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Loading ...I am a Middlesex supporter. I will not support London or Vodafone London Cockneys or whatever they would be called. The Twenty 20 Cup has been very successful so far… good cricket, big crowds…why change it?
City, county, region
By Will 1 month ago Leave a comment on this post
So Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, doesn’t believe a city-based franchise system would be workable in England’s attempt to challenge the Indian Premier League. In fact, Clarke said that “franchise sport has simply never worked in the UK”, which comes hot on the heels of county chief executives voicing their own concerns over the latest Twenty20 developments.
Clarke was speaking at the ECB’s AGM, but some of what he says concerns me. He was full of praise for India’s tournament, but insisted “much of the look and feel of the tournament was taken from the ECB template”. Valid sentiments, but it only makes the ECB look even more daft, short-sighted and bitter that they didn’t think of it first. There is still no clear idea of what the English Premier League will amount to, and the relevant parties - ECB, Professional Cricketers’ Association and the counties themselves - all appear to be at loggerheads with one another. Meanwhile, Allen Stanford is waiting in the wings, licking his lips at what he believes could be a huge earner. But how? And when?
We can forget 18 counties being involved. That much we know. And I’m not in favour of city-based franchises either as this will inevitably lead to some cities and towns being left out, or merged with a neighbour. For example, thinking purely geographically, Gloucestershire and Glamorgan would presumably be combined…but as what? Bristol or Cardiff? Exclude one and you’re effectively ruling out 50% of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Regionalisation seems a fair and simple solution:
North Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham
London Surrey, Middlesex, Essex
South Hampshire, Kent, Sussex
Wales and West Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Somerset
West Midlands Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Northants
East Midlands Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire
Fascinating to think of the teams these would put on the park, too, and who would captain them. Your thoughts?
Tags: city, english premier league, epl, franchises, giles clarke, indian premier league, IPL, twenty20 |
8 Responses to “City, county, region”
April 29th, 2008 at 5.59 pm
April 30th, 2008 at 9.43 am
The trouble with these regions is that because the closest neighbours tend to generate the most infamous rivalries the suggested groupings would lose the very match-ups that have been generating all the interest and the noise in the T20 so far.
The biggest gates for Yorkshire and Lancashire will be the Roses matches. The London derbies have seen some of the largest domestic crowds in decades.
If you’re starting from scratch, do it by cities. Indian has a billion people and there will be some substantial population centres missing out, but they’re managing. US sport is the same, not every league has a franchise in every state but they cope.
April 30th, 2008 at 11.34 am
“franchise sport has simply never worked in the UK”
is that really true ?
April 30th, 2008 at 1.30 pm
There is nothing wrong with the County system.
Nobody would support or be interested in regional cricket.
Three divisions of 6 could be introduced with 1 up 1 down.
We already have a successful 20 over competition why do we need an EPL.
April 30th, 2008 at 1.46 pm
Middlesex Ultra: there’s nothing much wrong with a county-based Twenty20 league, but surely there should be something more going on to? A kind of premiership league that’ll attract international players? As for the city/region choice, cities are much more flexible a choice. Just pick the top 6 cities (say) and then expand if you want to. Starting with regions means that you’d be stuck with just those regions from then on.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8.06 am
Agree that the Twenty20 has been a success and don’t really see the desperate need to change it…..to follow the ‘Australian Way’ though would see us have fewer teams, better quality cricket and less county players in the ‘comfort zone’ of knowing they aren’t quite could enough for England but will get by comfortably at county level.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6.02 pm
Maybe fewer teams would be better, can’t really see it ever happening though. Especially with the amount of counties that have improved their stadia to try to get test matches.
Which counties will be the ones to merge anyway? Northants? Worcestershire? Gloucester?
May 13th, 2008 at 10.28 am
Northants….west midlands? Not when I last looked.
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