SportTrades very own Jimmy Drew gives his thoughts at the start of the Cricket Season. It starts TODAY!. Jimmy will be back throughout the season and we will also feature the progress of his very own club side. So over to you James...It almost feels like Cricketing weather
I’m in shock…..today is the start of the domestic cricket season and we’re blessed with sun and blue skies a plenty, how very novel indeed…..having said that, what odds do you think you’d get right now for 2010 being the wettest summer “since records began”?!? (That statement always makes me wonder what they did before records did begin?), anyway, I digress….
So, what will the 2010 season bring us you all ask? The intention of this blog is to answer just that, provide you with my not-so-expert predictions on which clubs will achieve what as well as giving you, at times, a different view to the number one quintessential game this country has to offer….
Let’s start off with the factual stuff….The biggest change this year is that the number of competitions has reduced from four to three. The LV= County Championship (4 day matches), remains largely the same as last season, with two leagues of nine counties, each playing the other eight teams in their respective leagues twice, once at home and once away. The bonus points scoring criteria has changed, which is not only designed to encourage teams to score runs and take wickets in the first innings at a swifter pace, though changes to the match points should also encourage teams to push for wins rather than settle for the previous all to often “bore-draw” outcome. Promotion and relegation is decided upon the bottom two teams of division one and top two in division two.
The other two competitions include The Friends Provident Twenty20 and revamped Clydesdale Bank 40 over competition. For the former, instead of three regional divisions with six teams in each, this year, and similar to the county championship, there will be two divisions with nine teams in each, though split geographically (North and South). The top four teams in each league will qualify for the quarter-finals, and then it’s a knock-out competition from there.
The revamped 40 over competition also brings an end to the 50 over version of the game and includes all of the 18 professional counties, as well as Scotland, the Netherlands and the ECB Unicorns (a team made up of players without full county contracts, eager to make a name for themselves no doubt). The format for this competition is three groups of seven teams, with the top team and best overall runner-up from the three groups progressing through to the semi-final stage.
Although there’s one less competition this season, counties will find themselves actually playing more days of cricket (weather permitting), than last season. This is something which continues to be debated on a annual basis, with the burning out of players, fatigue, lack of preparation between matches as well as “nothing to play for” games all fuelling the debate on how the county set-up should be structured.
Tweaks however continue to be made almost each year to the county structure, and hopefully one day we will finally arrive at a happy medium of more competitive and meaningful cricket though slightly less matches.
Young English players wishing to stake a claim in becoming the next big thing on the international stage, for far too long, have largely had to first earn their stripes on the treadmill that is the county circuit, and based on its current set-up, monotony of some matches and the overall tight scheduling throughout the summer calendar makes it extremely tricky indeed for the better players to cut the grain and stand out from the rest. Having said that, the pathway to the England senior squad has never been so good, with much more emphasis placed on the younger national sides, for example the under 19’s, teams below this age group as well as the England Lions (England “A” Team), resulting in the better players being managed and nurtured along the way as they should.
So, what can we expect for the summer ahead, personally, I think Durham will take some beating and retain the title as Division 1 champs in the County Championship, though the likes of Notts and Somerset will once again push them all the way, along with new boys Kent who won the division 2 title last season and will be difficult to beat at this level.
Depending on who’s selected for the summer internationals, I feel that both Yorkshire and Warwickshire may find themselves at the wrong end of division one for much of the season and will be involved in the dog fight to stay out of the two relegation places right down to the wire.
Surrey, Middlesex and Worcestershire, all of whom are in division 2 this year have been pretty busy over the winter in the transfer market, with many players coming and going from all three counties. With regards Surrey, only time will tell whether Chris Adams’ bold move to acquire the services of 22 year old Rory Hamilton-Brown from Sussex and duly appoint him as county captain is the right decision. I do personally feel that all three counties will be pushing for promotion to division 1, and although all three appear pretty strong on paper in the batting department, it’ll be their bowling that will ultimately dictate their success come the end of the season.I think the surprise package will be Derbyshire, with Chris Rogers carrying on from where he left off last season in skippering the team and leading from the front with his batting at the top of the innings. They have also made a few shrewd signings, such as Robin Peterson and Mark Footitt, both of whom I tip for big things this season and I feel Derbyshire will be pushing all the way this season for promotion to division one.
Aside from the County Championship, when the razzmatazz of Twenty20 kicks off at the start of June, not only will counties see their usual attendances increase from a few hundred to several thousand per game, but we’ll also be blessed with the arrival of some of the best one day players in the world, albeit, for a few weeks whilst this competition runs it course. Players such as Shahid Afridi (Hampshire), Adam Gilchrist (Middlesex), Andrew Symonds (Surrey), Herschelle Gibbs (Yorkshire), Loots Bosman (Derbys) and Albie Morkel (Durham) will don our shores in what promises to be a fast paced and white knuckled adventure for all who watch. My prediction is that Somerset, Notts and Durham will all make the semis, plus one other team of course, which I just can’t decide on just can’t decide on!
Finally, with regards the Clydesdale 40 competition, my virtual money is on either Kent or Essex to go all the way, and although I’d love to see them do well, I feel that the ECB Unicorns will end up bottom of their respective group. That’s enough from me for the time being, so here’s to an exciting summer of cricket, and let’s hope that we’re blessed with one of the warmest we’ve had for a few years.
Durham as you've said are the team to beat, that being said i think Somerset with the likes of Tres, Hildrith, Compton, Suppiah, Alfonos Thomas have a good chance. They're need to win games on the road though and have that great batting line up fire.
ReplyDelete2009 could be a good year for Yorks. With Gale leading the side and good batters in McGrath, Rudolph (who had so much talent) and Saywers they should score highly. Importantly though alike Lanc's they need the weather to go well. With guys like Bresnan, Shazhad, Harris around they could perhaps do very well in T20tournament.
I'd agree with the Somerset comments, and I’ve admired the way they've approached their cricket over the last few seasons, positive and attacking, which was largely influenced by the inspirational Justin Langer, and therefore it'll be interesting to see whether this legacy will continue now that he's left the club.
ReplyDeleteWith regards Yorkshire, then a lot could depend on who's selected for England, e.g. Bresnan, Shahzad and Rashid, but Gale is a good call as skipper and I feel Rudolph will score big runs this summer, especially if the wickets stay dry for much of the season.