ESPNcricinfo’s poll of county chief executives reveals a hankering for Twenty20 in the summer holidays and a presence on free-to-air TV
George Dobell and Alex Winter15-Jan-20153:47
Surrey’s chief executive Richard Gould insists that an 18-team T20 tournament can work
Derbyshire (Simon Storey, chief executive): “There is no doubt that regular Friday night cricket has helped us. The Derbyshire vs Nottinghamshire local derbies are the highlight of our calendar and we wouldn’t want to lose them. We would support any changes and ideas that help us grow our income whilst still allowing us to build relationships with our local supporters. If that includes developing the T20 franchise model to complement our domestic T20 season, then we should at least consider it.”Durham (David Harker, group chief executive): “I would like to see the English domestic competition moved to later in the season to take advantage of the best of the summer weather, lack of football and school holidays.”Essex (Derek Bowden, chief executive): “Consolidating the T20 schedule to July/August would greatly improve both the quality and commercial performance of the competition. A tighter schedule to attract quality overseas players and prime summer months, during school holidays, to attract a broader audience base including families with children.”Glamorgan (Hugh Morris, chief executive): “It was my first year back in county cricket after my time at the ECB and with the help of the revamped NatWest Blast we doubled profitability and increased crowds so while the new format was not a silver bullet that some had hoped for it nevertheless was a cause for encouragement. If we build a strong brand I see no reason why this can;t grow into a tournament that people want to see on a regular basis.”Gloucestershire (Will Brown, chief executive): “It’s time to accept the fact that Twenty20 is the leading form of county cricket, in terms of finance and spectators, in this country. Let’s put it where people want to see it, which means the school holidays, and make the brand far more exciting. Look at the BBL website: it oozes excitement. We have an equally exciting product to BBL: we just have to present it in a better way.”Hampshire (David Mann, chief executive): “We need a major tournament in a short window in high summer with all the big names playing and held at the big venues. This would be for the benefit of all counties, not just those teams hosting the tournament. It doesn’t mean we can’t have a ‘domestic’ T20 event as well along existing lines, but we should put the franchise event in the calendar first and then work out the rest around it.”Kent (Jamie Clifford, chief executive): “It is no longer acceptable to view Twenty20 as anything other than domestic cricket’s core commercial property ‐ in this context 18 counties should be seen as a strength not a weakness. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, it provides the perfect vehicle for cricket to remain culturally relevant. It is essential that we do absolutely everything we can to ensure the full potential is maximised.”Lancashire (Daniel Gidney, chief executive): “We have seen big increases since moving to Friday nights. Playing in a shortened block would probably see a return to Mondays and Tuesdays that UK cricket fans have already shown that they won’t support in the larger conurbations. Play later in the summer; probably mid-June to early/mid-August. We hardly have any matches in the school holidays currently. This could be achieved via moving the 50-over tournament earlier in the season.”Wasim Khan, formerly with Chance to Shine, has taken over at ailing Leicestershire•PA PhotosLeicestershire (Wasim Khan, chief executive): “A T20 tournament during the school summer holidays in August would open up a huge school, family and potential new market that we currently only scratch the surface of and lend itself to high quality overseas players being available, making it an attractive proposition to watch. The condensed theory has been tested in the past; what we haven’t done is hold it during times when our key market place is on holiday.”Middlesex (Vinny Codrington, chief executive): “I would like the tournament to start later in the summer – May is too early. And personally speaking I think it should be condensed in order to help spectators follow it closely and understand it better.”Northamptonshire (David Smith, former chief executive*): “We need to work towards a County Championship of 12 games. It would help create a window in the structure for a three-week height of summer T20 competition in a franchise format, played at the big Test grounds only, targeting new audiences and attracting families and young people. But also still retain T20 cricket at county level on Friday nights throughout the summer to help continue to finance the county game.”
Nottinghamshire (Lisa Pursehouse, chief executive): “A consistent quality in-venue experience; making sure the match experience ensures that people want to return. T20 cricket is popular with spectators, but in the UK we cannot always guarantee the sunshine so we need to make a little more effort on the extras, like a quality PA system, using relevant graphics and video content and using your players to promote your matches so that people develop an affinity for the club.”Somerset (Guy Lavender, chief executive): “Free to air TV, even if it has to be a highlights package whilst the Sky deal remains in place. Did you watch the darts? The BBC’s coverage attracted a peak of 3.1 million viewers over the first weekend of the competition. I expect it was enormous for the final! We have got to get more people watching T20 cricket.”Yorkshire (Colin Graves, Yorkshire chairman. Candidate as chairman of ECB)
“The first thing I want to do is review everything: T20, the congestion in the schedule, our costs and our efficiency. After we, the executive team, have reviewed how we are operating now – and there will be no more outside reviews of the game while I’m chairman – we will announce our strategy towards the end of the year. We have to make the counties more sustainable. Whether that is 18 teams or 21 teams, let’s see. The fact is, county cricket brings in very little money and costs a great deal.”
*Yorkshire’s chief executive, Mark Arthur, was unavailable
Surrey (Richard Gould, chief executive): “Keep the appointment to view schedule with a week between home games but play in the middle of the summer to coincide with school holidays. And get some cricket in front of the pay wall.”Sussex (Zac Toumazi, chief executive): “We are making progress but need to better engage with the next generation of cricketers and fans game wide. We need to work on the image of the game, create heroes for the fans to identify with and follow. This should be centrally driven and supported by the counties.”Warwickshire (Colin Povey, chief executive): “In general T20 has been a huge success story for domestic cricket in England and Wales since its launch. The ‘new’ tournament delivered progress last summer but it is clear there is scope for further significant growth and improvement if we can get the formula ‘spot on’. The IPL benefits from the specifics of the Indian market but Big Bash and other tournaments around the globe have much that we can still learn from.”Worcestershire (David Leatherdale, chief executive): “Progress has been made in 2014 with the customer being the main focus and as the premier one day format it is vital the future structure works to give an experience the customer both wants and expects. Add to this further availability of England players and an option for spectators and supporters to view t20 on free to air TV then I am sure t20 can grow cricket across all age groups”.This article was updated at 1830 on January 16 with Middlesex’s contribution and some published comments also removed
