T20 Fixture schedule

[LeedsExile]

It seems to me that this competition could be scheduled much better and therefore concluded earlier. That would allow more Championship cricket to be played in July/August. It is not unusual for counties to play matches on consecutive days. Then they go days without a match. For example Yorkshire played last Friday and do not play again until this Thursday. I think that playing a match every other day should be the norm. It should also be reasonable to play some double headers on the same day as has just happened in the Women's tri international series. Then the whole thing could be done and dusted much quicker.

[Valentines Park]

It should also be reasonable to play some double headers on the same day as has just happened in the Women's tri international series.

Middx tried that & lost both games.

Not sure any county is in a hurry to repeat that experiment.

[JasonP]

It seems to me that this competition could be scheduled much better and therefore concluded earlier. That would allow more Championship cricket to be played in July/August. It is not unusual for counties to play matches on consecutive days. Then they go days without a match. For example Yorkshire played last Friday and do not play again until this Thursday. I think that playing a match every other day should be the norm. It should also be reasonable to play some double headers on the same day as has just happened in the Women's tri international series. Then the whole thing could be done and dusted much quicker.

Neither the counties, sky or the ecb want it done and dusted much quicker.  Sky have summer schedules to fill and the counties make more money by having matches spread out.  Friday nights and weekends seem to be the most popular nights to have them and are better attended than games held in the early part of the week.

[Mog]

It seems to me that this competition could be scheduled much better and therefore concluded earlier. That would allow more Championship cricket to be played in July/August. It is not unusual for counties to play matches on consecutive days. Then they go days without a match. For example Yorkshire played last Friday and do not play again until this Thursday. I think that playing a match every other day should be the norm. It should also be reasonable to play some double headers on the same day as has just happened in the Women's tri international series. Then the whole thing could be done and dusted much quicker.

Tend to agree, however after next season, the T20 Blast in its current form will be a very poor relation to the new ECB competition of city based franchises - in essence an undercard that will effectively consign it to the history books. Of course no Change Essex will continue to try and wring every last drop of mileage, but they won't have the public - ie summering football supporters, who make up a sizeable proportion of their attendees- as customers. The 'sold out' notices will be long gone.

[Valentines Park]

The 'sold out' notices will be long gone.

Not so sure.

The county has served up bilge 2 seasons running & they still keep coming.   

[nat]

Mog by name and Mog by nature.

[DT]

Leeds Exile is correct - the scheduling is daft.

Both Essex and Yorkshire have gone a week without a game then have to play 2 in 3 days or 3 in 4 days!  As JasonP says, neither the counties or ECB or Sky want the tournament over quick yet we still see these daft scheduling nuances!!!

[Captain Slaphead]

Surely can't be beyond the wit of ECB to schedule things more "sensibly" though ?

If you accept the 'every other day' scenario as the ideal from a playing perspective & the 'Friday/weekends' argument from a ticket sales viewpoint, then why (for example) can't Essex play at Taunton on Fri, Cardiff on Sunday & then Cheltenham on the preceding Wednesday or following Tuesday ?

Likewise, why can't Somerset (again for example) play at Chelmsford, Lords & The Oval over another weekend ??

[Slogger]

Once the new tournament comes in play it on Thursday or Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. Play championship cricket alongside it predominantly during the week.

[mawallace]

Once the new tournament comes in play it on Thursday or Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. Play championship cricket alongside it predominantly during the week.

So the people who work during the week would see no championship cricket!

[Slogger]

Sunday (or Saturday) starts for championship days with the game flowing into the week is the pattern I advocate. To be honest if you work there's very little championship cricket at weekends now. I think I've been to two days of weekend 4 day cricket this year - the Saturday v Yorks and the Sunday v Lancs. Together with the 50 over games v Surrey and Sussex (Eastbourne). At least starting games on a Sunday would give you about 5 or 6 home weekend days dependant on weather. To make my membership worthwhile I have to take a day's holiday each home game and hope for the best weatherwise. This year we've been lucky!

[LeedsExile]

14 games is far too many for the league part of the 20/20 season. It can not even be justified on logic as there are 9 teams in each group so you only play 7 teams twice now. Pity the team that only plays Essex once this season! Much better to use the RL cup model and play 8 matches against all the teams in your division. This would make the matches more of an event and give some impetus to the competition. Currently it just drags on for an interminable period which I seriously doubt many people actually closely follow.

[nat]

14 games is far too many for the league part of the 20/20 season. It can not even be justified on logic as there are 9 teams in each group so you only play 7 teams twice now. Pity the team that only plays Essex once this season! Much better to use the RL cup model and play 8 matches against all the teams in your division. This would make the matches more of an event and give some impetus to the competition. Currently it just drags on for an interminable period which I seriously doubt many people actually closely follow.

Wrong wrong wrong. They are hardly likely to reduce the cash cow to 8 games when you can expect at least a couple to be rained off. Take off your rose tinted specs and smell the coffee. T20 is here to stay.

[Crisp]

Agreed Nat, especially as the home game with Kent has sold out and we have nothing to play for.
Last 500 tickets went on Sunday.

[Blocky]

lets call it as it is.
T20, Friday nights, if you don't have much else on, is a good night out.  If it's a nice evening in mid summer, watching live sport, with a bit of drama and hopefully a win or two, a few beers with mates/family.  What is there not to like about it, unless you are a red ball cricket purist that doesn't like a beer.  I totally believe that we need to look closely at behaviour in the ground, although this season has been much better in this respect.
Mid Essex has absolutely nothing else in terms of summer sport, and the club does a great job of selling it.
I am adamant that we needed to sort out a big-gun o'seas batter this season, and it hasn't happened.  But we have built it, and they are still coming through the gates and spending a lot of cash in the ground.
good news for the club, because without T20 cricket, we have no 1st class club for long.