County Championship Attendances

The new county championship gets underway is just a matter of weeks now, and instead of writing about who I think will be successful in the upcoming season or who would struggle. I thought it would be much more productive, and interesting  to write about the more underlying problem in the domestic long format of the game. Attendances.

553,000 people watched county championship cricket LIVE last year, and on the surface, that seems like quite a big number.

But if you bi-sect it and work out the average amount of people who watch every County Championship game, you quickly realise that actually, it isn't that many people at all.



A Bare County Championship Stand

Attendances on average were 800 people per day at any given County Championship game.

Possible reasons for these attendances?

1. The Rise of T20 cricket. It's no coincidence that since the arrival of T20 cricket, interest in County Championship cricket has gone down considerably. This may have had some effect on the attendances at CC games.
2. People can't afford to go to games, an adult could probably get into most County games for under £15 for the whole days play. The food can be expensive but homemade food can be taken, so overall a day at the cricket for two could cost little over £30, which is dirt cheap compared to other sports. Because of the cheapness I think this reason is invalid, but I've chucked it in the list just to even things out.
3. People just aren't available to go to games. County Championship games start midweek when people are at work, and so they aren't physically able to get to games. But this reason is slightly flawed, the games finale is on a Sunday or Saturday depending on what day it started on, most people are not at work at the weekend.

I think the reason for the low attendances is simply that interest in County Championship cricket is just not high enough, this is partly due to the rise of T20 cricket but partly due to the lack of media coverage in my opinion. For example I support Leicestershire, I live in Norfolk. No games are ever on TV, with the exception of maybe one or two at the end of the season, and I can't get any coverage on the radio. This means I have to browse the Internet just to find a scoreboard, and if I get a text commentary I'll be damn lucky.

It's a lot of effort to go through with not a lot of reward, a dull scoreboard which is usually slow updating is not a lot of reward for searching for a decent website to look on, and I can see why a lot of fans just wouldn't bother.

A solution?

Well - I think a weekly TV show dedicated to just County Championship would be perfect, cricket's version of Match of the Day.

Every Sunday night, sit down, relax, and watch your team in action. A summary of all the games that took place that week, with debates taking place regarding whatever matter had arisen in that week.

Cricket fans would get to see how their team have been getting on, and interest would start to rise. This would result in people getting more and more gripped by how their team are doing, and this could influence people getting to games.

I personally think it's a pretty damn good idea, although I am quite bias because I am the fool who created the idea in the first place!

Feel free to add your opinion on the matter in the comments box on this page, or on our Twitter page @TheSillyPoint_

Structure of Test Cricket

Is it time for a re-structuring of Test Cricket?

Cricket is on the rise in many countries, Afghanistan just to name one.

In the early days of cricket the number of teams playing cricket was relatively small - but now many more countries, Nepal, Ireland, Bulgaria, just to name a few, are playing in the World Cricket League.

Ireland are reigning champions of this league, and it got me thinking.

Should there be a re-structuring of the way Test Cricket is run?

Ireland have proved that they are the best minnows in the world, and surely they have won the privelage of playing Test cricket against the big teams at the best stadiums in the world. They now play in the T20 and World Cup but I think they've earnt more than just that.

Also, I've been watching a bit of West Indies v Zimbabwe.

To put it bluntly, Zimbabwe are pretty terrible. Windies are by no means a fantastic Test side, sure they have Chris Gayle but apart from that they don't have any world beaters. West Indies are probably the third worst Test side (infront of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh) and yet they are trouncing them convincingly.

Ireland and Netherlands have beaten top teams in the past, and have shown their potential as cricketing teams. Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have been lingering at the bottom of the Test rankings for years now, and it's my opinion that the Test system needs spicing up a bit.

Boyd Rankin of Ireland has given up playing cricket for Ireland in the hope of being picked for England's test team, and more eg George Dockrell. will follow if something does not change.
For me there's three options.


Rankin - Pursuing English Cricket

1. Give Ireland/Ireland and Netherlands Test Status, so they can keep their best players and prove their cricketing ability.
2. Create a two tier system where every so often (probably every two years) one or two teams are relegated from division one and promoted from division two. This way teams such as Ireland, Afghanistan and Netherlands have something to strive for, and the lesser Test teams such as Bangladesh and Zimbabwe would get to be competitive if they got relegated, which lets be honest, would be extremely likely.
3. Option three would to keep it exactly the same as it is now, which would mean teams losing players, and Bangladesh and Zimbabwe would continue to be the whipping dogs of England, South Africa etc.

