Author Topic: County Cricket 2024 (Read 3235 times)

CrazyEnglishTriathlete · « **on:** 21 December, 2023, 06:23:53 am »

Because the season starts on 5 April. And here is one of the reasons why - hybrid pitches - was news to me, additional plastic fibres sewn into the pitch. I always wondered how groundsman were able to prepare pitches at a time when I'd only just about cut my grass for the first time in the year.

https://turfcareblog.com/help-from-a-hybrid/

Hair_Today_Gone_Tomorrow · « **Reply #1 on:** 21 December, 2023, 01:32:06 pm »

Interesting - hadn't really thought about it before, but it makes sense.

I know lots of football clubs are using similar technology to keep pitches in good condition

Wowbagger · « **Reply #2 on:** 21 December, 2023, 06:16:30 pm »

I recall from yesteryear the absolutely appalling state of some of the pitches, even of the big clubs with lots of money, after a wet autumn and winter. The goal areas at our local village football ground became a veritable slurry-pit every January because it was an active village side with a fixture on the ground pretty well every week. I'm sure pictures must exist of people like Nobby Stiles covered in shite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwEevs5q6Pk&ab_channel=ClassicManUtdVideosandClips Some mud in that.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #3 on:** 27 March, 2024, 11:54:30 pm »

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2024/mar/27/the-spin-wealth-gap-county-cricket

A piece on the different financial state of our 18 counties.

I recall years ago (1980 to be precise - I could have sworn it was 1979) going to Worcester for the Benson & Hedges semifinal v Essex. It was a glorious June morning after overnight rain. We arrived at the ground around 10.30am and had to wait for play to start at 2pm because the pitch was waterlogged. Even when play began, some of the Essex players rolled their trouser legs up because part of the outfield was still so wet that you could see the water splashing as they ran. We watched 11 overs before it rained again and it was obvious that play would be abandoned for the day. It took 3 days to complete a 1-day match.

Worcester is undoubtedly the most picturesque of all the county grounds but its playing area is spending an increasing amount of every year submerged beneath the swollen River Severn as climate change takes its toll. In some of the buildings around the ground there are brass "lines" attached to the walls to indicate the height of the floods in the wettest years. THe ground is often under a metre of water as the Welsh rains feed the river.

CrazyEnglishTriathlete · « **Reply #4 on:** 28 March, 2024, 02:49:34 pm »

Mrs CET and I were discussing this topic at lunch, having discovered that Jordan Cox, one of Kent's finest young cricketers is moving across the river to Essex. It makes entire sense for an aspiring-to-be test cricketer. At Kent, he is likely to deployed in a series of rearguard actions, which probably won't help get the attention of the England set-up. Kent can't afford to be competitive across all formats, so for them it makes sense to place a bet on T20 - large home crowds and the possibility of a lucrative finals day. And so if they have future test-cricketers they will probably thing the same, but if you lose your brightest and best, then you slide further down the pecking order.

I think, however, the possibility of a team gelling and doing a Leicester City is much higher in cricket than it is in football, and so I will entertain that faint possibility as we enter a new season. At least they won't have to play a second XI when test cricket or the Hundred are on.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #5 on:** 28 March, 2024, 02:55:02 pm »

I’ve not followed the shenanigans closely but I think Dan Lawrence, Essex’s rising star batsman, has gone to Surrey. I gain the impression from the Simon Harmer quote in that piece that Essex is one of the richest counties, which is a very far cry from how it was when I first started attending matches. Their first ever trophy was in 1979 after 103 years in existence, but since then they have regularly been one of the strongest sides.

The only format that interests me is the multi-day game. One-day stuff is ok for a change, but has no lasting interest for me.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #6 on:** 01 April, 2024, 11:23:36 pm »

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/01/county-championship-2024-team-by-team-guide-to-the-new-season

The Graun's predictions for the new season.

1st Surrey
2nd Durham
3rd Essex

How lovely it would be if Surrey were relegated...

CrazyEnglishTriathlete · « **Reply #7 on:** 02 April, 2024, 09:20:13 am »

It would, as that would assume results did not go to from and Kent somehow manage to survive relegation. Although given the rain over Easter, I fear conditions are better for ornithological ducks than sporting ones.

CrazyEnglishTriathlete · « **Reply #8 on:** 04 April, 2024, 12:50:13 pm »

The season starts tomorrow. My lawn is too saturated to walk on. My heart goes out to those who have to prepare a surface on which a semblance of cricket can be played tomorrow. Today's horse race meeting at Warwick has been abandoned due to waterlogging and Fontwell and Wetherby tomorrow are praying for no further rain.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #9 on:** 04 April, 2024, 01:07:39 pm »

We had almost twice as much rain in March 2023 as we did in March 2024. But even so, I've been trying to find the opportunity to cut My Pal Penelope's lawn for her but it's been too wet. Her son did it in the depths of winter and I've done it once, either in late Feb or early March. We haven't had a single frost round here since January, and it's been "growing weather", to quote my dad, in all that time, but not warm enough to evaporate the moisture. Saturday promises to be reasonably warm and dry though.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #10 on:** 04 April, 2024, 06:15:28 pm »

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/04/rain-rain-go-away-groundstaff-fear-worst-on-eve-of-new-cricket-season

Another article about how wet it is.

