Who's Sorry Now: Down by the Riverside

[westoelad]

will it get thousands of 'likes'?

About 2 so far!

New must have for Christmas
https://www.lorimers4cricket.co.uk/stor ... -p96534500
For the season of goodwill I'll personally sponsor the cost of FTECB printed on the back.

[captaincolly]

will it get thousands of 'likes'?

About 2 so far!

New must have for Christmas
https://www.lorimers4cricket.co.uk/stor ... -p96534500
For the season of goodwill I'll personally sponsor the cost of FTECB printed on the back.

Good idea!

[Durhamfootman]

now that the, seemingly, national outrage at the sanctions against Durham a year ago, has presumably settled down, it'll be interesting to see what happens to the number of membership packages sold ahead of next season. IIRC, membership sales were up by 20% last year in response. Will it fall this year, I wonder, and by how much?

Jason Roy (if the rumour was true) and Arthur Crabtree bought concessionary memberships last year (gawd bless them both). I have it in my head that Arthur paid £50, but the cheapest price this year appears to be £135..... which seems expensive.

[captaincolly]

I think there's sure to be a drop-off. Onfield performances were by and large hopeless and that combined with the loss of the 'goodwill' renewals probably means we'll go back to the normal levels of membership. Even some of the diehards were complaining about the performances this year - those types will renew regardless but I bet a lot of others won't.
And if there isn't a dramatic improvement next season we'll probably shed a good few more members.

[westoelad]

I think there's sure to be a drop-off. Onfield performances were by and large hopeless and that combined with the loss of the 'goodwill' renewals probably means we'll go back to the normal levels of membership. Even some of the diehards were complaining about the performances this year - those types will renew regardless but I bet a lot of others won't.
And if there isn't a dramatic improvement next season we'll probably shed a good few more members.

I'd imagine a disproportionate number of members are in the senior category and a large number of those gold category I.e. 5 year membership with that offer currently expiring. Over that 5 year period many will have ceased attending because of increasing age or infirmity; it's only this forthcoming season, however, that it'll have a financial impact. Half the home CC fixtures taking place in Spring is hardly an incentive but there's little the club can do about that. What they can do ,however, is inform lapsed membership of any efforts they are making to improve the playing squad for next season.

[captaincolly]

I think there's sure to be a drop-off. Onfield performances were by and large hopeless and that combined with the loss of the 'goodwill' renewals probably means we'll go back to the normal levels of membership. Even some of the diehards were complaining about the performances this year - those types will renew regardless but I bet a lot of others won't.
And if there isn't a dramatic improvement next season we'll probably shed a good few more members.

I'd imagine a disproportionate number of members are in the senior category and a large number of those gold category I.e. 5 year membership with that offer currently expiring. Over that 5 year period many will have ceased attending because of his increasing age or infirmity; it's only this forthcoming season, however, that it'll have a financial impact. Half the home CC fixtures taking place in Spring is hardly an incentive but there's little the club can do about that. What they can do ,however, is inform lapsed membership if any efforts they are making to improve the playing squad for next season.

Yep. I think they have work to do - in trying to strengthen and making it clear they are actively doing so.
The points deduction last year was a legitimate excuse for struggling and we then had that period where things seemed to be gelling in the 4 day game only to have a very poor finish. It'll be interesting to see if the T20 attendances hold up - it was visibly busier this year but the performances were almost unbelievably bad so there's a very good chance attendances will go down.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I paid £135 I think. I reckon there was about £15 off because I booked early. Maybe prices are the same.

[Durhamfootman]

more than i thought, Arthur... well done, and thank you. £135 is the early bird price this time

[captaincolly]

What a surprise - Paul Coughlin injured again! This time he managed to do it before the match had started. Queensland scoring almost 400 suggests Wood will have had a decent workout.
http://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/1 ... queensland

[captaincolly]

What a surprise - Paul Coughlin injured again! This time he managed to do it before the match had started. Queensland scoring almost 400 suggests Wood will have had a decent workout.
http://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/1 ... queensland

I misread the article - Coughlin injured during the first session and then replaced as the match does not have first class status.

[westoelad]

Stokes off to NZ according to George Dobell.
"Ben Stokes has been granted a No Objection Certificate by the ECB and is free to play in New Zealand this weekend if he agrees terms with a team. His plans were not arranged by the ECB and are understood to have come as a bit of a surprise".

[westoelad]

More detail here.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/ ... umour-mill

[andy]

So it seems that the ECB haven't fully forgiven Stokes....he should be punished accordingly...but it wouldn't suprise me if he turned up in OZ at some point during the series...

[captaincolly]

So it seems that the ECB haven't fully forgiven Stokes....he should be punished accordingly...but it wouldn't suprise me if he turned up in OZ at some point during the series...

I suppose the ECB have to stuck to their decision that he won't be considered for England until the police investigation followed by their own disciplinary procedure are both completed.

Whether they should have made that decision in the first place is another matter - why could they not have left their options more open and retained him in the original squad. Doing so might also have given the police an incentive to get this investigation over and done with before the team left for Australia.

[westoelad]

So it seems that the ECB haven't fully forgiven Stokes....he should be punished accordingly...but it wouldn't suprise me if he turned up in OZ at some point during the series...

I suppose the ECB have to stuck to their decision that he won't be considered for England until the police investigation followed by their own disciplinary procedure are both completed.


Whether they should have made that decision in the first place is another matter - why could they not have left their options more open and retained him in the original squad. Doing so might also have given the police an incentive to get this investigation over and done with before the team left for Australia.

You have to wonder what would have happened had the Sun not got hold of that video. At most a police caution a few days after the incident ,I suspect, and the incident now forgotten with Stokes part of the Ashes set up. I'm in no way condoning Stokes' action but nor will I condemn him until I know all the facts. It 's pretty obvious now that the police and CPS are each passing the buck waiting for the other to make the decision knowing that whichever way it goes there'll be criticism from the media. That equates to the media influencing the justice system and that should be a big concern to all.