Option three is the one I would personally avoid at all costs, option one would be a compromise but option two is definitely the one for me.

Will it actually happen though? Will the ICC pull their fingers out and actually act? Only time will tell, if the idea gets enough support anything could happen.

But I can't see it happening, I really do hope it will, but I just can't.

Cheers

England Fight Back

The first day in Dunedin was a complete wash out. I was looking forward to seeing England in Test cricket action for the first time in a long time, I'd missed a lot of the matches in India due to the time difference so I was definitely getting withdrawal symptoms.

When I switched on to watch I was dissapointed when I heard monotone Bob announce that the rain was pouring down in Dunedin and play was unlikely.

The whole days play was later abandoned.

Day two was a day to forget for England, but I'm not going to talk about that for too long, because much of my last post concentrated on the first three days in NZ.

To summarise it, England were very poor, skittled out for little over 150 with Trott being the only batsmen to score a respectable total.

Bruce Martin - Relatively Unknown

New Zealand had Rutherford and Martin on debut. One was a promising young cricketer who showed what we could be in store for in the next few years. The other was a veteran left arm spinner clearly brought in to the squad because England knew jack about him.

This curveball from New Zealand paid off. Martin picked up four wickets. While Rutherford hit a magnificent    ton 50.

This along with quick runs from McCullum meant England were deep in it.

Forty five minutes in to day 4 Alaister Cook and Nick Compton walked out in to the middle, knowing they were probably going to have to bat for the duration of the match just to scrape a draw.

Finn - Defended Excellently

They certainly redeemed themselves from the humiliation of the first innings display, if you can even call it a display. Cook and Compton hit centuries in a formidable first wicket stand. When Cook fell Steven Finn, sent in as nightwatchman, defended admirably.

His magnificent 56 sent England on their way to a first test draw against the Kiwi's.

Trott, coming in at four because of the nightwatchmen, also hit a half century to prevent NZ from a test victory to remember.

After 170 overs England finished day five on 421 for 6. The draw felt like a win, and the English comeback was complete...

But what will happen in the next two test matches over 10000 miles away in New Zealand?

Well, personally, I expect England to win comprehensibly in Wellington and Auckland. The first innings in Dunedin was a big blip, and New Zealand could not capitalize. I can't see England faltering again in this series, they will be even more determined to win after nearly being embarrassed by the underdogs.

My prediction: A 2-0 win for England providing no more days play are prevented because of mother nature. I also think Compton and Root will be hungry for runs to try and push for a Ashes selection this summer, and therefore I think they will both get handfuls of runs.

Alaister Cook, KP, Trott and Bell are simply better than any bowler NZ have on offer. Although KP in particular did have a very poor test, it is nice to not hear his name in the headlines mind! Anderson is just a class above, Paneser is no Swann but he does a job.

New Zealand's Martin won't be a surprise package, England will have done more homework before Wellington. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if NZ picked another relative unknown.

Cheers

New Zealand - Not to be Underestimated

Three days into the first test match over 10000 miles away in New Zealand England are starting to get a bit homesick...

After being skittled out for just over 150 England's bowlers struggled to stop debutant Hamish Rutherford, who I keep foolishly calling Greg Rutherford (British Olympic medallist last summer) from scoring a absolutely magnificent buck fifty in spectacular style in his first test innings. The young kiwi hit three sixes on his way to 171, more than all eleven English batsmen could muster up between them!

New Zealand scored over 400 with a magnificent late flurry from Brendon McCullum with help from debutant Martin. England are now 50 odd without loss in  reply.

But why have New Zealand had so much success in the first three and a half days (first day wash out) at Dunedin?

Well, the main reason is that they do have some quality players when you look at them individually.



Kane Williamson

Kane Williamson is a good player - playing at number three in the first innings he got a solid 24 while Rutherford done the work at the other end. For a man of 22 he's played quite a lot of test cricket, 20 matches to be exact, and he's definitely got good potential. I don't think he's going to be world class, but I think he could be a solid batsmen for New Zealand for many years to come.



Ross Taylor
 

Sticking with batsmen next, Ross Taylor. A man with more experience than that of six years younger Kane Williamson, Taylor brings some quality to the New Zealand middle order. Taylor is a very impressive ODI and T20 player, but he can do it on the Test circuit too, he's scored over 3000 runs for his country, notching up sixteen fifties and continuing on to a century seven times. I'd rather have him in my T20 team, but he's still a important cog in the NZ Test machine.


