum of success and get hysterical.

Warley, I agree with much of what you say.
I don't dislike T20 - I just think the ECB would be foolish to make it central to the future of English cricket. That view is not out of any desire to say 'I told you so' - I just don't see T20 sustaining its popularity levels.
I agree with you about negativity from the press - and on that score I hold up my hands. I have been in this job too long and sometimes pick up the Mail and think: "Did I really write that pusillanimous drivel?"
Time to pass on the baton to someone who appreciates it for the privilege that it is.

Brian you are a true and honest Gentleman. Your Blog and articles keep me going. Keep that baton in your hand take the inside lane and keep going, you have so many loyal fans who will be cheering you on. The 20 20 game will decline due to overkill. Apparently the atmosphere at Worcs last night was not good, no buzz. I will be at home games, due to my committments to bring groups of children along from my daughters school in Weoley Castle, some parents cant afford the gate money or even the £35 pass.

Where are the people with the clip boards? bet they are at 20 20 matches.

What is this so-called "20 20"?

Having seen a couple of matches this season, Almost all of Warwickshire's home games since 2003 and many of Worcestershire's home games, I think that the interest in T20 has peaked and is starting a rapid decline.
There was very little atmosphere at New Road for what should be one of the highlights of the season. While T20 can be entertaining, very few of the matches are actually good games of cricket, the format is too short for a team to recover from a bad start. As teams have become more experienced in this form of the game the matches tend to follow a predictable pattern.
obviously there are still highspots like Hick's batting against Gloucestershire or Neil Carter's bowling yesterday, but overall T20 is becoming a one dimensional version of the game. Yes, it does bring new spectators in, and allows people t see the game after the working day, but ultimately it doesn't have the subtleties and true drama of a tight test match or championship game. Even the much derided 50 over game allows for more variation in the pattern of the game and is a truer test of a player and teams ability.

Surely T20 should remain as, was originally intended, an appetiser to entice people into the longer forms of cricket, not the leading style of the game.

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And its not only T20 struggling to get the public in - only 16000 tickets sold for the ODI. But still the authorities loose the plot.

I spent £ 135 on tickets yesterday and around £ 50 in the ground. So with travel it was a £ 200 plus day. Not a good record for me rescently with the England v Sri Lanka saturday and other games.

A difficult day - but....

1. Aren't the authorities concerned that only 16000 tickets were sold for this match. A third empty. Speaks volumes of people having to be careful with their money. Speaks volumes about ticket prices, speakes volumes what sort of attendances we may be seeing at future matches.

2. The 30 minute break was shocking.

3. The scoreboard and tanhoy could not explain the match situation. I had a radio so I knew the 20 over target left NZ 7 runs short should there be no extra wickets.

4. The lost time over the "4" near the end and the game being scrubed with 6 balls left wasn't good.

5. The umpires and match referee need to have their actions reviewed "rules iz rules" statement at the end of the game wasn't good.

I felt sorry for NZ. But I suppose England could of won. Three possible results right upto the end. So I suppose it was a game full of scandal and excitement ?

All in all a day that left me questioning whether I will bother buying tickets for a big game again or indeed renew my membership....... and I am saying that in a very calm way.

So many things were wrong about yesterday...... I await to see what the ECB may have to say. Nothing I suppose.

Cricket will heamorage supporters sadly ....

Its astonishing that management who put international cricket at the very centre of their universe - at the total expense of their members/customers - appear unable to run an international game properly.

Many thanks for your views. Very interesting stuff. It seems that, never mind itineraries, overseas players, switch-hits and T20-related issues, the one unarguable, never-changing truth about cricket is that it's supporters will generally be treated shabbily.
Remember the post-tea chaos on the last day of inaugural Edgbaston Test in 1902? Well my great-grandmother's cousin's brother's chimney sweep's sister's fiance was there he always maintained it was the biggest shambles he'd ever seen.

Yes Kim..... there will be empty seats everywhere ......... and they still cant get the scoreboard right.

I have a ticket for the SA Test ..... and then thats probably that for international cricket. Cant go on wasteing £ 200 plus for this sort of debacle.........Even if the match referee and Collingwood see no problem in the events of the day. Around £ 200 spent yesterday to see Colingwood smurk...... His argument may or maynot be right - But sadly he shows no empathy with the supporters. Wont be Mr popular on his next visit perhaps ?

People wounder where the missing people are. 8,000 tickets at £ 50 a ticket went unsold yesterday. They could have made each ticket £ 17 cheaper and had a full house buying those chips etc........ Colin Poveys cash cow was perhaps killed yesterday at Edbaston as the panic sets in with £ 65 memberships to see 70% plus of the season.

No doubt the press show will move on and 16000 people will be forgotten. Just like those who were dealt with badly by counties in last years T20 - forgotten and perhaps lost ? Then we'll all wounder "where are they all" ?

I was pleased that Botham could see the correlation last night on Sky.

Thanks Brian - our posts crossed.

I would agree with your comments.