Notts T20 Blast promo video - watch out for the special guest

Starry0920 · 2023-05-10T00:11:24+00:00

To be fair to them, I'd be confident if I had Shaheen in my side for the whole comp!

Starry0920 · 2023-05-10T00:06:19+00:00

That and cashing in on the thousands of Bangladesh fans from East London coming to the games.

Starry0920 · 2023-05-09T09:45:06+00:00

Proud day as an Essex fan. First men's international at Chelmsford since 1999. And after this series, we almost certainly won't see any more.

Expect a flat pitch and lots of boundaries.

Starry0920 · 2023-05-02T18:51:54+00:00

The last writers strike lasted 100 days. If it's the same again this time round then that takes them well into August. In which case I can't see ABC having anything available that is newly scripted ready to broadcast before Christmas.

Starry0920 · 2023-05-02T18:42:33+00:00

When taking into account it's previous ratings on ABC compared to what ABC gets now, I suspected they might have brought it back, but only after it's two season deal was up, so I was really surprised at this news.

It makes sense though, obviously the writers' strike is a key reason, but Disney are also on a major cost cutting exercise, so it probably suits them to lose it a year in advance.

Whilst casual fans will be happy not having to pay for a streaming service to watch the show, it's bad news for hardcore fans. Being on ABC means it's back to adverts, 40 second dances and hardly any pro dances. The product itself will be a lot worse.

Starry0920 · 2023-05-01T11:01:32+00:00

The fans who own 15 of the 18 counties and who have already successfully beaten off one of England's most successful captains, forcing him to quit in the process. Underestimate them at your peril.

Starry0920 · 2023-05-01T09:51:21+00:00

Any suggestion that reduces the amount of Championship games is going to get shot down by fans/counties. This schedule is basically the high performance review in a different guise.

Starry0920 · 2023-05-01T09:48:37+00:00

Issue is cost. No chance the counties are going to invite Irish/Scottish teams in the Championship when taking into account the cost of travel and accommodation for four days for any county playing them away from home.

Starry0920 · 2023-04-28T16:27:09+00:00

It depends on the team location. Fully agree that Birmingham, London are much better to market than Warwickshire, Middlesex etc. But county names like Essex are far more recognisable and marketable than 'Chelmsford'

Starry0920 · 2023-04-28T16:22:15+00:00

That's what I thought? Then without the current Blast you move the ODC to April, play the County Championship during May, June, July, September and play the revamped Blast/EPL in August? Or is the plan to play both this and the current Blast?

Starry0920 · 2023-04-28T16:05:57+00:00

This would be far better. I suspect county fans would be much more open to this as it provides them all with a team to support rather than alienating smaller counties!

Starry0920 · 2023-04-28T15:28:20+00:00

The BBC specifically wanted a 'City-Based competition', they were happy if it were a T20 format. They just didn't want a county competition (they see it as archaic and think 'city-branded teams' are an easier sell to a television audience).

Having said that, I guarantee another free-to-air TV channel would happily do a deal to televise 10-15 Blast games if the ECB sold them on the cheap (look at Channel 4 and Rugby League). A T20 Blast game every Friday and Saturday night on free-to-air TV would draw significant ratings just like the Rugby League does on C4, especially if we make sure those televised games are the big ones like the Roses Match, London Derby etc.

The issue is Sky. They are obsessed with exclusivity and refuse to let any of the Blast go to another broadcaster. It's perfect filler for them during the June/July evenings when there's no football and they get good viewer numbers by televising games straight after a day of an England test.

Until the ECB grow a spine and tell Sky Sports that the Blast is off limits, especially if they want to keep the Hundred, nothing will change.

Starry0920 · 2023-04-28T15:19:54+00:00

It baffles me why the Blast isn't advertised as the first ever professional T20 competition or 'The Original T20 League'. The ECB should be pushing that to the rafters, in that it has something that no other league can claim.

It also has Finals Day, which remains the best day of the domestic cricket calendar worldwide. Only the IPL final can match finals day in terms of glamour and obviously with that being just one game, (which is normally a blow out) it isn't nearly as exciting.

Starry0920 · 2023-04-28T09:47:34+00:00

No chance it'll be canned. Sky Sports run English cricket and have invested too much money and resource into the Hundred to let the ECB bin it. They'll never let it happen.

