T20 'FA Cup Style' Competition

[afinetickletoleg]

Apparently Michael Vaughan is going to submit this idea to the ECB.  I think that it is a good idea myself.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan will offer his proposal for an FA Cup-style Twenty20 competition to the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The idea of a knockout  involving first-class sides, minor counties and clubs came in response to an ECB report into falling numbers in amateur cricket.

"I'm trying to set the ball in motion for the game of cricket to realise that we need change," said Vaughan.

"The whole game needs to gel together and this is one way."

An ECB survey published last week showed that the number of people playing cricket in teams at grassroots level fell from 908,000 in 2013 to 844,000 in 2014 - a drop of 7%. 

"The game's administrators should be concerned about those participation figures," Vaughan told BBC Radio 5 live. "Cricket needs to get a buzz back into it.

"A lot of my friends play semi-pro football and all they ever talk about is the FA Cup."

The T20 knockout could involve the 18 first-class counties, 20 minor counties and clubs from the 26 ECB Premier Leagues - the top level of amateur cricket.

Like the FA Cup, the club sides would be involved in the early rounds, with the minor and first-class counties entering at a later stage.

"You want that romantic tie, that opportunity for a club side," added Vaughan, who captained England in 51 Test matches between 2003 and 2008.

"It's something that could be set up quite easily. It will get the amateur game closer to the professional game, get pros who aren't in their county side back into the club system and a way of getting some cash back to the grassroots.

"It wouldn't add too much more cricket to the first-class sides because they might only need to play four matches to reach the final."

[Andy]

Not a bad idea.

Strange that the big boys in CC want to turn the likes of ECCC into feeder clubs, whilst complaining that there isn't enough interest at grass roots levels. Frankly, there is interest at grass roots level - particularly in the South Asian diaspora in certain parts of the country where the local clubs are seen as superfluous to County Cricket e.g. Leicestershire.

[IlfordEagle]

I think the T20 scheduling in 2014 generally was better but I believe the main reason for dropping attendances (apart from the World Cup) was the high price of tickets especially for non members, I think that no ticket should exceed £25 however good the entertainment, I know that the likes of Middlesex & Surrey charge £5 less per ticket if booked in advance but on the day it appears extortionate when you charge ,say£27, a bit too high.
As for an FA Cup style T20, not too sure if it would be successful, can you imagine say a small Club drawn at home to ,say, Yorkshire in the 1/4 Finals at a ground with a capacity of just a few hundred!! The mind boggles!!

[squarelegumpire]

Surely they’s do what the minnows do in the FA Cup; either switch the grounds, abandoning home advantage for the gate money, or play at a neutral ground....... nearest County Ground or similar. A few years ago, for example, Canvey Island drew Southend in the Third (I think) round. It was supposed to be played at Canvey ..... capacity 4500 ..... but was switched to Southend, and IIRC Roots Hall (capacity 12300) was full.

I do have one concern though, about the standard of pitches. Many of the lower level grounds aren’t up to the standard of the county ones and a really fast bowler could be dangerous. Couple of years ago it was being suggested Tino Best play for a club side, and the idea was vetoed for just that reason

[DT]

Surely they’s do what the minnows do in the FA Cup; either switch the grounds, abandoning home advantage for the gate money, or play at a neutral ground....... nearest County Ground or similar. A few years ago, for example, Canvey Island drew Southend in the Third (I think) round. It was supposed to be played at Canvey ..... capacity 4500 ..... but was switched to Southend, and IIRC Roots Hall (capacity 12300) was full.

I do have one concern though, about the standard of pitches. Many of the lower level grounds aren’t up to the standard of the county ones and a really fast bowler could be dangerous. Couple of years ago it was being suggested Tino Best play for a club side, and the idea was vetoed for just that reason

I believe Tino Best played a game or two for Ilford 2nd XI a few years ago - imagine rocking up to open the batting at Valentines Park (not the best these days sadly), take your guard, turn round and see Tino Best steaming in from the boundary!!!

As for the original post, I like it - teams from the premier league always moan when they have to go to non-league grounds in football and lets be honest, there are some wonderful non-first class grounds out there.  The only problem I can see is I assume this comp is being proposed in addition to the current t20 comp not as an alternative?  If the former - will there be time in the list to schedule these matches?!

I would also argue if the ECB are worried about grass roots cricket they ought to not take the coin everytime and have some cricket (live) broadcasted on free-to-air tv - when England won The Ashes in 2005 the game was in a great state and the matches being live on tv was a major factor...

[Andy]

DT, hit the nail on the head - errant shortism, grabbing the money and forgetting that terrestrial TV is the best way to advertise the game. Even soccer is on the main channels every week - despite the S#y millions.

[DT]

DT, hit the nail on the head - errant shortism, grabbing the money and forgetting that terrestrial TV is the best way to advertise the game. Even soccer is on the main channels every week - despite the S#y millions.

Blimey, looks like something could be possible too... http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2015/content/current/story/806261.html

[Andy]

DT, hit the nail on the head - errant shortism, grabbing the money and forgetting that terrestrial TV is the best way to advertise the game. Even soccer is on the main channels every week - despite the S#y millions.

Blimey, looks like something could be possible too... http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2015/content/current/story/806261.html

So, basically the £65m deal that the ECB negotiated for exclusive rights to S#y is no more than a single premier league club gets. Makes no sense to sacrifice the long term interest in the county game. What a bleedin' shambles.