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County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 9:23 am
by hopeforthebest
We are about to enter the new season with an eight team first division and a ten team second division which throws up ne challenges for teams vying for promotion and for those attempting to avoid relegation.
In the past some teams have managed to hold onto their place in division one because the arrivals from division two were not strong enough to remain but looking at the 8 teams I suspect those days maybe over. I think Warwickshire, Lancashire and Hampshire will have to show significant improvement on last season's performances to avoid the drop. Warwickshire's old warriors are beginning to show their wear and tear and the youngsters have yet to show their worth.
Lancashire's early success last year was bolstered by the performance of the Wagner and this year will hope Ryan McClaren can do something similar. It would be nice if Tom Bailey can start the season as well as he finished it, he might have done so last season if he had been given the opportunity in early games.

At first glance division two seems to be a walk over for Notts with maybe Kent and Sussex fighting it out but the most interesting aspect is how well Durham can compete. Will the 48 point starting deficit be a psychological burden or a spur to greater effort.

As always I'm looking forward to county cricket which for me is what the game is all about, pity the current ECB don't share my view.

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:24 pm
by Arthur Crabtree
Yorkshire will be without Bairstow and Root early season (even though Bairstow was available for IPL). Don't know if Willey is fit again, but I expect he'll be unavailable even though hardly playing all winter with a lot of 50 over cricket in the next couple of months. This could be a good start of the season for counties with Test only players, as there are no Tests until July, so Anderson, Broad, Haseeb etc should be available for domestic cricket.

Hope Duckett has a good season after his rather unsatisfactory winter. And Leach after his unfortunate press leak.

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:35 pm
by Durhamfootman
hopeforthebest wrote:At first glance division two seems to be a walk over for Notts with maybe Kent and Sussex fighting it out but the most interesting aspect is how well Durham can compete. Will the 48 point starting deficit be a psychological burden or a spur to greater effort.

or will it turn div 2 into a farce with Durham setting up or accepting ridiculous run chases on the grounds that the 48 point deduction means that a draw is as good as a loss

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:41 pm
by Durhamfootman
and what happens to the integrity of the division if Notts are the runaway winners.... by a country mile.... and the major difference between the second and third placed teams is that the 2nd placed team only had to play Notts once and the 3rd placed team had to play them twice?

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:54 pm
by Arthur Crabtree
It's hugely disappointing and a real drain on any possible enthusiasm going into the new season. As is the plight of Durham and the prospect of a new T20 competition that both feeds off the counties and threatens to destroy them.

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:56 pm
by captaincolly
Durhamfootman wrote:
hopeforthebest wrote:At first glance division two seems to be a walk over for Notts with maybe Kent and Sussex fighting it out but the most interesting aspect is how well Durham can compete. Will the 48 point starting deficit be a psychological burden or a spur to greater effort.

or will it turn div 2 into a farce with Durham setting up or accepting ridiculous run chases on the grounds that the 48 point deduction means that a draw is as good as a loss

I think that's a distinct possibility. Might however be a return to the 'old' Durham where draws are rare because the games are fairly low scoring. What we don't know is how significant the gap between the divisions is - I'd expect our seamers to make hay even on the flatter pitches we often get now. Of course now I've said it Notts will probably get 500 in the first innings.

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 7:01 pm
by Arthur Crabtree
A further dissatisfaction is the inconsistent release of international players to county cricket, which may well have played some part in the outcome of CC1 last season.

A rather grim curiosity, but there will be some fascination with the season Durham have after their many punishments, and loss of players. I'm expecting them to win the most games, but be kept down by the huge points penalty. It would be understandable if they phoned the season in actually, especially if they get a poor start, but they'll hopefully be motivated to play for their supporters, as well as they're own careers and some optimism to take into 2018.

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 7:15 pm
by Arthur Crabtree
Is it one up, one down or two up, two down?

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 7:16 pm
by captaincolly
Arthur Crabtree wrote:Is it one up, one down or two up, two down?

I get confused but think it's face to two up and two down.

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 7:21 pm
by Arthur Crabtree
I've looked on many sites, including the ECB county cricket pages, and there's no info! I suppose I should know. Presumable two up and two down.

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 7:22 pm
by hopeforthebest
I'm glad DFM reminded me that in division 2 teams don't all play one another home and away. That could be a serious penalty for some team,s even the choice of home or away will be a factor. I suppose that as the fixtures have been posted team will already know the good or bad news.

As for Durham I'm not entirely convinced all is lost, a strong showing early on will be important and I see they open at home to Notts and do not play them away from home which is good news. I wonder if there was some seeding in the preparation of the fixtures, must have a look. I tend to be an optimist until pessimism is demanded.

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 7:23 pm
by captaincolly
Arthur Crabtree wrote:I've looked on many sites, including the ECB county cricket pages, and there's no info! I suppose I should know. Presumable two up and two down.

I think so.
captaincolly wrote:
Arthur Crabtree wrote:Is it one up, one down or two up, two down?

I get confused but think it's face to two up and two down.

Back not face! Autocorrect is strange.

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 7:44 pm
by westoelad
FTECB are reserving their options. It's 2 up and 2 down except if Durham finish 2nd then it's 1 up and 1 down :d'oh:

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 8:04 pm
by captaincolly
westoelad wrote:FTECB are reserving their options. It's 2 up and 2 down except if Durham finish 2nd then it's 1 up and 1 down :d'oh:

:lol:

Re: County Cricket 2017 season

PostPosted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 8:10 pm
by Arthur Crabtree
Normally New Road is under water at the start of the season so that's another tradition not being observed this year.