12 September 2008

What I hate about weather affected games....

I see that both Jame Foster for Essex and Paul Nixon for Leicestershire have got several overs in as they play their parts in trying to create a result in weather-affected matches.

I realise they are trying to create some excitement for the (hundred or so) spectators but I hate to think that the result of the County Championship could be so contrived, and it certainly doesn't help Foster prove his credentials as an English wicket-keeper of the future. With the English weather it could well be the captain that negotiates the best that manages to move his side up the table. If this is how games are going to be decided then the captains should go on negotiation courses rather than practice their cricket.

Thoughts?

2 comments:

Peter Lamb said...

Just makes it all the more absurd that the county championship is suspended for several prime playing days in the middle of the summer while one dayers and the ridiculous twenty-20 circus takes place.

Anonymous said...

I agree it is a shambles, but not one that could: a) be avoided in this day and age; and b) be blamed on the players. I can only assume that the Northants skipper didn't want to negotiate and knew that Essex were more desperate, giving them the chance to "play it by ear" rather than commit to a total. I too would have just batted and seen how things went, declaring as and when I saw fit.

With this in mind, the only solution left for Mark Pettini would have been to throw pies for the rest of the innings, as he and Foster duly did.

As for Foster's w/k chances for England, I doubt whether it would have harmed them. Everyone likes to have a go at something other than their "day job" when playing cricket. All batsmen fancy their chances of a bowl and all bowlers fancy themselves as batsmen / wicketkeepers if they get the chance. Indeed, I do believe, Ed, that you bat at 11 and keep wicket on an annual basis and have even taken a wicket bowling left-handed!