Kent have emailed their members stating that they will support the changes proposed to Vitality Blast but not to the Rothesay CC where they don't intend to vote in favour of any of the 4 changes proposed.

Good for Kent. Proper county cricket county.

So it's going to the wire. If Edgbaston head honchos are foolhardy enough to vote for nearly 20% reduced cricket for their Warwickshire members less than ten years after the previous 15% reduction and after many members donated their subs during the behind closed doors COVID season, then they should be challenged firmly about it

kevandmac wrote:

Hi, I was at the ground yesterday but can't make today or tomorrow- presumably you already have my signature from an earlier response in this thread?
Thank you for making the effort to do this.
Hi, yes I have the details and I'm counting them towards the 250. If it's a tight squeeze to make 250 & the club is tough on applying the letter of the rules I may have to ask those who expressed support on this forum to also send a signature to the club, which is the actual requirement in the rules - but we can cross that bridge if and when we get to it.

Glamorgan have an SGM 6.30 this evening. If you know any Glammy members and want to preserve any chance of seeing first class cricket at wonderful venues such as Colwyn Bay or Aberystwyth in the future tell em to get along

Reabank wrote:

kevandmac wrote:

Hi, I was at the ground yesterday but can't make today or tomorrow- presumably you already have my signature from an earlier response in this thread?
Thank you for making the effort to do this.
Hi, yes I have the details and I'm counting them towards the 250. If it's a tight squeeze to make 250 & the club is tough on applying the letter of the rules I may have to ask those who expressed support on this forum to also send a signature to the club, which is the actual requirement in the rules - but we can cross that bridge if and when we get to it.

Thank you!

The Cricketer says:
A two-thirds consensus has been reached on a reduction of games in the Men's T20 Blast for next season and beyond. The expectation is that by shrinking the group stage from 14 to 12 games per county, losing one home match each, the competition will become more wedded to certain days, with the hope of creating a product that is easier for spectators to follow.
A return to the regionalised groups, which existed for the Blast's first seven years until 2010, would see Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire from the existing North Group, and Somerset, Gloucestershire and Glamorgan from the existing South Group merge to form what was formerly known as the Midlands/Wales/West Division.
it is likely that T20 Blast Finals Day, which has flitted through the competition's lifespan between mid-season and the end of the campaign, is set to revert to mid-July, so as to play out the entire tournament before The Hundred.
The future shape of the County Championship, though, remains less certain. There are 10 counties that are believed to have agreed to a 12-game model, with a 12-team top division, split across two pools. At least 12, though, are required in order to affect change. One county are understood to be considering abstaining; it is very possible that the Championship will remain in its current structure.

If the. Championship does retain its present structure due to member pressure at other counties and if we do get the 250 signatures to make our Board more accountable then I think Warwickshire’s membership committee are going to have to consider their positions! Who do they serve members, Club Board or themselves?

I’ve never even had the courtesy of a reply from them despite a holding reply saying they would do so!

Hoorah for the abstainer. What they're saying is we're not really sure about all this so fuck off with your lets shrink cricket idea. And quite right

We could solve it all by getting rid of The Hundread. We could then space all the games out and have more time to give players rest/practice time. The Hundread money is useful but if people want to watch cricket they will, they will have no choice but to watch whatever is left, too many people in the UK who call themselves cricket fans (Supposedly, more than a million) yet never watch any and if they do, it is a Test. As Rob Bransgrove (Don't really like him but...) said in the Cricketer magazine, the ECB generate £320M but they only release £100M of it. They could give the counties the money they would miss out on if we scrapped The Hundread and still have plenty. If county cricket is a loss-maker especially the CC, then we could ask the ECB, where else they are going to get their players from for international games.

Of course nobody is going with the 'ditch the pointless hundred' option?

High noon is 3pm today apparently

Gallant effort everybody

County Championship cricket was good while it lasted and in spite of all the meddling last 40 years from my own personal perspective it was worth following

Disappointed with Stuart Cain’s video yesterday about investment in the Hundred.

He cited the city of Birmingham as one of his three criteria for assessing bidders.

Given its actually Warwickshire County Cricket Club and supposedly accountable to its members how did we get into a position where the Board could arbitrarily decide who their stakeholders are and in whose interests they operate. We seem to have lost all governance!

