Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

captaincolly wrote:

Alviro Patterson wrote:Would not mind knowing what font the ECB used for The Hundred, I believe it's a stock one just like the photos

It looks like it. Incredibly shoddy and pretty incompetent to botch the launch of a competition that had already generated almost universal condemnation.
George Dobell likened it to the ill-fated 90's BBC soap El Dorado where negative publicity in the months leading up to broadcast was impossible to overcome and the show was a short-lived but very expensive flop.

I did notice Miller was the one leading with the Cricinfo articles, while Dobell (as far as I could tell) has been reduced to snide comments on Twitter...... is Dobell now not welcome at ECB HQ for crimes against their cult of personality?

sussexpob wrote:

captaincolly wrote:

Alviro Patterson wrote:Would not mind knowing what font the ECB used for The Hundred, I believe it's a stock one just like the photos

It looks like it. Incredibly shoddy and pretty incompetent to botch the launch of a competition that had already generated almost universal condemnation.
George Dobell likened it to the ill-fated 90's BBC soap El Dorado where negative publicity in the months leading up to broadcast was impossible to overcome and the show was a short-lived but very expensive flop.

I did notice Miller was the one leading with the Cricinfo articles, while Dobell (as far as I could tell) has been reduced to snide comments on Twitter...... is Dobell now not welcome at ECB HQ for crimes against their cult of personality?

I think he probably has been ostracised!

ostracised?

is that what the ECB do to you when you refuse to stick your head in the sand?

Durhamfootman wrote:ostracised?

is that what the ECB do to you when you refuse to stick your head in the sand?

Yep!
Even by their standards this 100 ball competition has been a total fiasco, the usual habit of making the rules up as they go along, effectively blackmailing counties into supporting it and the PR campaign gives the impression of being run by someone who wants to sabotage the whole thing.

captaincolly wrote:After the shambolic launch yesterday https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/ ... rt-cricket
The Times is reporting that there's only going to be one semi-final - the team finishing in first place goes to the final with the 2nd and 3rd placed teams playing a semi-final on the same day.
Apparently it's because the BBC don't want finals day to last all day and also because of concerns that the target audience won't have the attention span to concentrate for 3 matches in a day.
Meanwhile Edgbaston has apparently sold out tickets for T20 Finals Day in record time.

BBC not really doing this competition any favours. Wasn't it they who wanted the T20 reduced to make it shorter?

Arthur Crabtree wrote:

captaincolly wrote:After the shambolic launch yesterday https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/ ... rt-cricket
The Times is reporting that there's only going to be one semi-final - the team finishing in first place goes to the final with the 2nd and 3rd placed teams playing a semi-final on the same day.
Apparently it's because the BBC don't want finals day to last all day and also because of concerns that the target audience won't have the attention span to concentrate for 3 matches in a day.
Meanwhile Edgbaston has apparently sold out tickets for T20 Finals Day in record time.

BBC not really doing this competition any favours. Wasn't it they who wanted the T20 reduced to make it shorter?

I think so. It was suggested the reason for 100 balls was because the broadcasters wanted a shorter game.
I don't think the ECB have confirmed the Times article is correct but, as far as I know, they haven't said it's not true either.

I have no idea how many matches there will be, but the BBC are only covering 11 of them and presumably 2 of those will be on finals day, so the Guardian article reads to me as though it was just the ECB who simply felt that any additional T20 opportunities had been done to death.... or more accurately had reduced revenue potential, presumably because the IPL and the BBL have cornered that particular market....... and so that boat had sailed.

What do you do if that boat has already sailed? You get another boat......... which is what the Hundred is

I was initially okay with the concept because I could see the potential for the ECB to make a shed load of TV money without compromising the county season in doing so.... indeed there was an opportunity for them to make their money and improve the county season, but sadly (or naturally) the ECB have chosen to marginalise the county season even further. I think they've chosen to do that because they've committed everything they have to the 100... and suddenly they are not sure it will fly, so have made damned sure that there is very little domestic cricket to compete with it..... and the little there is, has been made as weak as they possibly could make it