Albright's Rants - Season 2004

Albright's Rants and Solutions.... (2nd May 2007)

(The views expressed in this section are in no way the views of Blackboys Cricket Club, but are purely my views on ways in which I feel we could better the League in which we play. This document is intended to promote discussion, and if you too have any ideas or comments.., please send them to me..., always welcome.. (See the Contact Us section))

My background as a youngster, was that I played for Rye 1st XI in the East Sussex League and then a few games for Bexhill in Div 1 of the County League. I also played for Sussex C.C.C. U17 and Kent C.C.C. Colts, was one of the winners of a nationwide "Find a Fast Bowler" competition in 1976 and a runner up to another "Find a Fast Bowler", this time with "The Cricketer" magazine...

I really loved my cricket, and I played to a good standard, but oddly I packed up at the age of 21!!!….

Over a number of years It was starting to dawn on me that I was getting bored to death with my cricket. Week after week of pointless drawn matches… I would find myself standing in the outfield after tea, thinking "What the Hell am I doing..!", and every game seemed to be taking the same course… Either we would get too many runs on the board and they would not chase, or we just couldn’t bowl them out… The other thing that struck me was that the top teams consisted of one or two really "good" players and a number of average players, and it was these "good" players that seemed to determine the outcome of the game more often than not....

Obviously, there is a skill in not getting too many runs, but unless you are confident your bowling attack is very good, it was always wise to put a good score on the board… You have to look at the bigger picture with this philosophy, in an ideal world you would put up an enticing total to try and snatch a win, but in reality you would have been a fool to put the outcome of the game on the hope that the other team would be playing with the same "cavalier" approach you were....

In the East Sussex League it was possible to only win a couple of games a year and draw the rest, and still stay in the same division… It was the ability to "draw" matches that killed the game...

I just wasn’t enjoying my cricket, a feeling a number of us go thro from time to time…, but at 21 I hung my boots up…

In 1999 I was persuaded to start up again… This time with Blackboys CC, and after a few games with the Sunday team I started to get very interested in the Saturday League matches in the Cuckmere Valley Cricket League…

My first thought was what a brilliant format for the game… 40 overs each side, straight win or lose…, very easy to follow points scheme, and just about every game was “full on”…. Something that I never experienced with the East Sussex Cricket League…

So what does 40 Over cricket offer over the 50 format supported by the ESCL…?

1. 40 Overs per side, an equal game!, none of this, you get 50 overs and we get 43 nonsense.., how can that ever be fair?...

2. In a 40 over, win or lose match, there is a high level of intensity. Every match is very much “full on” and by that I mean if the team batting first gets 275, you go for it!...

3. 40 Overs promotes attacking cricket. You can’t play out a draw… Many times Its very obvious in the ESCL that the game will be a draw, and 9 times out of 10 you can see it 2½ hours before the match as actually finished…

4. In the 40 over format you need at least 5 capable bowlers. Each bowler in the CVCL could only bowl a max of 9 overs… So the game brought more out of your team as you could not afford to carry people. In the ESCL, the same two bowlers can bowl all afternoon…, very boring and very negative. I played a game in the ESCL Div1 last season where the two opening bowlers, bowled some 30 odd overs between them, and it killed the game..., I think we only got about 60 runs off them...

5. In the ESCL a weak team can survive in the same division for years, simply on the strength of winning a couple of matches a season, and drawing the rest. In the CVCL, the weak teams go down…, which ultimately is a fair reflection on their actual abilities.., so in the end they all find a “true” level, not one that is falsely found based on their ability to consistently draw matches.

6. The length of time it takes to complete a game is far too long. A CVCL innings takes approx 2hrs 20mins… In the ESCL we are looking nearer 3hrs an innings… If the CVCL were to have started matches at 1:30pm, the game would have been finished by 6:30pm, which gives people a chance to be with their families in the evening, and probably would have allowed more people to play the game.

7. The ESCL offers a very complicated points system… The CVCL offered a very simple points system.

I believe that people these days want to see a result at the end of a match… There is no other form of One day cricket that does not subscribe to this simple philosophy. The argument is that we are preparing players for the County League… That’s fine, well now with the County League extending into 4 divisions you have that option, should you wish…

The 40 over format promotes attacking cricket, it promotes “team” play, nothing about the format is negative. It brings the whole team into the match. The only thing that could be considered is that the format be extended to 45 overs but I would argue that the matches would lose their intensity. In the CVCL we partially addressed that problem, by introducing leg-side wides, which meant that you nearly always ended up getting 45 overs…

The 50 over game is a dinosaur. You can see this born out in the decline of Sunday cricket over the years, which in essence is exactly the same except you don’t have a points scheme.

In 5 years of playing 40 over cricket I can honestly say that I enjoyed every minute of all the matches I played in. There is a “team spirit” and a purpose to a match…

I would say to any of you out there who have been playing 50 over cricket, give 40 overs a try… It will change the way you view the game, you will enjoy your cricket again….