This is a bit of an admission from the ECB:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/jul/31/ecb-admits-no-evidence-the-hundred-attracted-new-fans-cricket
When The Hundred was launched, much was made of it being a way into other forms of cricket.

May be an awakening at the ECB but I won't hold my breath. To attract people to other formats of the game there needs to be a structured fixture programme and the game needs to be played in the leisure time of those supporters you are trying to attract.

When you look at the Hundread people see a fixed slot in August played at a time when parent and child can go and watch.
That same principle should apply to Blast and County Cricket. The game needs to be played when Parent and child are able to attend. Clubs will know what times suits there crowd but it could be the Blast is played on a Friday evening and/or over the weekend. The c/c should have at least one day played at the weekend. In addition cricket should always be played on public holidays. Add in to the mix publicity on the same scale as the Hundread and I am sure numbers will rise.

I see that Richard Thompson, the ECB Chair, has said that the sale of The Hundred teams "has enabled us to hopefully create a competition that becomes the IPL of the Northern hemisphere."
In which hemisphere does he think that India exists?

When I look at the statement that the ECB delivered about not being sure that The Hundread has attracted any new spectators, I am not sure why they thought that droves of new fans would be coming through the gates. Also, what would happen if new fans got used to the 'Blocks of 5' as opposed to overs, would they question why there are overs in other forms of the game. I really doubt that all the investors are going to make much from all these franchise sides and as we know, putting cricket on terrestrial tv is the best way of attracting new fans to the game, without getting people interested this way, I cannot see that we will see loads of children rushing to the nearest cricket club (If they haven't folded already) to play if they are not playing in school which is very doubtful.

Agreement has now been reached to reduce the Blast qualifying matches from 14 to 12, with three regional groups of six and with Finals Day restored to July so the whole tournament finished before The Hundred.
No decision yet on the County Championship.

Lancashire didn’t offer their members the 14 match option even though they brought in a rule last year that the members had to be given a vote. Now they are holding an SGM to sanction the CEO and to require the 14 match option be put to members.

Our Board did the same trick and didn’t put a 14 match option to the “supposed” members committee.

The much-publicised review of the domestic playing structure continues to progress, with changes to the Vitality Blast due to come into effect in 2026, and a vote on the County Championship expected in the coming weeks.

The Club’s Board have taken time, since the review began, to form a view based on the interests of all stakeholders involved, from players and coaches, through to commercial partners and crucially, having consulted our Members and supporters.

In short, as suggested at recent Members’ Forums, Derbyshire County Cricket Club does not wish to see a reduction in the number of matches played by the Club across all formats.
The Board has always been concerned that reducing the amount of cricket played could, over time, severely impact attendance and overall interest in the sport.

We have seen outstanding support so far this season, with Vitality Blast attendances up by 20 per cent, while Rothesay County Championship crowds have grown by 17 per cent. It has been extremely positive to see an increase in new spectators purchasing tickets or Memberships for the first time, alongside our ardent support.

The Board strongly believes that the fine balance between player welfare, the commercial impact of the domestic structure, as well as the needs of spectators, could be addressed by making adjustments to the schedule, as opposed to reducing the number of days of cricket.
While we are clear in our position, the game has chosen to reduce the number of T20 Blast matches, and we await further details on the final options for the County Championship. Whatever the outcome, the Board and the Club’s Executive Team will continue to work collaboratively with the game to maximise the potential and growth of domestic cricket across all formats.

Derbyshire County Cricket Club Board of Directors

Good for Derbyshire not wanting to sell their members short unlike some

A comment on the County Cricket Matters on Facebook page that there are currently 7 counties against any change to the fixture list, 11 in favour, 1 less than the 2/3rds majority necessary to change the structure of county cricket. The squeeze is being put on the no change counties to try and get one to flip. No idea if that's true but it sounds plausible.
On matters Warwickshire, I'm trying to change the club rules to ensure the club has to get the approval of the members before voting on any changes to the fixture list. If the rule change goes through it won't impact on the current discussions which is unfortunate but it will be there for next time and I'm pretty confident there will be a next time. I currently have 253 signatures plus another 20 remote signers so that's stage 1 complete, I should be able to get this to the AGM.