2023-2031 FTP news, updates, etc

I hope there is some plan for a balanced FTP. A test fund would also be a very positive step.

> TapsC2 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 24, 2022 4:28 am I hope we use the old trick of getting teams to warm up here before they go to South Africa.

Only if you can't get any stand alone tours. I don't see why ZIM/IRE/AFG can't play a one off Test + 3 white ball games against any WTC side. It takes a max of 14 days.

If for example you got South Africa and West Indies in for one off Tests one year, India and Bangladesh the next and then got 2-3 Tests amongst ZIM/IRE/AFG each year you are already looking at 4-5 Tests a year which is far more volume than at present.

Just struck me that the ICC are 'about' to publish this for the last one month

Lol why are they asking him questions about the players? This guy knows as much about as cricket as my long-dead aunt

NZ, WI and Afghanistan 'are coming' - does he mean 'coming up' or 'they are coming to Harare'. Feels like 90% of our cricket in the past few years has been at home. It would be nice to have some away tours.....

It begs the question why these crazy new ideas like adding depth and playing more cricket weren't tried before

I'm not sure how they take credit for bog standard stuff that should be ongoing and if they've failed to have done it before why are they still there? I mean what's changed that they are now doing the absolute bare minimum to keep us alive, and on top of that having the audacity to try and take credit for it.

We have fallen so far behind its mind numbing.

Has anybody heard any further news about Gary Ballance?

I guess his arrival is not imminent. It would seem he'll be here at the end of the County season.

Kriterion_BD wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:27 pm

Strange sentiment I guess. Personally, I feel different but still EQUAL amounts of excitement when Bangladesh plays the likes of ZIM/IRE/AFG. There are many reasons, and I'm sure the increased probability of winning plays a role in that. But its more about getting to watch teams that otherwise "fly under the radar". I usually follow most if not all of Zimbabwe's international matches (in large part because of ZCF), but I only see Ireland or Afghanistan if they play against Bangladesh or Zimbabwe. There's a novelty factor about watching Ireland and Afghanistan that doesn't exist with any other teams, precisely because they are the newest entrants to Full Membership.

But tell me honestly, you didn't enjoy the hell out of the last BD-ZIM series? From a long term, cricketing perspective its probably just a blip on the radar. But in the moment, that had to have been a hell of a series where you come back from top order collapses to chase 300 and seal a series win.

Ya I'm exaggerating obviously. if we were playing Eswatini or Cameroon you can bet I'd still be all over the match threads 😂 I do care whoever we play of course. And yes it was highly enjoyable beating Bangladesh so convincingly in both series. I'm not so sure it will be a 'blip' as you describe though.

But it's the repeatability of it that is boring. The same team every year. And no offence, but Bangladesh obviously isn't as exciting as playing India and Australia or even mid-ranked teams like WI, NZ, Pak etc.

We played Afghanistan last year, and this year already, and they are coming again in December, and we are playing them again next year!!! 4 series in 3 years ffs. Playing against a load of wife beaters and terrorists every few months, who really should be banned anyway, doesn't get me going.

We are blessed to be playing India and Australia this month, but now we have no more fixtures with India until at least 2028, and probably none with Australia until 2138. If England ever toured here now it would be an indescribably massive event here. None of the other teams, especially Bangladesh, create excitement at that level.

Cricket is a disgrace unfortunately. Don't even get me started on what they've done to the Netherlands.

As for the leagues, I think you are being a bit naive. They will take over soon enough.

Whether you or I see any appeal in them is besides the point - clearly others do (Indians, basically). The emergence of IPL teams buying up franchises in several different countries and branding them the same, means we aren't far away from the point of certain cricketers being contracted year-round by certain ownership groups. It's scary and I hate it, but it's happening.

Also the governing body, the ICC, is a ridiculous organisation that is entirely toothless and glacially slow, so of course they won't do anything until it's too late. Things have changed quickly in the past few months, so who knows what the landscape will be in five years? I think it's an exceptionally worrying time for international cricket. Sad.

Ya and don't forget this 100 in England. Different format, but the ECB will keep throwing cash at that until it gains traction. The English cricketing public, the actual people that watch year round, don't appear to like it, but ECB will definitely persevere with it. They've completely devalued the Royal London 50 over Comp and appear to not give a s**t.

A fair percentage of those 100 players don't even get a game, they're just water boys. It's truly bizarre. At the very least pick your 12 for the night and let the rest go and play the 50 over comp. Strauss is such a d**k, got slap appeal from hell.

Everyone I've spoken to has said the 100 is a disgrace and embarrassing. It's doing more for the women's game than the mens, which, by the way, is painful to watch

I absolutely hate it when I see former women cricketers commentating on the men, disagreeing with people like Nasser Hussain, Athers, Pollock etc, when they never ever EVER played to that level of intensity. They never faced above 72mph (at a push) and the standard (especially in their era) was absolutely horse s**t.

The women are crying for equal pay, but they simply don't play to a level which warrants it. This hundred is exposing the abhorrent standard in the women's game outside of Australia and South Africa. There's nothing coming out of NZ womens cricket and there's only a handful of decent SA cricketers

Sorry of that sounded sexist, I'm all for equality. I just don't like the way the world is going in that just because Liberal rights are more prominent now, women should automatically be paid the same as men. Women's football I can see, especially in England, as there are some damn fine players and play to a serious standard. In cricket though, when you can clear a 50 metre boundary or you're getting out to pie throwers, equal pay to the men shouldn't even be a thing.

I've honestly tried my best to give the 100 a go, both men and women, but the more I watch it the more I get frustrated with it. It's just not needed. That money could be pumped into the t20 blast! There's just so much cricket being played now around the world that something will have to give. It won't be T20 cricket, that's for sure..

But if you love the sound of nails on a chalk board, watch the women's hundred. I've never see a more pitiful sight than seeing the women trying to slog a cricket ball for 6, only for the ball to be spooned into the air....and then dropped. Its not even Premier league standard, its well below that

Would have agreed with you two years ago, but I've really enjoyed watching some women's cricket this year. Watched that FairBreak thing which was great, some of the commonwealth cricket and a few women's Hundred matches when Sky put them on youtube.

I don't think it has to be the 'same standard' as men. Just enjoy it for what it is.

As for the Hundred thing, it certainly looks like a good product for the people it is trying to appeal to. Not sure how they are going to balance it with the one day comp and the counties though. That's the problem.

Meh, I still think the standard is really poor