Ahead of the NatWest T20 Blast

[Starfish]

Good morning,

Ahead of the first NatWest T20 Blast we will be adding content to the website of improvements made to the experience here at The E.C.G.

However, some headlines

- Parking. No parking at the ground except limited disabled / Premier Suite Members. Meteor Way £1 per car, limited to Members on a first come, first served basis. Parking also available for all games, excluding Surrey, at Our Lady Immaculate School (at top of driveway).

- Giant screen - will show replays (non Sky games) and crowd interaction and behind the scenes content and exclusive interviews.

- New seat area colour coding - we have split the ground into different colour segments making it easier for the non regular attendee to find their area / seat

- Meet the players - this will take place shortly after play in the Pavilion for the Surrey game and pitch side for all other games

- Members restaurant - available for the T20 Surrey game, see website for this excellent value deal

- Improved food offering - new location opposite the shop, a tasty Hog Roast for Surrey game! New donut stall (where I will be located!)

- Gate opening times - 2 hours before

- Usual rules of no importation of alcohol / glass

- Shop open as well as the mini shops around the ground

- Gates - we will revert to our T20 set-up with the main gate being located on the driveway. River Gate located in Sky Blue Pastures. We will be asking spectators to scan in on entry and ONLY scan out when leaving the ground. We will stop scanning out in advance of the last ball.

- New Print @ Home - option to print your tickets from home

We want to deliver on the improved experience, please don't hesitate to contact us with any queries, thanks, Danny


Thanks, Danny

[Sunny1066]

Sounds ghastly.

[Valentines Park]

Sounds ghastly.

It's T20 what do you expect.

[jimmy]

Welcome to the future. Glad I got a few years in before cricket  died .

[Andy]

Don't see what the problem is. I remember Mike Brearley writning in the 1970s about the parlous state of the county game and how members got to see X days cricket for nothing. Without T20 the game would simply die quicker.

[jimmy]

It may as well. No one within the game respects or values first class cricket or its history or the people who watch it. They erode it at every opportunity, unlike earlier versions of the shorter game T20 and championship cricket cannot live in harmony for very long as today's custodians of the game only know the price of everything and the value  of nothing.

[Andy]

It may as well. No one within the game respects or values first class cricket or its history or the people who watch it.

...and how many people watch first class cricket? It has tended to be niche - we forget this because we had a successful and entertaining side in the 70s/80s but it's always been the shorter forms that keep the interst alive - as much as I prefer the test of two innings cricket.

[Valentines Park]

Crowds may not be brilliant for county cricket but Cricinfo records loads of traffic for live scorecards so there is still interest in the format.

Even if Essex are doing their level best to kill the longer form of the game.

[Mog]

Crowds may not be brilliant for county cricket but Cricinfo records loads of traffic for live scorecards so there is still interest in the format.

Even if Essex are doing their level best to kill the longer form of the game.

If that is the case, and I too believe Essex have little interest in Championship cricket - individually or collectively, the Club are doing themselves no favours whatsoever, (they've given up caring what their members or supporters think!) When franchise based T20 makes it inevitable appearance at a Test match ground nowhere near you, ECCC will be locked out of the format that they lust after above all else.

[nat]

Crowds may not be brilliant for county cricket but Cricinfo records loads of traffic for live scorecards so there is still interest in the format.

....

Doesn't pay the bills though.

[Valentines Park]

Crowds may not be brilliant for county cricket but Cricinfo records loads of traffic for live scorecards so there is still interest in the format.

....

Doesn't pay the bills though.

Maybe not in the short term but the Cricinfo readers of today are the members of tomorrow.

[jimmy]

Its a myth that t20 is keeping the first class game alive. Maybe in the short term it is true on a purely financial level but long term t20 will destroy traditional cricket. Then we get the argument that if not enough people watch then it must go, capitalist laws of the jungle and all that, well lots of good things have gone out the window due to that theory  and are still being lost today.

[Andy]

Its a myth that t20 is keeping the first class game alive. Maybe in the short term it is true on a purely financial level but long term t20 will destroy traditional cricket. Then we get the argument that if not enough people watch then it must go, capitalist laws of the jungle and all that, well lots of good things have gone out the window due to that theory  and are still being lost today.

Well, I'm sure people were saying the same about the 40 over Sunday league back in 1969. They were wrong then.

[afinetickletoleg]

How well would Essex be doing financially without T20?

If it is true that it accounts for about 70% of our income then what sort of championship team would we be able to field without it?

[Valentines Park]

what sort of championship team would we be able to field without it?

What sort of championship team do we field with it?

Being priced out of the market for the likes of Greg Smith would be a good thing.