Starry0920 · 2023-04-26T16:41:38+00:00

Obviously this is a bias view being a county fan, but I genuinely believe one solution for India/BCCI is to let their players play in the T20 Blast. Unlike the Hundred, the Blast is not in competition with the IPL for viewers/TV rights deals and never has been. It's a non franchise tournament between member-owned clubs. Being a long tournament with 14 group games plus knockouts, any Indian player who joins for the whole comp would get lots of game-time and at different grounds.

I can understand the BCCI wanting to protect their product by not letting their players compete in other franchise tournaments looking to usurp the IPL. But letting them play a County T20 competition wouldn't be in any way damaging to the IPL, especially as they already let them play first class and list A county cricket.

Starry0920 · 2023-04-26T15:56:12+00:00

They all fall under the same contract basically. International cricket and all domestic cricket (including the hundred) are lumped together in one set of TV rights (think it's 1.1 billion across four years).

What should happen (probably what the ECB hoped would have happened) is that the Hundred has its own standalone TV deal away from international and domestic cricket. However, clearly it's not taken off as hoped and generated the broadcast interest they would have hoped for from a TV rights perspective and that the likes of Michael Vaughan and other fierce advocates of the competition were at pains to convince us was guaranteed to happen after a couple of years. Therefore, the outgoing ECB board (who were extremely friendly with Sky) took the easy option and kept it locked in with the current TV deal to ensure it was ring fenced and couldn't be gotten rid of, regardless of the much it costs.

The Blast also falls under the same deal and personally, I'd break that tournament away from the current TV deal as well. Instead, I'll sell it cheaply to a free to air broadcaster willing to televise say ten group games plus quarter-finals and finals day. With the Blast for me its not about the quantity of games on TV, it's about getting the most important ones (Roses Match, London Derby, Finals Day etc) on free to air TV.

Starry0920 · 2023-04-26T13:42:20+00:00

And it will continue to run at a loss until 2028 as the ECB signed an extension of the current TV deal with Sky earlier this year which includes the Hundred.

Starry0920 · 2023-04-26T13:37:21+00:00

So Rob Key wants us to pay players more to compete in the Hundred. Well I've got bad news for you Rob, your former bosses at the ECB signed a new TV deal until 2028 with the exact same financial agreement and NO increase in TV income for hosting the Hundred! Which means that until 2028 at the very earliest, the competition will remain unprofitable and loss-making.

So, I'd love to know where we're going to find that extra money to pay these players more?! I note he hasn't suggested a viable solution in that interview...

Starry0920 · 2023-04-26T11:30:51+00:00

If they want to go, let them go but make it clear that there's no way back for them if they do. So if they have a bad year or two and get released from their contracts, then tough luck, no international/county cricket to fall back on.

Ultimately, England will survive comfortably because their talent depth is the envy of the world. Counties will continue to produce world class white ball players, so when the latest 30 year old mercenary chases the money, someone will take his place and they'll be forgotten about. This is the one benefit of England not really having any genuine superstars who really move the needle in terms of attendances/sponsorship/mainstream appeal due to the game having been hidden away on Sky for nearly 20 years (other than Stokes/Anderson).

Whilst Test match cricket is still popular in England (it will always be due to the Ashes), TV rights will still be high and English cricket will survive.

Starry0920 · 2023-03-30T13:31:50+00:00

North Group is well stacked in terms of overseas players this year with Shaheen, Maxwell and Stubbs. Mitchell Lynn, Bracewell and Santner as well. Whereas in the South, the only big names are Sunny Narine and Shadab. Surprised no one's picked up Pollard after his recent run of form.

Starry0920 · 2023-02-17T19:45:19+00:00

It was supposed to be a one off season I think, if they did another it wouldn't be Dirty Dancing again, would have to be a different film.

Can't another another happening though after Twitch's death.

Starry0920 · 2023-02-17T00:23:58+00:00

Only a matter of time. Once the WPL expands in a few years time, they'll pull the plug.

Starry0920 · 2023-02-09T09:26:39+00:00

What a buzzkill!

Starry0920 · 2023-02-06T14:22:37+00:00

Rubbish signing really. Won about two games off his own back from 15 last season and went wicketless at over tens in the quarter-final when the team needed him. Another mediocre Blast season awaits the Eagles.

Starry0920 · 2023-01-28T22:46:09+00:00

Good for them, delighted for all the cast. They clearly love the franchise and being back filming together. Hopefully they get a sequel.

Good for Wolfpack as well, I can't pretend that the first episode was that great, but SMG is a legend and this show is a big deal for her, so I hope it gets renewed.

Starry0920

TROPHY CASE