Brendon McCullum
 

Brendon McCullum is another man in the NZ team who is a big hitter in the one day and T20 games. He can hit the ball a long, long way, as he demonstrated in his quickfire 50 at Dunedin. He's hit two international T20 centuries, a feat which no other mortal has reached. For this reason he can score quick runs coming in late middle order, which can always be key in certain circumstances! He's a good wicket keeper as well, reliable. Nothing's worse than a liability behind the stumps!

Tim Southee

Tim Southee is a player I like. A tall right armer who can move the ball is always a risk towards the opposition batsmen. Although he only picked up one of the wickets in the England first innings I think we could be seeing him get 2/3 important wickets reguarly in this series. He's not quite as good as Steve Finn but he's still a good player - for that reason he could cause all kinds of problems for Compton and Root in particular. (The rookie English players in this team)

Those four New Zealand players are the ones with the most quality, (in my opinion) but one other could cause England problems for different reasons.

Bruce Martin is playing his first test match game, and is relatively unknown. He's been playing his trade in New Zealand and I don't think England will know too much about the left armer spinner. For this reason he could cause a lot of short term problems for England, he already has taken four wickets in England's first innings!

So New Zealand have got some good quality players in their armoury, and along with the hunger to win they could not only win this test match, but one of the next two as well, which would result in a series win for the Black Caps.

England definitely need to buck up their ideas, put in the hard work inbetween now and the next test match (this game has probably been lost already) to try and turn things around.

Two things are key for England; Cutting out any complacency, and do their homework.

So get down to work Cook and co.

Cheers

Joe Root - Destined for Greatness?

Joe Root has been in the limelight a lot recently for England - and he's made a big impact on the international scene as well as for his county Yorkshire last summer.

At just 22 years old he's got the best years of his career ahead of him; if he keeps on the straight and narrow unlike some other hot prospects in the English game. Ben Stokes *Cough* Matt Coles *Cough*

But what has Joe Root achieved so far in his relatively short career?

What brought him in to the English squad in the first place?

Well - he showed promise right from the word go. On his second team debut for Yorkshire he scored a half century. More impressive scores followed, and it was only a matter of time before  he got his chance in the first team.

His chance came against Essex; in the final CB40 match of the 2009 season. His first XI debut was just as fine as his entrance to the second XI, hitting a half century opening the batting. His 63 turned accounted for over a third of his sides runs and after the game he described his impressive debut knock as "dream come true."

Joe Root playing for Yorkshire in the CC

The England's under 19's squad is where a lot of young England stars start to shine on the international level. Michael Vaughan and Freddie Flintoff captained this side when they were both teenagers, showing that the under 19 stage is a vital stepping stone in the career of an aspiring international cricketer.

Root wasn't picked as captain for the team but in 2010 in the under 19 world cup. He was picked to open the batting. In two games he scored nearly a century in total, although these scores were against minor teams. His first two games were his big successes of the tournament from his personal playing point of view, as he made no major contribution to his teams totals in games against a strong India and then West Indies.

He'd done decent at the world cup but hadn't made a massive impact.

At this point few could predict that in two years time he would be a Yorkshire regular, holding several ODI caps and a single test cap.

In 3 of his one day games he hit half centuries and he has also hit a half century in his single test cap.

He can turn his arm over too; his gentle off break could claim a wicket or two once in a blue moon. Primarily, he can hold up and end for a couple of overs before the new ball is available.

The boy can field too - he's pretty much got the potential to have the full package. The video --->  is a brilliant piece of fielding by the young man, and a brilliant example of the ever changing game of cricket. You wouldn't have seen a batsman playing a shot like this never mind the fieldsman producing a piece of magic 30 years ago.

So is Joe Root destined for great things? Will he become a key player in this years ashes and beyond? Or will he become a flop? Will he drift away from the national team set up and never be heard of again?

Well, I think Root is destined to play a massive part against the Aussies this year. Against a relatively weak bowling line up he could deliver a lot of damage.

Against India in December he showed his potential in very tough conditions.He batted slowly, with patience, and although he scored only four boundaries he kept the scoreboard ticking over. For this reason I think he is more suited to opening the batting rather than coming in at number five/six. He and Cook could give the Aussie's a lot to think about early on in the innings.

If he puts in the hard work on the training ground and stays out of the media for the wrong reasons then I can't see a reason why he can't replace Andrew Strauss at the top of the English batting order.

Only time will tell if I'm right, but I'm rarely wrong! However, I would still love to hear the views of you, any comments at the bottom of the page are always appreciated!

Cheers.