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County cricket: Return of 50-over game from 2014
The England and Wales Cricket Board has confirmed that 50-over cricket will return to the county game from 2014.
It will replace the current 40-over competition to replicate the longer format played in international cricket.
2012/2014 comparison
County Championship
2012 - 16 games
2014 - 16 games
FL t20 (group stages)
2012 - 10 games
2014 - 14 games
Limited overs (group stages)
2012 (40 overs) - 12 games
2014 (50 overs) - 8 games
Counties will play eight CB50 group games, with eight teams progressing to a new quarter-final round.
The County Championship is unchanged, although the first 14 rounds will start on Sundays, while teams will play 14 Twenty20 games, mostly on Fridays.
The top eight counties will progress to the quarter-finals and the current finals day format will be retained.
Last summer counties played 16 County Championship fixtures, 10 FL t20 games and 12 CB40 group matches.
The new domestic structure, which follows 25,000 cricket fans completing a County Research Study, and the Morgan Review, is set to be in place from 2014 to 2017.
Although the ECB are committed to counties playing 14 Twenty20 matches, the format of the groups has not yet been determined.
Further discussions are also planned with Scotland, Netherlands and Unicorns - who have played in the CB40 for the past three years - about their potential involvement in the new-look CB50, although Scotland have indicated they are not seeking to participate in the competition from 2014.
Players made it clear they wanted to retain the County Championship in two divisions of nine teams, while the study found that counties and fans wanted to see Twenty20 cricket played over a longer part of the season rather than in a short window.
2012 county roll of honour
County champions: Warwickshire
Division Two winners: Derbyshire
FL t20 winners: Hampshire
CB40 winners: Hampshire
There was no preference from fans for 40-over cricket over the 50-over game, which English counties stopped playing after the 2009 season.
ECB chief executive David Collier said: "The research study conducted by Populus was the largest piece of market research ever conducted on county cricket.
"The results provided objective evidence for the board concerning the preferences of spectators in support of the conclusions reached in the Morgan Review.
"The board agreed with the views of spectators and players in retaining a 16-match County Championship which has proven very successful since its introduction in 2000."
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Comment number 65.
soton_wolf19th October 2012 - 23:29
I don't know why 50 over format is so important; as mentioned before it was the ICC's idea to make cricket more attractive than unlimited overs. It should go at all levels and be replaced with 30 over matches, which is the most technical yet entertaining form of the game I have seen. You probably wouldn't need Twenty20 either, if you want to watch slogging in an evening play 10 overs each way.
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Comment number 64.
Peter Hall19th October 2012 - 22:00
I went to games in all three formats this season and enjoyed them all, but the EWCB needs to keep things stable now, as it's only three years ago they dropped 50 over cricket! I think the CC needs some work. I enjoy the format, but the game needs more wins, rather than draws, invariably determined by the weather. Put simply, I want a bit more pace injecting in to the game. Thoughts?
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Comment number 63.
Jon19th October 2012 - 20:24
50 overs is much better than 40. At last a small step in the right direction.
However - ask yourself this.
If Manchester United played Chelsea kicking off at 11am on a Tuesday what sort of crowd would there be?
In a typical season there are 49 weekend/bh days. As many of those 49 days as possible must be utilised (a healthy mixture of all three forms).
It is really that simple.
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Comment number 62.
me19th October 2012 - 19:29
& 57 and 60. attendances on warm sunny sundays are already the same for county games on a sunday as for 40/40 or 50/50. Why this vote has forced a change. People want to spend all day at the cricket on a sunday in a relaxed family atmosphere i.e County Champs, instead of beer fueled noisy yobbish one day. hence the change anyway.
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Comment number 61.
OldWoodman19th October 2012 - 18:30
There was absolutely nothing wrong with the old Sunday League until people started meddling. Also disappointed still no knock out one day cup competition involving the Minor Counties. Seems the ECB will bend over backwards to accomodate Holland/Ireland but Staffordshire? Devon? Norfolk? They can go whistle.
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Comments 5 of 65