Quote ="Oldham Rhino"3 pools of 7?



Who are the extra 3 teams? Ireland, Scotland and ??????'"



Netherlands??

Quote ="Lord_Percy"My problem with that structure is that it eliminates 50 over cricket from the programme. Given that's the length of games in the international arena, I would prefer to see that replicated at county level, rather than the 40 over competition they've gone with.'"



The reasoning is that a) South Africa don't play 50 over cricket domestically and they're currently the best ODI side in the world and b) the ICC are reviewing the future of 50 over cricket after the 2011 World Cup anyway.



I'd prefer 50 over cricket myself over 40, but I can see why they've done it. I know someone who wouldn't take her grandchildren to 20 over cricket because of the crowds it's attracting, nor 50 over cricket because it was a bit too long for them. For her, 40 overs is perfect for a family day out. I'd imagine a lot of people are the same, so it does make sense in that respect - it's a much better way of getting people interested in the game that Twentying20.

Quote ="Andy Gilder"Looks like the wicket has flattened out nicely at Scarborough, Warwickshire making batting look very easy indeed.'"



Have you told the Yorkshire lads?

Quote ="OrdsallRed"I agree with you on that front...if they are copying international cricket re the powerplays, field restrictions etc then why is it 40 overs and not 50??

Other than that, seems OK to me.



And the pink ball that is being trialled looked excellent on the telly last night...pink is the new red and/or white!!'"



The 50 over game is doomed I feel, can see ODIs chopping 10 overs off after 2011. 40 overs is OK, long enough so some proper tactical cricket can be played, but short enough to ensure quickish runs (typically a run a ball) to be scored to keep it watchable.

Quote ="Andy Gilder"Follow-on saved by Yorkshire, let's see how generous Warwickshire feel in setting a potential last day target weather permitting...'"



Hopefully not very.

Quote ="Andy Gilder"Follow-on saved by Yorkshire, let's see how generous Warwickshire feel in setting a potential last day target weather permitting...'"



243/8 at the moment. Brophy gone for 83.



Rumours have it that we're lookin for overseas player from the West Indies for next year.

Quote ="94#Dennis_the_menace_Maxw"Kent beat Surrey by six wickets'"

Kent are the best team in Division 2 by a distance, but Surrey were pathetic yesterday: bowling of the buffet variety, laughable fielding errors including two fairly straightforward catches going down on the boundary (otherwise Kent's first innings lead would have been negligible) and a top order batting collapse. That's the second game running we've batted first, put more than 400 on the board, and still been beaten. At least Key & van Jaarsveld failed to notch their customary centuries against us. Almost anyone else could go up in second place.

Quote ="OrdsallRed"Good win for Lancashire against Kent yesterday, excellent bowling and fielding restricting the league-leaders to just 162 then getting almost halfway there til rain ruined it...I'm sure we would have easily knocked off the remaining 83 in the 23.2 overs remaining but a D/L win will do...keeps the 2nd Division Title race boiling nicely!!



And in other great Lancashire news, the 2nd XI have made both the final of the 3-day competition (against Surrey at Old Trafford from Weds this week) and the one-day competition (against Yorkshire on Mon 21 Sept) venue to be confirmed.'"



It's next week isn't it? 16th-18th?

Quote ="Asim"Our reliance on the lower order to dig us out of holes is getting silly now.'"



Good job they did, as the gamble of only playing two front line quicks is backfiring hugely with Sussex closing in on 400 for the loss of just 5 wickets.



Game heading for a draw, but looks like they'll get the better of the bonus points as Yorkshire didn't pass 400 within the 120 overs so only got four batting points.

Quote ="Andy Gilder"Good job they did, as the gamble of only playing two front line quicks is backfiring hugely with Sussex closing in on 400 for the loss of just 5 wickets.



Game heading for a draw, but looks like they'll get the better of the bonus points as Yorkshire didn't pass 400 within the 120 overs so only got four batting points.'"

I wouldn't bet your house in it. I've seen Surrey lose two recent games at Essex & Kent and last week we came close to losing another to Northants after grinding our way to 400+ batting first, then conceded a first innings deficit to opponents who scored their runs faster. A first innings lead of 100 or so for Sussex would give them a real chance of forcing a result if they can make early inroads in the second innings.

Quote ="GT"Sussex won the Second XI Championship after Lancashire got into a great position and then imploded. Seems some things run right through the club...'"

It was actually Surrey, not Sussex, who won the Second XI Championship! Although as Tom Smith, on loan from Sussex, made 86 not out and took five wickets for Surrey perhaps that was a Freudian slip.



Just for the record, Surrey secured a "winning draw" by bowling out Lancs for a smaller first innngs total of 438 in what was theoretically a two innings match. If Lancs had neither overhauled Surrey's first innings score of 500/8 dec. nor been bowled out in their first innings the championship would have been shared.



It seems a bit strange that Jon Batty, who has played in every Championship match for the 1st XI and scored a century in the most recent one, was Surrey captain for this game. I assume there are eligibility rules for a game like this to stop anyone packing their team with first team players? The rest of the Surrey team for this game have played very little 1st XI cricket this year and a couple of 2nd team regulars including captain Laurie Evans were missing.