Bairstow has stuck two fingers up to The Hundred and won't play for the Welsh Fire. Excellent. Need more players to do so too.
We do. Had a brief Twitter chat earlier with Charles Dagnell about the Hundred as he’d tweeted about how excited he was about it starting again. He was quite defensive and felt he was being pigeon holed into not caring about county cricket.
However, I don’t believe you can care about county cricket and back the Hundred.
No county cricket in August for the first time ever and the RL Cup demoted even further in its importance. Then again you have to remember whose paying Daggers wages! I suspect like many other media folk he doesn’t say what he really feels.
Bairstow has stuck two fingers up to The Hundred and won't play for the Welsh Fire. Excellent. Need more players to do so too.
We do. Had a brief Twitter chat earlier with Charles Dagnell about the Hundred as he’d tweeted about how excited he was about it starting again. He was quite defensive and felt he was being pigeon holed into not caring about county cricket.
However, I don’t believe you can care about county cricket and back the Hundred.
No county cricket in August for the first time ever and the RL Cup demoted even further in its importance. Then again you have to remember whose paying Daggers wages! I suspect like many other media folk he doesn’t say what he really feels.
Dagnall is the same as a lot of those former players who forget their roots and are not concerned about the future of county cricket and who are prepared to whore themselves out to the highest payers. It wasn't The Hundred franchises that these players came through because they have no set up for the development of young cricketers and just ride on the back of all the hard work and success of club, district and county coaches and volunteers.
For what? 20 less balls an innings and 10 balls bowled per over from one end. That really is so different from T20.
Bairstow has stuck two fingers up to The Hundred and won't play for the Welsh Fire. Excellent. Need more players to do so too.
We do. Had a brief Twitter chat earlier with Charles Dagnell about the Hundred as he’d tweeted about how excited he was about it starting again. He was quite defensive and felt he was being pigeon holed into not caring about county cricket.
However, I don’t believe you can care about county cricket and back the Hundred.
No county cricket in August for the first time ever and the RL Cup demoted even further in its importance. Then again you have to remember whose paying Daggers wages! I suspect like many other media folk he doesn’t say what he really feels.
Dagnall is the same as a lot of those former players who forget their roots and are not concerned about the future of county cricket and who are prepared to whore themselves out to the highest payers. It wasn't The Hundred franchises that these players came through because they have no set up for the development of young cricketers and just ride on the back of all the hard work and success of club, district and county coaches and volunteers.
For what? 20 less balls an innings and 10 balls bowled per over from one end. That really is so different from T20.
Indeed. A smack in the teeth for all concerned. I’d love to see this properly debated on tv. Someone from the Hundred against George Dobell. Sadly, it won’t happen.
Bairstow has stuck two fingers up to The Hundred and won't play for the Welsh Fire. Excellent. Need more players to do so too.
We do. Had a brief Twitter chat earlier with Charles Dagnell about the Hundred as he’d tweeted about how excited he was about it starting again. He was quite defensive and felt he was being pigeon holed into not caring about county cricket.
However, I don’t believe you can care about county cricket and back the Hundred.
No county cricket in August for the first time ever and the RL Cup demoted even further in its importance. Then again you have to remember whose paying Daggers wages! I suspect like many other media folk he doesn’t say what he really feels.
I agree with the tenet of what you write .. BUT (there always is lol), increasingly it is the 20/20 and derivatives that make money for the ECB and the counties .. no way can 4 day county cricket generate enough cash to keep the game going .. 'the 'family in the street' love the formats, malheureusement mon ami that is the way cricket is going and will continue to do so
Bairstow has stuck two fingers up to The Hundred and won't play for the Welsh Fire. Excellent. Need more players to do so too.
We do. Had a brief Twitter chat earlier with Charles Dagnell about the Hundred as he’d tweeted about how excited he was about it starting again. He was quite defensive and felt he was being pigeon holed into not caring about county cricket.
However, I don’t believe you can care about county cricket and back the Hundred.
No county cricket in August for the first time ever and the RL Cup demoted even further in its importance. Then again you have to remember whose paying Daggers wages! I suspect like many other media folk he doesn’t say what he really feels.
