Middlesex

[bobw]

Derbys collapsing now.

Assuming no ludicrous ECB intervention, seems to make a clear-cut final between us and Soms.

A new silly question from me.

If the final is drawn or abandoned, eg due to weather or even Covid, who lifts the trophy?  Is it Soms as they go into the final with more points from the group games?

So if the side batting second get passed the first score but do not lose all their wickets or declaire before the umpires call the game off, it is a shared trophy?

If both first innings are completed it's the side who scores the most

Otherwise shared although given this shambles the ECB might produce some new interpretation on the day!

From the regs

"If the Final is drawn, and if both first innings are completed, the winner shall be the team that scored most runs in the first innings. Should the scores in completed first innings be equal or if both first innings are not completed, the trophy shall be shared.
If the Final is tied, the trophy shall be shared."

[nat]

seems to be the new national sport...
...
whatifery.

[Gilders]

Thanks for the clarification.

If it's a draw it goes on first innings lead.

Failing that, shared trophy.

[IlfordEagle]

Judging by the fact that bowling is the strength of both sides it could be quite a low scoring final & if the weather holds I doubt it will go even 4 days let alone 5!

[essexfan548]

seems to be the new national sport...
...
whatifery.

If there was doubt then this was due to the ECB writing the regulations extremely badly. It should have been clear whether that rule only applied to the group affected.

[Suffolk Richard]

As Somerset qualified with most points in group stages are they deemed as home team in the final, get the England dressing room, there Captain throws up the coin and maybe get some influence on pitch preparation if anybody knows?

[neil]

And after all that!

"As for Essex, the reigning county champions' place at Lord's was assured late on the final afternoon of the final round of qualifying group fixtures when the England and Wales Cricket Board's technical committee officially declared Sunday's abandoned Gloucestershire-Northants game a draw.

Therefore, the deciding factor, if two of the three group winners tied on points, would still be 'most wins', as originally planned, and not 'run rates' as was briefly mooted the previous day, to cause a bit of unexpected confusion and delay."

[JasonP]

Yes well done all. I though Aron Beard bowled excellently yesterday afternoon and his spell turned the game. Shows we aren't wholly Harmer-dependent. If spectators aren't allowed in at Lord's let's hope that a certain D Topley is placed in a personal lockdown and we don't have to endure his endless droning on the live stream.

Id expect it to maybe be on sky/

It will be.

Don't think it will be.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/29807872/david-willey-makes-early-blast-return-regulation-change-comes-trumps

Improved county streams continue to be hugely popular, with several clubs reporting hundreds of thousands of viewers at various stages of Blast games.

While ESPNcricinfo understands that there are no plans for Sky to broadcast the Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord's - which will come as a disappointment to many supporters - there are plans being drawn up for a high-quality streaming offering instead, which is likely to be available free of charge around the world.

Not on sky

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/29845901/bob-willis-trophy-somerset-v-essex-final-lord-miss-tv-coverage

[SirChef26]

Sky are far too busy with their equality drive to care about broadcasting any county cricket.

If the stream used is the same as the one in the T20 match against Middlesex, it will be absolutely horrible and unacceptable for a showpiece event. Essex, Somerset and the MCC need to get together and sort out a proper stream between them, with multiple cameras, pre match, post match and interval coverage. Hire one of the BBC radio commentators to present and bring in some ex players for both sides to provide punditry like Gooch and Trescothick.

Hopefully Somerset can get Babar Azam to play for them. That would drive stream numbers up hugely and we need big numbers to go to TV companies and remind them that people do still care about county cricket.

[Perov]

The stream via the Essex site, where you have to log in your details, was very tempremental, and I found the You Tube stream more stable. The Essex operators have the bad habit of putting the scorecard or partnership chart up, just as a ball is about to be bowled so you miss the delivery. All rather amateurish, but I suppose better than nothing.

[nat]

Sky are far too busy with their equality drive to care about broadcasting any county cricket.

If the stream used is the same as the one in the T20 match against Middlesex, it will be absolutely horrible and unacceptable for a showpiece event. Essex, Somerset and the MCC need to get together and sort out a proper stream between them, with multiple cameras, pre match, post match and interval coverage. Hire one of the BBC radio commentators to present and bring in some ex players for both sides to provide punditry like Gooch and Trescothick.

Hopefully Somerset can get Babar Azam to play for them. That would drive stream numbers up hugely and we need big numbers to go to TV companies and remind them that people do still care about county cricket.

2nd most sensible post in recent memory.

[squarelegumpire]

The stream via the Essex site, where you have to log in your details, was very tempremental, and I found the You Tube stream more stable. The Essex operators have the bad habit of putting the scorecard or partnership chart up, just as a ball is about to be bowled so you miss the delivery. All rather amateurish, but I suppose better than nothing.

You'd think that among the membership, especially at this time, someone could be found with the necessary expertise. AFAIK the Club haven't looked.