New Road, Worcester, last weekend. It wasn't quite that wet when I watched Essex play on it 44 years ago, but it wasn't far off.

CrazyEnglishTriathlete · « **Reply #11 on:** 05 April, 2024, 10:05:31 am »

I went to watch Kent play Worcester in a 40-over game a long while ago (pre-Duckworth-Lewis). Steady drizzle set in during the Kent innings, chasing a target. The rain started to get heavier, and Matthew Fleming (a cricketer who would have thrived in 20 over cricket) hit the ball into the covers for what looked like a sharp single. To the bemusement of us all (including the Worcester fielders) he turned for a suicidal second, which he made because no one was expecting it. He then looked up to the heavens, which obliged with a further increase in rainfall, and the umpires obligingly called them in, with Kent wining by 0.00012 of a run per over.

Kelso and Fontwell have been called off today for water logging. Neither of them are in flood plains, and Fontwell invested in an all weather surface for the bottom bend precisely to stop fixtures being called off, so if it is too wet to race there then it is very wet indeed.

CrazyEnglishTriathlete · « **Reply #12 on:** 05 April, 2024, 11:39:56 am »

There is cricket at Lords and Edgbaston. Chapeau to the ground staff.

bikepacker · « **Reply #13 on:** 05 April, 2024, 12:05:09 pm »

Quote from: Wowbagger on 04 April, 2024, 06:15:28 pm

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/04/rain-rain-go-away-groundstaff-fear-worst-on-eve-of-new-cricket-season

Another article about how wet it is.

New Road, Worcester, last weekend. It wasn't quite that wet when I watched Essex play on it 44 years ago, but it wasn't far off.

It looks like they are thinking about moving away from New Road and developing a new ground away from the river. They are playing their first home games at Kidderminster.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #14 on:** 05 April, 2024, 01:03:11 pm »

It seems Essex have an opening batsman by the name of Elgar. I wonder if his variation of strokes is enigmatic?

He's 28 not out. Essex 55-1 at Trent Bridge.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #15 on:** 06 April, 2024, 01:41:40 pm »

I don't think I've heard of Sam Northeast before. He's played an amazing innings for Glamorgan - 283 not out in 507-3. A Kent lad apparently, and given that he's already got a first class score of 410 not out under his belt, and he's 35, I'm a bit surprised I haven't heard of him, or that he's found his way at some point into the England team.

CrazyEnglishTriathlete · « **Reply #16 on:** 06 April, 2024, 02:35:37 pm »

He was a rising star at Kent but plateaued and went to Hampshire, seeking a stronger team and more recognition. But he still didn't get recognition and his form tailed off a bit, so he sought new pastures at Glamorgan - where he has really thrived. The 410* was something else - it featured partnerships of 400 and 300 - which had never been done before, and was scored at a pace that allowed Glamorgan to win the game - whereas most 400s have been against weak opposition or in a high scoring draw - it was a proper innings.

As I type he has just matched Graham Gooch's 333.

And declared on himself at 335*

Here is the scorecard of his 410* - Leicester scored 584 and lost by an innings - https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/county-championship-division-two-2022-1310355/leicestershire-vs-glamorgan-1297754/full-scorecard

Wowbagger · « **Reply #17 on:** 06 April, 2024, 02:44:30 pm »

Glamorgan 620-3 dec. Northeast 335no, Ingram 132no. I'm not going to be putting any money on Middlesex to win that game...

I remember Gooch's 333 very well. He was the only player ever to score a triple century and a century in the same match.

CrazyEnglishTriathlete · « **Reply #18 on:** 06 April, 2024, 02:55:46 pm »

The question now will be whether Sam Northeast can reach the magic 1000 runs before the end of May - which has only been done 9 times before.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #19 on:** 06 April, 2024, 03:04:16 pm »

How many fixtures do Glamorgan have in that time?

Wowbagger · « **Reply #20 on:** 06 April, 2024, 03:47:08 pm »

Notts are building steadily v Essex. Both batsmen in their 50s.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #21 on:** 06 April, 2024, 03:52:54 pm »

Quote from: Wowbagger on 06 April, 2024, 03:04:16 pm

How many fixtures do Glamorgan have in that time?

It looks like 7 complete matches and the first day of the 8th is 31st May. After a start like this one, two or three more good innings would put him within reach.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #22 on:** 06 April, 2024, 06:03:04 pm »

Quite an achievement for Northeast - the highest ever score at Lords.

And Sam Cook takes a hat-trick for Essex, who trail Notts by 40 runs.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #23 on:** 06 April, 2024, 06:41:12 pm »

Essex have knocked off the deficit without loss. A well-balanced match at this stage...

Wowbagger · « **Reply #24 on:** 06 April, 2024, 07:08:09 pm »

At the close, Essex are 25 ahead with 9 wickets left. All to play for...

The forecast for Nottingham tomorrow makes it look as though a good deal of tomorrow's play could be wiped out by rain.