I agree with the tenet of what you write .. BUT (there always is lol), increasingly it is the 20/20 and derivatives that make money for the ECB and the counties .. no way can 4 day county cricket generate enough cash to keep the game going .. 'the 'family in the street' love the formats, malheureusement mon ami that is the way cricket is going and will continue to do so
Of course Lincs and was it ever thus. I think that it can be achieved via The Blast not by a comp that on one else is doing and/or at the expense of First Class cricket and the RL Cup. That there is no first class county cricket in August is criminal. Imagine that in a football scenario where the league was suspended for 5 weeks, league and FA cup were played but without your best players whilst some other meaningless competition took place! Not sure season ticket holder would wear that but county cricket members are powerless it seems.
Just taken a quick look at that England squad, and I estimated that around 6 players, if selected, would miss the Hundred matches their contracted teams would be playing whilst the 1st Test v S Africa takes place, starting on 17th August. And presumably, a similar number for the 2nd & 3rd.
I'm guessing that the relevant Hundred teams ( spit) just have to cope with any absences but wondering whether any county players involved in the One Day Cup matches at that time might be "poached" to fill those gaps.
Bairstow has stuck two fingers up to The Hundred and won't play for the Welsh Fire. Excellent. Need more players to do so too.
We do. Had a brief Twitter chat earlier with Charles Dagnell about the Hundred as he’d tweeted about how excited he was about it starting again. He was quite defensive and felt he was being pigeon holed into not caring about county cricket.
However, I don’t believe you can care about county cricket and back the Hundred.
No county cricket in August for the first time ever and the RL Cup demoted even further in its importance. Then again you have to remember whose paying Daggers wages! I suspect like many other media folk he doesn’t say what he really feels.
Dagnall is the same as a lot of those former players who forget their roots and are not concerned about the future of county cricket and who are prepared to whore themselves out to the highest payers. It wasn't The Hundred franchises that these players came through because they have no set up for the development of young cricketers and just ride on the back of all the hard work and success of club, district and county coaches and volunteers.
For what? 20 less balls an innings and 10 balls bowled per over from one end. That really is so different from T20.
Possibly a bit harsh on Dagnall, he's probably 'on message' for the purposes of his commentary career. He's seemingly been jettisoned by BBC TMS, not even popping up on the local radio county coverage. Daggers was an enthusiastic early adopter of the women's game before the ECB got its proboscis stuck in and started polluting/exsanguinating it.
Not only is the ECB a one dimensional cash junky it also can't ever admit it got anything wrong at all. The 20 over competition began with our counties, replacing the Sunday League 40 over competition. Fair enough, swap some weekend 4 day cricket for some flash bang midweek summer action. Australia and India refined the commercial appeal of the 20 over game, the BBL and especially the IPL have been generating the sorts of cash the ECB can only dream about. The ECB was presented with a model to which English T20 could have been modified but ECB stuck with its first punt and continues to flog it mercilessly. Yes more overseas players are permitted but the Blast involves far too many games, far far too many dead rubbers and way way too much travelling. If all 18 counties are to remain involved for as long as possible what about 2 divisions with promotion and relegation? 3 up 3 down. Start like Kent did this season and everything after match 5 was a waste of time and more importantly players' health. The crowds at most T20 matches aren't so great that vast surpluses are made over the staging costs. I wonder what the satellite tv viewing figures are for all the meaningless fixtures? Do they earn the counties much/anything from advertising etc? T20's undoubtedly can generate more money than most 1st class county games but good quality red ball county cricket is the only breeding ground for the ECB's main money maker - i.e. test cricket. They haven't got a clue and the longer it goes on the more it looks like the less they care.
far far too much old bollocks on Sky's lead up to the first 100 .. just get on with the game f f s .. I'll watch on BBC to avoid all the Saffies, especially Kev Pietersen and noisy Ravi Shastri
Sad to see how far back, Amar Virdi seems to have gone for Surrey, a couple of years ago I thought he would be the answer to England's spin bowling problems, but I see playing for Surrey in the Royal London today they used 7 bowlers and he never got a bowl, I don't think he has played in the county Championship this season..
Sad to see how far back, Amar Virdi seems to have gone for Surrey, a couple of years ago I thought he would be the answer to England's spin bowling problems, but I see playing for Surrey in the Royal London today they used 7 bowlers and he never got a bowl, I don't think he has played in the county Championship this season..
He played for them in their against Lancs three weeks ago and returned figures of 0-121
Sad to see how far back, Amar Virdi seems to have gone for Surrey, a couple of years ago I thought he would be the answer to England's spin bowling problems, but I see playing for Surrey in the Royal London today they used 7 bowlers and he never got a bowl, I don't think he has played in the county Championship this season..
