Who's Sorry Now: Down by the Riverside

[westoelad]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2017/content/story/1088765.html
Season preview from cricinfo.

Canny left arm spinner that Asher Hart!

[captaincolly]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2017/content/story/1088765.html
Season preview from cricinfo.

Canny left arm spinner that Asher Hart!

Well spotted! I missed that.
I'd love to know the difference in the offers made by Durham and Hampshire. Unless there was a ridiculous gap between the two I think to say he departed with unseemly haste is a polite way of putting it.

[westoelad]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2017/content/story/1088765.html
Season preview from cricinfo.

Canny left arm spinner that Asher Hart!

Well spotted! I missed that.
I'd love to know the difference in the offers made by Durham and Hampshire. Unless there was a ridiculous gap between the two I think to say he departed with unseemly haste is a polite way of putting it.

Head been turned by an unscrupulous agent probably which will occur increasingly. Doubt if Hants had even heard of Asher Hart until the agent touted him to them. However he's made his bed.....Hope it goes well for the lad but he's far from 1st team standard and would surely had a better chance of progressing by staying put for a few seasons

[captaincolly]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2017/content/story/1088765.html
Season preview from cricinfo.

Canny left arm spinner that Asher Hart!

Well spotted! I missed that.
I'd love to know the difference in the offers made by Durham and Hampshire. Unless there was a ridiculous gap between the two I think to say he departed with unseemly haste is a polite way of putting it.

Head been turned by an unscrupulous agent probably which will occur increasingly. Doubt if Hants had even heard of Asher Hart until the agent touted him to them. However he's made his bed.....Hope it goes well for the lad but he's far from 1st team standard and would surely had a better chance of progressing by staying put for a few seasons

I agree. Seems an odd career move even if it was made when it looked as if Hants would be in div 2 so his chances of first team cricket looked reasonable.

[westoelad]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2017/content/story/1088765.html
Season preview from cricinfo.

Canny left arm spinner that Asher Hart!

Well spotted! I missed that.
I'd love to know the difference in the offers made by Durham and Hampshire. Unless there was a ridiculous gap between the two I think to say he departed with unseemly haste is a polite way of putting it.

Head been turned by an unscrupulous agent probably which will occur increasingly. Doubt if Hants had even heard of Asher Hart until the agent touted him to them. However he's made his bed.....Hope it goes well for the lad but he's far from 1st team standard and would surely had a better chance of progressing by staying put for a few seasons

I agree. Seems an odd career move even if it was made when it looked as if Hants would be in div 2 so his chances of first team cricket looked reasonable.

Hmm! Not if legsidelizzy is to be believed and Hants were aware of the situation long before it was announced. Maybe also he was told how bleak Durham's finances were.

[captaincolly]

That would make sense and possibly also a factor in the Surrey duos decision- their 'cricketing reasons' excuses were never entirely convincing and they've both been very quiet these past few months.

[westoelad]

That would make sense and possibly also a factor in the Surrey duos decision- their 'cricketing reasons' excuses were never entirely convincing and they've both been very quiet these past few months.

Add the fact that the Sorry chairman was on the committee that determined Durham's sanctions and it all looks pretty murky

[captaincolly]

That would make sense and possibly also a factor in the Surrey duos decision- their 'cricketing reasons' excuses were never entirely convincing and they've both been very quiet these past few months.

Add the fact that the Sorry chairman was on the committee that determined Durham's sanctions and it all looks pretty murky

Yes. Very suspicious.

[captaincolly]

Interesting comments from Martin Emmerson in his pre-season email:

A lot has obviously happened in recent months, not least the relegation of Durham, whose treatment at the hands of an ECB which helped create their debts, is nothing short of a disgrace. I have said so many times on air since October. I say so in my preview of the new season as well on the BBC website.

There are many things which irk me about this. Durham found out last they were being relegated - three weeks or more after Hampshire were apparently told they would be staying up!

Reporters at the final Middlesex v Yorkshire game at Lords last September were also informed of Durham's demise a good week before the club was officially told about it. How can this be right?

I also understand the Durham Board, while about to fall collectively on its own sword, had to agree to sanctions from the ECB before even knowing what they were going to be. And they were all ordered to sign confidentiality clauses and banned from talking openly to the press afterwards. I sat in the offices at Chester-le-Street while the lawyers were on the phone telling them not to say anything.

The ECB has refused to do any interviews, or answer the many serious questions I and other colleagues in the industry have. They have not come out of this at all well. The varying editorials of the time - and since on sites like Cricinfo do not read well from their point of view. And they have created a rod for their own backs because before long the likes of Yorkshire or one of the bigger clubs are going to need another bail out. How will the ECB deal with that? Given there's at least £160 million of debt in the county game I don't think for one minute Durham will be the only ones to need help.

[westoelad]

Very keen on confidentiality agreements are FTECB. This surely must contravene human rights legislation. I can fully understand 2 parties mutually agreeing to a confidentiality agreement but any degree of compulsion has to be wrong.

[Durhamfootman]

And they have created a rod for their own backs because before long the likes of Yorkshire or one of the bigger clubs are going to need another bail out. How will the ECB deal with that? Given there's at least £160 million of debt in the county game I don't think for one minute Durham will be the only ones to need help.

with good reason it seems
http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cric ... 89010.html

Headingley's future as a Test venue appears to have been assured, following a funding agreement between Yorkshire and Leeds City Council over the redevelopment of the ground's rugby stand that has served a dual purpose for cricket and rugby clubs over the past 84 years.

Without the agreement, the ground's future would have been in immediate peril. The club, already £24 million in debt, required council support to fulfil their £17 million share of a £32 million joint redevelopment with Leeds Rhinos, without which, the ECB had indicated, the ground could not be awarded any international fixtures beyond 2019.

It appears that FTECB have lost their carrot and can only find the stick

someone should tell them that with £70M in reserve they can afford to buy a shitload of carrots

[Aidan11]

The FTECB are cowards. I still think some counties will break ranks one day. Especially if this new T20 fails to be the cash cow that the suits are convinced it will be.

[captaincolly]

And why would they insist on confidentiality agreements if the decision was defensible and able to be explained reasonably?
I don't know how these things work but is it not surprising that there hasn't been a leak to journalists?
Sanctions and the process were so outrageous that Is have thought the details may have found their way into the press by now.

[westoelad]

FTECB appear to hold a Svengali control over anybody who challenges them. The Kent chairman challeged them to take the Hants reprieve to independant arbitration. They ignore him, Kent go silent on the issue and that chairman resigns. MP Jones challenges them on the sanctions issue,they finally met him early this month and nothing more has been said on the issue. There were many dissenting voices on the franchise T20 issue yet it's agreed unanimously with no dissenting voices. It appears that all decision making in cricket is being made by 2 people-it would be wrong to call them men. It's a truly frightening scenario.
The cricket media, Martin Emmerson excepted, must be fully aware of what is happening yet remain silent and some even supportive of them.

[westoelad]

Pretty good preview of Durham although Rushy won't be flattered by being described as" gently medium pace".

http://deepextracover.com/2017/03/durha ... n-preview/