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

County Cricket or IPL?

County Cricket or IPL?

What are the pro's?

The IPL

What are the cons?

Here is a list. I'll let you decide what one you think is better or the one which serves a better purpose.

First, the IPL. The Indian Premier League. And the pro's.

1. The games generate big crowds, some as big as 50000, where as in County Cricket a lot of grounds can pull in crowds as low as a couple of hundred people. But hats off to them loyal couple of hundred supporters!
2. Players from all nations play in the IPL, so different playing styles are on show. But in the County Championship the bulk of the players are English. Althogh this point could be seen as a good point as well as a bad point.
3. A lot of cash is generated through the IPL in sponsorship, ticket sales etc. And this puts money in the Indian economy. Although now we are getting into politics. And I don't like politics.
4. The format of the IPL is T20, and I know alot of people (I'd like to add these people I know are knob's) who prefer T20 to the 4 day form of the game. So the IPL is an ideal form of cricket for them to watch.

And now the cons for the IPL...

1. The IPL finishes just weeks before Blighty's fixtures v the West Indies and then South Africa, this will mean the English and West Indies players will have a lack of preparation going into the test. And they might have injuries and little niggles that they have picked up in India.
2. A lot of money is spent on international players in auctions. But the quality of play is not always fantastic.
3. It's shown on ITV4, nobody likes ITV4...
4. Some players are payed alot to play in the IPL. Are they just in it for the wonga?

There the reasons, I think, are the pro's and cons for the IPL. And now the list for the County Championship. Cons first.

County Championshp Action

1. The crowds can be very small, which I mentioned earlier.
2. Because the English cricket team are away on tours and playing matches in the summer. They cannot play for their county teams. So there is less quality playing for the counties.
3. The County Championship doesn't have alot of coverage on TV, so fans don't get a chance to see there team in action. But there is radio coverage and live internet updates on the cricket. So fans can keep track on how there teams are doing. But this sometimes isn't the same as seeing them on the tele.

And the pros now.

1. Players can gain pride in playing for their counties, where as in the IPL English players do not have this pride.
2. English players can work under the radar and prove themselves in these two leagues, to try and gain an England call up. A great example of this happening would be Graeme Swann. For years he was working hard for Notts and Northants, getting wickets and trying to prove he was worthy to play for Blighty. And one day, he got rewarded. This sort of thing would not happen in the IPL, only high profile English  players play in this league.
3. The County Championship is a good breeding ground for Test Cricket, which is obviously a more traditional form of cricket than T20. So don't forget, if it was not for the 4 day game, there would be no IPL.

Make up your own minds on which one you think is better.

My Views

There are good points and bad for both forms. The IPL is exciting, but then when I'm watching it I feel as if I'm cheating on English cricket because County Championship is traditional and honest. I can't choose between them. I only wish there was more TV coverage of the County Championship so I could see more County cricket. If there was TV coverage, and the County Championship and IPL were on at the same time, I would choose to watch the County action any day. But there isn't going to be more TV coverage, so chin up me.

Cheers.