Unofficial Lancs Cricket Forum

Andrew of Ware · 2nd XI Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Age: 52 Posts: 700

BBC Report

The BBC is reporting that an English rival to the IPL will be launched in 2010. It will involve nine franchised teams, based at the nine major international grounds. The idea is backed by the MCC, Lancashire, Surrey and Hampshire. There will be a bidding process, with a salary cap of £1.5 million.

The ECB knows nothing of the plans and Giles Clarke is playing down the reports and says the board may not sanction it - are we seeing a possible ICL rather than an IPL?

Is this the start of the end of the current county structure? Jonathan Agnew seems to to think so:

carl · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 5:31 pm Post subject:

It will be the end for the smaller counties, and about time.
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sweatysock · 2nd XI Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 531

well clearly i do not want sussex cc to die a death, and cannot really believe there is much interest from the general public in the franchise concept. it ignores history and a certain loyal fanbase.
i certainly wouldnt go out of my way to watch a few sussex players playing at the toilet bowl or the oval or lords. i understand though that this may not matter as corporate sponsorship and tv rights are more critical financially

my other point is the long-term sustainability of 20/20 cricket - i think crowds were already beginning to fall and lets face it the extra crowds that come in are mainly a load of pissheads and bimbos who could easily get their excitement elsewhere!

what i can see happening is a breakaway or major rift between rich & poor

man in the stand · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:40 pm Post subject:

Comment from Graham Gooch during a commentary was that the income from one 20:20 match was equivalent to 2.5 years income from the County Championship you can why they like 20/20.

Can't see regional teams working... Lancs and Yorks combined?? We will need a name...let me see we'll take shire from Yorkshire and Lancas from our name and there you have it. Very Happy

Or how about the "the flat caps" or "the cloggers" or "its grim up north"

Andrew of Ware · 2nd XI Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Age: 52 Posts: 700

The proposal says that the matches will be based at current international grounds, so Yorkshire (or Leeds) will be separate from Lancashire (or Manchester).
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sweatysock · 2nd XI Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 531

well as long as you lanky boys are ok, i suppose nothing else matters!

sweatysock · 2nd XI Joined: 15 Sep 2007 Posts: 531

sorry am on my high horse now but carl wanting the end of the county structure always irks me somewhat - another way to look at this is who actually wins the trophies on offer - i think youll find its fairly evenly distributed betwen test & non-test counties - surely something special about cricket which few other sports have

BigClive · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:47 pm Post subject:

It'll be just another step towards loss of identity, who would really feel able to support fabricated teams in the traditional way when money is all that matters?
Already there's the same-old routine with counties hardly ever meeting several others. It used to be the odd one in a season but this year - though apologies if mentioned already - Lancs won't play Essex, Glamorgan, Northants or Warwickshire with a single Pro40 game against Gloucester and Worcester. I daresay it's even worse for some counties.
If the smaller counties disappear, it's time to go home. Sad

themaclad · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 6:24 am Post subject:

This is only a proposal but some members of the ECB, nothing is written in stone yet.
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themaclad · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:35 am Post subject:

paulisi · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:17 am Post subject:

I'm sure it will not get through. Only the counties with test playing grounds will vote for it and even Glamorgan may vote against it.

If it does go through, it will be the end of the current structure in all forms.

Andrew of Ware · 2nd XI Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Age: 52 Posts: 700

As far as I can tell the IPL has not signalled the end of state cricket in India - which I believe is even less popular than County Championship cricket is here. I agree that it means smaller counties will lose out on the T20 money pot, but all profits would be shared among the eighteen counties.

What I really fear is a breakaway league - a bit like the Premier League in football in the 1990s. These clubs are now run by money men, but people still support their 'local' team - even though (to use a random example) Chelsea is now the plaything of some Russian billionaire.

Stanford is willing to put millions into this tournament and I fear that may swing the vote, or if it doesn't then a rebel league is on the cards.
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Zaremba · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:38 pm Post subject:

Well imagine if it was taken a step further so that it was based around the Test grounds, thus excluding Old Trafford? Wink

Perhaps you'd have to travel to Nottingham or Leeds, just as we'd have to travel to the Oval or the Toilet Bowl.

Supporters of Lancashire CCC should be as up in arms about this as those of other counties. Do you really want your county to be deleted and replaced by a regional franchise? I can't believe Lancashire's management is in favour of this.

man in the stand · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:19 pm Post subject:

Some more detail courtesy of the Independent -

*25-day competition to run Jun/Jul starting in 2010.
*9 teams to play 54 matches in a round robin format followed by a semi-final and then a final.
*Teams to based at Cat A grounds (Lords, Oval, OT, Trent Bridge, Edgbaston, Rose Bowl, Sophia Gardens and Riverside.)
*Icon players allocated to home ground (e.g. Freddie to OT) All others players auctioned - Minimum of 12 "home grown" players in 15/16 man squad.
*Each team projected to make £0.5m profit with another £47m to go to the ECB.
*FPT and pro-40 scrapped with the current 20/20 to played on Friday evenings and a 50 over competition at the weekend. Fewer County Championship matches.

Plan is the brainchild of MCC, Lancs, Yorks and Surrey! I presume the income is to come from worldwide television rights?

carl · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:22 pm Post subject:

Shit idea
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