I’ve spoken to a lot of people on this subject and I hear two different sides.. If you are over 50 years old you tend to like the 50 over stuff, and if your under 50, you want the 40 overs format…. We also got some feedback from the lads in the Stoner League, and they said they preferred the 40 over stuff they play on Sundays..!.

Now, you may be asking yourself..., "Why do so many teams choose the 50 over format..?". The answer is simple, there is no choice... It's either 50 over or nothing... The ESCL is a very well organised unit, and was light years ahead of the the CVCL in this department, and that is why many teams felt they would be better off in this league... The only option open to 40 over fans was the Kent Cricket Village League (www.kcvl.co.uk), which was understood to be hard to get in to... Had the CVCL merged with them we would have met everyone's needs... We would have had a 4 division league, with the ability for teams to find their own level, couple that with the chance to play new teams (which we desperately needed in the CVCL), and a structure that would grow... In short, it would have been a winner for all of us..., and it would have grown into one of the top leagues in Kent and Sussex. Travelling could have been an issue, but I feel the distances travelled would be very similar to those in the ESCL.

In the two games I have just played in the ESCL format, I got that old feeling again…. “What the hell am I doing?, life’s too short to be standing out here watching a boring draw..”

I’ll report back at the end of the 2007 season….

Albright's Rants and Solutions.... (27th August 2004)

Firstly I must stress that I believe we have the best format for limited over cricket, that being 40 overs straight win or loose.., this is complemented by each bowler only being able to bowl a maximum of 9 overs. This format promotes attacking cricket, no boring draws and no bowlers bowling from one end all afternoon. It also does away with complicated points scoring schemes, with a straight forward 4 point win...

Bonus Points

Over the years the idea of bonus points has been a contentious one, and there are have been numerous ideas and discussions on the subject. This season we finally introduced a scheme based on a batting point for 148 runs and a bowling point for 8 wickets. I don't believe this scheme works or is fair.

My feeling is that firstly there are too many points on offer and secondly the points are too easy to get.

The problem for me, with too many points, is that the gap in the event of an abandoned game can become excessive.

For example, two teams at the top of the League, team one has their game rained off..., they only get 2 points.. Team two, manage to play their game and win getting the full 6 points... That means a 4 point gap is opened up through no fault of the second team.

It has proven to be the case over the years that the teams on the coast do tend to have less games cancelled. This scenario only has happen two weeks in a row and you suddenly have a massive 8 point gap opened up, making it very unfair on the other clubs.

The points are too easy to win. In my view you should have to play out of your skins to win a point, or at least tactically engineer a win. The current setup means that you can almost stumble into two points. There is also a bias here with regard to the size of grounds. Now I hear you say "it's the same for both sides", but it's not... A team with a small home ground will get to play on that ground far more times than a team with a bigger ground, thus giving them an advantage with regard to getting batting points.

In short, our bonus points scheme doesn't work and isn't fair (fair enough...) to all teams.

Alternative Bonus Points Idea

Two years ago we put forward a scheme that was based on run-rate. This is the only truly fair way to work a bonus points scheme, as all the others will in some way offer contention or bias with the size of the ground, the state of the pitch or whatever. What this scheme offers is one point up for grabs per game and you really have to play well to earn it. Both teams get the same crack at getting the point irrespective of their ground or conditions.

An additional point will be added to the four on offer for victory in each match in those situations where a team finishes a game with a run-rate that is at least 1.25 times higher than that of its opponent.

Designed to encourage attacking cricket, the incentive rewards sides batting second for overhauling targets quickly, and sides bowling second for dismissing their opponents cheaply or restricting their total runs.

Example (To win an Extra Point Batting Second)

Alfriston bat first and score 150 from their 40 overs. That works out at a run rate of 3.75 runs per over….

For Blackboys to get the bonus point they need to score at a run rate of 4.68 runs per over… This means that they will need to get the required runs in 32 overs (or less..) to get the additional point.

Example (To Win an Extra Point Bowling Second)

Blackboys bat first and score 150 from their 40 overs, with a run rate of 3.75 runs per over.

To win the bonus point they need to keep Alfriston to a run rate batting second of under 2.8 runs per over. So if you can keep Alfriston down to 112 or less batting second, Blackboys get the additional point…

What I like about this bonus points scheme is that the whole game gets another dimension, two games in one if you like… The second half of the game is not just about stopping the opponents from getting the runs…, it’s about keeping them below a total, which everyone is aware of before they take the field after tea…, also it is fair for all teams with no bias being placed on their home ground.

The other thing I like about this is that you do have to play above yourselves to get the extra point, which means when the “better” teams play the “weaker” teams, they must make sure they take full advantage of the situation, and not just accept that they will get some points for "turning out"..