He played for them in their against Lancs three weeks ago and returned figures of 0-121
Sad to see how far back, Amar Virdi seems to have gone for Surrey, a couple of years ago I thought he would be the answer to England's spin bowling problems, but I see playing for Surrey in the Royal London today they used 7 bowlers and he never got a bowl, I don't think he has played in the county Championship this season..
He played for them in their against Lancs three weeks ago and returned figures of 0-121
Sad to see how far back, Amar Virdi seems to have gone for Surrey, a couple of years ago I thought he would be the answer to England's spin bowling problems, but I see playing for Surrey in the Royal London today they used 7 bowlers and he never got a bowl, I don't think he has played in the county Championship this season..
He played for them in their against Lancs three weeks ago and returned figures of 0-121
He went on loan to Somerset and played for them returning the above figures. He hasn't played a game for Surrey this season until the last 2 games in the RLODC.
Its a really tricky one with Amar. He burst onto the scene in 2018 playing every championship game and had a real impact as we won the champ.
But then at the start of 2019 he was dropped the club cited fitness and attitude problems for this. There was more than half a season when he wasn't in the squad but at every lunch and tea break Amar was rather humiliatingly sent out onto the outfield to do running drills with the fitness coaches. He did come back into the side before the end of the season and had an impact. Hes been in the side ever since but his impact was getting smaller and Moriarty had come in alongside him in some games and out bowled him.
Then at the start of this season when Batty became coach we all thought that he would be supportive of the spinners but that wasn't the case. He's talked a lot about his philosophy of allrounders, he wasn't 9 players who contribute with the bat and 7 who can bowl, he also expects everyone to be a top level fielder. All valid points in an ideal world but it seems to have been rather inconsistently applied. Virdi (and Moriarty) seem to have been penalised for their batting being weaker but others such as Topley, Worral, Mckerr, Taylor have been accommodated. Equally the fielding from Amla, Pollock, Narine has been pedestrian at best.
So we have been using Will Jacks as a spinner. Hes developed into a top class batsman in all formats and I don't want this to be taken as a criticism of him. His bowling previous has been useful in T20 but sparingly used in the 4 day game.
Given that we have been going into games with 6 or even 7 seam bowling options i dont understand why one of those couldn't have made way for a spinner to play alongside Jacks. There have been a number of games which have ended as draws where the seamers have been completely ineffective beyond the 25th-30th over and as hard as Jacks has tried he hasn't been able to get enough from the pitch to attack consistently or enough to exert control. On more than one occasion I have felt either Virdi or Moriarty would have given us a greater chance of turning a draw into a win. Would they have been enough to change the result? maybe not but there have been times (that pitch at beckenham for example) where it was obviously a road so a 2nd spinner was the obvious choice.
In the last match. 8 Bowlers used in 110 overs. Only 9 overs of spin. Jacks wasn't able to exert any control so we have had to use 7 seamers with Worral bowling 30 overs alone and getting injured, Overton then getting over bowled and also injured. Jacks is a good player and him developing this side of his game is great. There will be some games we play him as our main spinner for sure, there will be some games he plays as a batsman and some he plays as an allrounder and 2nd spinner. With pitches and the balls as they have been this year and with us regularly picking 7 bowlers I cant see the justification for not having a frontline spinner plus Jacks.
I'm a big fan of Batty and you cant argue with results (except i maintain a few draws would have been closer to wins with a spinner), but given the choice between him leaving and Virdi/Moriarty leaving I would choose him without a seconds hesitation. They are two of the best young spinners in the country, spinners take a lot longer to develop and learn their game, both have the potential to really come into their own in their late 20's/early 30's and really take to international cricket. For that to happen though we need to stick with them and keep playing them.
So back on Virdi, when we have seen him this year either on loan to Somerset, in the 2s or in the RLODC (his first ever white ball professional games) hes not looked good. The question then becomes is this as a result of him not playing and losing confidence or was he looking poor causing Batty to drop him. I'd hazard a bet its the first given the similar treatment of Moriarty who has looked good (though not quite himself) in the T20s.
Its getting to the point where Virdi needs to move on to get his career back on track. He is still very young and spinners develop later so don't write him off just yet. I still back him to appear for England sooner or later, but I'd bet Moriarty will get there first (probably in white ball).
