[gmdf]

I've just come across this - which might interest some:

Times Article

[Alex]

Thanks for posting that @gmdf, it's going to be interesting to see if the ECB can make this work alongside the other T20 tournament since no other country has opted to keep the other T20 when they've moved to the franchise model.

[gmdf]

[quote="Alex"]
Thanks for posting that @gmdf, it's going to be interesting to see if the ECB can make this work alongside the other T20 tournament since no other country has opted to keep the other T20 when they've moved to the franchise model.
[/quote]


Yes - I can't see how it can continue.

I also noticed that no England players would be available for the new competition - which will affect its appeal, and it will damage Test attendances against less popular opponents, I think (i.e. everyone bar Australia!)

[Alex]

Also you have to imagine that most of the big cities will get a team so you'd assume, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham, a couple in London. If that's the case then most of the test grounds would be in use for the T20 so then you'd have to move the T20 to another ground and you're competing with yourself in terms of ticket sales.

[chris]

The link to the Times article only works for those with a subscription.

[gmdf]

[quote="chris"]
The link to the Times article only works for those with a subscription.
[/quote]


It is possible to sign up with The Times (free) and get access to a limited number of articles per week (2, I think).

That's what I did to read this article! 

[chris]

thanks also found this:

http://nottsview.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02 ... ealed.html

Has anything changed since last September when rumours were making the rounds:

"Everything will depend on how they decide to try and make it work.

So guessing something like N & S London, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Wales, South of England, Nottingham and Birmingham.

8 squads presumably about 16 players each. 3 or maybe 4 overseas stars. To try and tap into local support a Lancashire franchise would probably pick 8 or so from the current county squad, and buy in 4 or 5 from Durham or Derby. So leaving about 15 / 16 of their full county squad members out of the fun and games.

Burning questions would be:

What else is going on at the same time?
Will (all or just a selection of) England players be made available?
Will there be championship matches arranged at the same time?
Will other (first class) games happen e.g. North v South to keep purists happy?
Would franchise players not in the final XI / XII be loaned back to their county?
Or would that be too much competition and ECB would ban all 1st XI cricket during their new showcase?"

[Ian]

Have to say I can't stand the idea of the 8 team T20.
I feel as though the summer cricket calendar is being ruined bit by bit.

[davee]

When will they get it into their heads, England is different to India, Austrailia or the West Indies, it is more compact there is not a snowballs in hells chance that the people of Bradford or Liverpool will turn out to watch Leeds or Manchester.

[gmdf]

This is a good article on a possible pitfall for the ECB:

Joanthan Liew article

[Iron Mike]

Tv apparently wants an English BBL so it will happen irrespective of everything else, not least alienating smaller counties and vast swathes of regions over something like a name. Like the birth of rl superleague...or how it was meant to be. You can't buy the sunshine though!

[Alex]

As it's been pointed out by many of the pundits, it'll be interesting to see how many people come down to support "Manchester" etc

They'll be alienating quite a lot of members who have no interest in watching a new team, suppose it depends on the take up with families and the younger market as I'd say they are more likely to attend.

Will people come from further afield say Liverpool to support Manchester? I'm not convinced personally.

[davee]

It will end up being played in near empty stadiums and being transmitted on a Satellite channel, but that won't be a problem as it will be shown across the globe, that is what it is really about.

[gmdf]

An interesting survey:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cric ... MP=OTC-RSS

[gmdf]

A good article by Simon Heffer on the new

The article is behind a paywall, but can be accessed for free if you register with the DT. The first paragraph says this:

The England and Wales Cricket Board have just received a report that the uninitiated might think would cheer them up but which, as my colleague Nick Hoult has pointed out, makes very uncomfortable reading indeed. Last year the NatWest T20 Blast was the seventh most popular sport in the country, ahead of international cricket and, indeed, of the FA Cup. The problem is that this version of the short-form game, in which all counties participate, is likely to be ditched and replaced by a competition in which just eight teams play each other in big cities. Some counties are happy with this; many are not; the row goes on; and it will be stoked up by news that a golden goose is indeed about to be killed, but not perhaps in the way many might have expected.

He goes on to suggest a new format for county cricket which I, for one, don't fully agree with.

But it is an interesting contribution!