The basis of the idea is very simple, the team with a run rate 1.25 times higher gets the point… Now.., you will have read that I advocate we need an uncomplicated points scheme..., as you will have noticed this idea involves some maths. One idea is that someone (the mathematicians of you out there...) draws up a cross-matrix sheet that can be used by the umpires at tea to work out the requirements for the winning of the point, failing that a piece of paper a pen and a calculator..., it's not rocket science..

The idea is not mine, and in fact was used in the 2002 VB Tournament in Australia, and was developed in conjunction with Universities throughout Australia.

One point keeps it close and keeps it interesting..., but does make a difference..

Conceded Games

This problem has reached new heights this season and has directly effected the outcome of the League.

It's totally unreasonable for a team to be awarded a full 6 points for not playing a game, in fact it's ludicrous. To say that you can have the 2 bonus points without playing is daft, and in my view is a knock-on from not getting the bonus points scheme quite right. If a team commits to play in the CVCL then they should commit to playing a full season. If this commitment clashes with their end of season football plans then that is unacceptable, and ultimately unfair on all the other teams that are genuinely enthusiastic about their cricket.

Alternative to Conceded Games

The team that cannot field a team out should be docked 2 points, and the other side should get the full 4 points. What this will do is weed out teams that are not committed to the League, and will act as a deterrent for calling a game off because of football commitments. The full impact of this will not be seen until we get back to two divisions. No bonus points will be awarded in this instance.

In my view this problem almost single handedly messed up the outcome of this seasons league, so either way we need to come up with a solution as a matter of urgency.

Abandoned Games

Another contentious subject... My problem with this one is that you only get two points for an abandoned game. Again we have the problem that a gap is opened up should the other teams around you manage to play their game.

Through an excellent groundsman and second to none behind the scenes team, Blackboys will always get the game on if possible. We are very fortunate to be in this position, but through no fault of their own, other teams cannot always offer this luxury. That being the case we need to make it fairer to all teams in the event of rain.

Alternative to Abandoned Games

I think we need to award 3 points for a game that is abandoned by rain, not 2 as previously. What this will do is lessen the impact of an abandoned game on the overall outcome of the season. No body wants rain but this does make it easier. Don't forget that if you adopt the run-rate idea there is still a chance that you could still pick up the extra point.

Balls

The match balls that we use are cheap and cheerful. After 15 overs they look like they've done 40 overs.!.. There have got to be better alternatives out there... Time for a change..?

Alternative to Balls

Get a League ball sponsor and get the sponsors name put on the match balls. This way we promote the sponsor and can afford to buy better quality balls.. It works for the ESCL so I can see no reason why it should not work for ours.

Common Points of Access

I think it is generally accepted that the Internet is a place that a large majority of people now have access to, and as such the CVCL needs to get a proper web presence. As a model for this we need look no further than the East Sussex Cricket League website.

It's a central point of contact for all clubs, giving details of fixtures, rules, points of contact and minutes of meetings etc. It promotes a professional, unified approach to their League.

The big problem is that maintaining this kind of presence requires time and money to make it worthwhile, but to understand how this would better our league its to view the problem from another angle and ask yourself "how are any new clubs out there going to find out about the CVCL if there is no where they can go to find out about it..?". It's a "chicken and egg" scenario, but to go on without it will ultimately damage to league.

Alternative to Common Points of Access

The league needs to move forward and get itself a sponsor. To start with why not get a sponsor who can help us to pay for a website and the running of it..?, that wouldn't cost a fortune and would help to promote the CVCL which is something that we desperately need or in a very short time there will be no league to promote. We need to try and poach stagnant clubs from the ESCL, there are a good few out there, but we are never going to get them without making at least some effort to show that we are a worthwhile league to be in. We are offering a far better game of cricket..., it's just that no one out there knows... The reason 20/20 has been such a success is because at the end of the game you get a result..., that's exactly what you get with the CVCL...

Start Times

We all live in a vastly different society from the one we lived in 25 years ago, and for the majority of cricketers it is a delicate balance between family commitments and the game we all love. These days a game that starts at 2pm and goes on till 7pm puts unnecessary pressures on people's lives, and again can cause people to leave the game or not to play as often as they would like. Having said all that I recognise that some people do work on Saturday mornings and I cannot offer a solution to that, but I would be interested to know exactly how many this effects, as I would guess it to be very few in relative terms if you set the figure off against the players that could play more if the start times were changed.

Alternative to Start Times

As I said we are in a different world to the one we were in 20 odd years ago and I feel that we should move the start times forward to 1pm, that way the game will finish at 6pm. The benefits are that there will be no disruption to the after game drink as the pubs are all open and food is being served. Should you not wish to do this then there is still an entire evening to spend with the family or go out for a meal. It makes everyone's life a lot easier, and may give players more room to negotiate with the wife over Saturday cricket.

Summary of Points Ideas...

4 Points for a Win

0 Points for a Loss

3 Points each for an Abandoned Game

1 Bonus Point on offer per game

-2 Points for Conceded Game (4 points to other side but no bonus on offer)