As well as England have played so far they will need to improve in a couple areas if they are to overcome the Aussies who I suspect they’ll face in the final. The fielding hasn’t been as good it usually is, they’ve bowled too many wides and their use of reviews lately has been poor. Hopefully they can and will improve on that as they’ll need to be at their very best to beat the old enemy!
The English game has been consistently awful at bringing through spinners, not helped by being hyped or picked too early and often ruined as a result, e.g. Adam Riley, Simon Kerrigan, Mason Crane, Scott Borthwick
Just taken a quick look at that England squad, and I estimated that around 6 players, if selected, would miss the Hundred matches their contracted teams would be playing whilst the 1st Test v S Africa takes place, starting on 17th August. And presumably, a similar number for the 2nd & 3rd.
I'm guessing that the relevant Hundred teams ( spit) just have to cope with any absences but wondering whether any county players involved in the One Day Cup matches at that time might be "poached" to fill those gaps.
Surely that can't happen....
Are you suggesting county players should somehow be banned from plying their trade in The Hundred?
Just taken a quick look at that England squad, and I estimated that around 6 players, if selected, would miss the Hundred matches their contracted teams would be playing whilst the 1st Test v S Africa takes place, starting on 17th August. And presumably, a similar number for the 2nd & 3rd.
I'm guessing that the relevant Hundred teams ( spit) just have to cope with any absences but wondering whether any county players involved in the One Day Cup matches at that time might be "poached" to fill those gaps.
Surely that can't happen....
Can and does happen. Last year Surrey were flying in the RLODC when whatever franchise it was decided to grab Atkinson and Moriarty just in time for our final group game and the quarters and semis. We ended up losing David and Clarke to injury too so faltered in the semi.
Atkinson and Moriarty didn't play a game but carried the drinks.
They've both been given contracts this year but not likely to play a game
Sam Billings will captain England A vs S Africa. He and a few others will thus miss 1 or 2 Hundred games, or none at all depending on the fixture list!
Sam Billings will captain England A vs S Africa. He and a few others will thus miss 1 or 2 Hundred games, or none at all depending on the fixture list!
Just taken a quick look at that England squad, and I estimated that around 6 players, if selected, would miss the Hundred matches their contracted teams would be playing whilst the 1st Test v S Africa takes place, starting on 17th August. And presumably, a similar number for the 2nd & 3rd.
I'm guessing that the relevant Hundred teams ( spit) just have to cope with any absences but wondering whether any county players involved in the One Day Cup matches at that time might be "poached" to fill those gaps.
Surely that can't happen....
Are you suggesting county players should somehow be banned from plying their trade in The Hundred?
Test matches against SA start on just over a weeks time. We've had glorious weather for the past month yet no Test cricket. I believe the weather is going to change next week. Well played ECB !! You've really got your priorities right scheduling The 100 all through the best weather for test cricket.
Comments
He was quite defensive and felt he was being pigeon holed into not caring about county cricket.
Then again you have to remember whose paying Daggers wages! I suspect like many other media folk he doesn’t say what he really feels.
For what? 20 less balls an innings and 10 balls bowled per over from one end. That really is so different from T20.
Imagine that in a football scenario where the league was suspended for 5 weeks, league and FA cup were played but without your best players whilst some other meaningless competition took place! Not sure season ticket holder would wear that but county cricket members are powerless it seems.
I'm guessing that the relevant Hundred teams ( spit) just have to cope with any absences but wondering whether any county players involved in the One Day Cup matches at that time might be "poached" to fill those gaps.
Surely that can't happen....
Not only is the ECB a one dimensional cash junky it also can't ever admit it got anything wrong at all.
The 20 over competition began with our counties, replacing the Sunday League 40 over competition. Fair enough, swap some weekend 4 day cricket for some flash bang midweek summer action.
Australia and India refined the commercial appeal of the 20 over game, the BBL and especially the IPL have been generating the sorts of cash the ECB can only dream about.
The ECB was presented with a model to which English T20 could have been modified but ECB stuck with its first punt and continues to flog it mercilessly. Yes more overseas players are permitted but the Blast involves far too many games, far far too many dead rubbers and way way too much travelling. If all 18 counties are to remain involved for as long as possible what about 2 divisions with promotion and relegation? 3 up 3 down. Start like Kent did this season and everything after match 5 was a waste of time and more importantly players' health. The crowds at most T20 matches aren't so great that vast surpluses are made over the staging costs. I wonder what the satellite tv viewing figures are for all the meaningless fixtures? Do they earn the counties much/anything from advertising etc?
