Highveld
Member
If he was available Jacob Bethel would strengthen the side, and it would be better for his development than his not playing in the unwanted competition.
Having spent today umpiring the first day of a Junior county festival at Rugby School today, It's fair to say that while it is a lovely ground, that is exceptionally presented and maintained, and has a very good wicket. the facilities at the ground are not up to what is needed for Professional cricket without massive expenditure on seat, toilet facilities, catering and sheleter. there is also the question of where to park cars for spectators, staff and officials.
todays event, with only families of the young players parking, plus officials and coaches etc totally filled all the available parking areas, there is no way the ground could cope with the numbers needed for a financially successful county game.
Interestingly today I spoke to an ex Warwickshire captain, a former Warwicks wicketkeeper and the grandson of a 1970's Warwickshire bowler.
The on field officials having seen the catch live decided it was a fair catch. That is not going to change, the blurry, out of focus image does not provide clear evidence that the umpires made a mistake.
Rugby school would need to have seating, toilets, catering and media facilities all hired. Obviously at great expense. The pavillion would, just about, be adequate for players facilities, but it would not provide any facilities whatsoever for spectators
Sadly there is not a ground in Warwickshire that would be viable to use, unless a very large sponsor was willing to cover all of the additional costs in staging the game away from Edgbaston.
As mentioned in the other thread, the ground at Stratford is not fit for county cricket, after several major floods the outfield resembles a ploughed field.
postponed till 2024 or 25 he's aiming to exceed Boyd Rankin's percentage of days unavailable during his contract period!
Of course, all those advocating the use of outgrounds will be taking the short drive down to South Wales to support the use of an outground!
From checking on Google maps, it looks like the ground has very limited parking, even for a club game without spectators, and very little shelter or seating.
He was a free agent at the end of the season, Worcestershire made a better offer.
He'll be working under coaches that he worked with as a junior, so they will beleive in his ability.
Outground cricket can be wonderful, but the question is will the income generated from playing at an outground even cover the costs of staging the game.
Remember we have one of the best grounds in the country, that has fixed operating costs even if it is not used. Is it financially sensible to use a ground elsewhere, with all the additional costs involved, if that involves the club making a significant financial loss?
It was a game in the U18's chmpionship, the Worcestershire report is here
ECB regulations state that games should be played within the county, or at a venue with established links.
Kidderminster and Stourbridge are both in Worcestershire, so are not viable options, likewise I can't see Derbyshire agreeing to Warwickshire use their ground in Derby.
The only ground in Worcestershire that Warwickshire could legitimately use would be Barnt Green, which is a wonderful club ground, one of my favourites, and has an excellent wicket, however it does not have the facilities needed to host a first class or list A game.
It is a decision based on the financial realities of hosting a game at a club ground. It costs a lot more to host a game on an outground, as addiditional temporary facilities and equipment will need to be hired.
It would be totally illogical to host a game elsewhere when the result would be a significant financial loss.
For the record, the last first class game at Grif and Coton was 35 years ago, and the last multi day 2nd team game 25 years ago.
Nuneaton CC is barely adequate in terms of facilities for club cricket, so is not sutable for first class or list A games.
The outfield at Stratford is very rutted and undulating so is not suitable. Also where do the spectators park?
The groundsman has changed at Cov & Nw and the pitches are currently very slow and have variable bounce.
Rugby School has no spectator facilities and the ground at Kenilworth CC is too small and they do not even hold county age group games.
The ECB have recently introduced new regulations about the quality of grounds and the facilies on the ground, including the size of changing and media areas,
Sadly, without massive costs, and local authority agreement, there is not currently a suitable club, or school, ground in the county.
I enjoy outground cricket, and have been to about 15 grounds over the years, however times and requirements change.
Continuing the discussion from the Middlesex game thread.
Which grounds in the county to people suggest would be viable for a first team ground away from edgbaston? Remember that the ground needs to have a high quality wicket and outfield, hav space for spectators, catering and parking, plus meet the ECB regulations for facilities.
for various reasons the outgrounds used most recently fail to meet the criteria in at least one way, eg Stratford the outfield is too badly undulating after several flodings to be acceptable for First team cricket.
Michael has been at Durham Uni for the last few years, so wasn't available to play domestic cricket in South Africa.
I'd expect Kai Smith to be in the side for the first few games, he did pretty well last season and had a good score for the second team last week.
A lot of the problems this season have been caused by the poor starts from the opening batsmen, with very very few exceptions.
However their mediocraty was rewarded by giving them full county caps when they were not deserved.
I think the exceptionally good international umpire was not being 100% serious.
I feel it was out, but appreciate that alternative views also have merit.
There was a lot of dicussion in an online umpires group, which contains several national panel and interntional umpires. there was a slight concencus towards out, however a lot depends on the actual timing of the contact etc, and remember the umpires have one view of any incident, at full speed. It's easy to make decisions with multiple replays and angles.
Unfortunately there isn't a suitable ground in the county that would be financially viable without a comercial backer to cover the costs.
There are some very good club cricket grounds in the county, but they do not have the space needed for the number of spectators, the catering and other facilities and parking needed for a First class or list A game.