T20's undoubtedly can generate more money than most 1st class county games but good quality red ball county cricket is the only breeding ground for the ECB's main money maker - i.e. test cricket. They haven't got a clue and the longer it goes on the more it looks like the less they care.
Its a really tricky one with Amar. He burst onto the scene in 2018 playing every championship game and had a real impact as we won the champ.
But then at the start of 2019 he was dropped the club cited fitness and attitude problems for this. There was more than half a season when he wasn't in the squad but at every lunch and tea break Amar was rather humiliatingly sent out onto the outfield to do running drills with the fitness coaches. He did come back into the side before the end of the season and had an impact. Hes been in the side ever since but his impact was getting smaller and Moriarty had come in alongside him in some games and out bowled him.
Then at the start of this season when Batty became coach we all thought that he would be supportive of the spinners but that wasn't the case. He's talked a lot about his philosophy of allrounders, he wasn't 9 players who contribute with the bat and 7 who can bowl, he also expects everyone to be a top level fielder. All valid points in an ideal world but it seems to have been rather inconsistently applied. Virdi (and Moriarty) seem to have been penalised for their batting being weaker but others such as Topley, Worral, Mckerr, Taylor have been accommodated. Equally the fielding from Amla, Pollock, Narine has been pedestrian at best.
So we have been using Will Jacks as a spinner. Hes developed into a top class batsman in all formats and I don't want this to be taken as a criticism of him. His bowling previous has been useful in T20 but sparingly used in the 4 day game.
Given that we have been going into games with 6 or even 7 seam bowling options i dont understand why one of those couldn't have made way for a spinner to play alongside Jacks. There have been a number of games which have ended as draws where the seamers have been completely ineffective beyond the 25th-30th over and as hard as Jacks has tried he hasn't been able to get enough from the pitch to attack consistently or enough to exert control. On more than one occasion I have felt either Virdi or Moriarty would have given us a greater chance of turning a draw into a win. Would they have been enough to change the result? maybe not but there have been times (that pitch at beckenham for example) where it was obviously a road so a 2nd spinner was the obvious choice.
In the last match. 8 Bowlers used in 110 overs. Only 9 overs of spin. Jacks wasn't able to exert any control so we have had to use 7 seamers with Worral bowling 30 overs alone and getting injured, Overton then getting over bowled and also injured. Jacks is a good player and him developing this side of his game is great. There will be some games we play him as our main spinner for sure, there will be some games he plays as a batsman and some he plays as an allrounder and 2nd spinner. With pitches and the balls as they have been this year and with us regularly picking 7 bowlers I cant see the justification for not having a frontline spinner plus Jacks.
I'm a big fan of Batty and you cant argue with results (except i maintain a few draws would have been closer to wins with a spinner), but given the choice between him leaving and Virdi/Moriarty leaving I would choose him without a seconds hesitation. They are two of the best young spinners in the country, spinners take a lot longer to develop and learn their game, both have the potential to really come into their own in their late 20's/early 30's and really take to international cricket. For that to happen though we need to stick with them and keep playing them.
So back on Virdi, when we have seen him this year either on loan to Somerset, in the 2s or in the RLODC (his first ever white ball professional games) hes not looked good. The question then becomes is this as a result of him not playing and losing confidence or was he looking poor causing Batty to drop him. I'd hazard a bet its the first given the similar treatment of Moriarty who has looked good (though not quite himself) in the T20s.
Its getting to the point where Virdi needs to move on to get his career back on track. He is still very young and spinners develop later so don't write him off just yet. I still back him to appear for England sooner or later, but I'd bet Moriarty will get there first (probably in white ball).
The fielding hasn’t been as good it usually is, they’ve bowled too many wides and their use of reviews lately has been poor.
Hopefully they can and will improve on that as they’ll need to be at their very best to beat the old enemy!
Atkinson and Moriarty didn't play a game but carried the drinks.
They've both been given contracts this year but not likely to play a game
https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/england/sam_billings_captain_england_lions_four-day_clash_south_africa.html
And who could forget this either?
That umpire moment was a truly surreal ending to a major sporting event
England Lions v South Africa - Cricket - BBC Sport