Petition to Save First Class Cricket

My Facebook feed reminded me that just six years ago I was at Lord's in the first week of August watching an absorbing championship match.
Our team was Burns, Sibley, Ansari, Finch, Roy, Davies, Foakes, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Batty, Meaker.

Both Currans,  two front-line spinners, four or five who either subsequent turned their back on red-ball cricket or (Ansari and Meaker) walked away from the game entirely.

Yesterday? Instead of this absorbing four-day feast between the two traditional local rivals,  a forgettable three-hour slog between the Norf London Nobodies and the Oval Invisibles.

Six years was all it took, and the reminder of better days is reason enough to fight against any further attempt to diminish county cricket.

Cee Gee wrote:So memorable you had to be reminded about it by Facebook

The issue is, it was forgettable for you but it wasn’t for my 6 yr old and his mate who had a fantastic time and have already been in the garden this morning practising cricket over football for the first time ever.

I don’t say this as somebody who is in favour of the Hundred, but being there last night I can see the appeal of a competition that runs on a one game a night basis. Whatever cricket exists in the future I want both my kids to love it like I do - so I’m trying to take a more balanced view with that in mind. That said, I don’t see why this couldn’t have been done by creating a ‘premier league’ involving the 18 counties.

You can all clutch at straws around sell outs vs bums on seats etc, the ground was more than full enough and we got to sit in the OCS balcony which has been out of bounds to Surrey members for a while now. I make it the best view in the ground. I also believe there is a lot more that Surrey could do to make the Blast more attractive to families by reducing the ticket price and opening up more family zones like they do for the Hundred. Surrey want the money the Blast brings in from beer sales and hospitality and that’s just not compatible with the above.

Surrey are no different to the ECB in many respects when it comes to preserving the bottom line.

The first comment is frankly daft: of course I'd recall the match without Facebook (I remember in particular what a good century Jason Roy made, which underlines that he could have become a fine middle-order player in the longer format). I am confident that many others on here can recall highlights of matches they have attended over the years. It was the anniversary that Facebook jogged my memory about, which it does for all sorts of important stuff like family weddings, holidays etc.  

I am pleased that your 6-year-old enjoyed his evening, but as you have acknowledged he could and would have enjoyed seeing a Surrey v Middlesex short-form game just as much, whether played over 20 overs or 100 balls: one of the key reasons for the Hundred was to reduce the time taken: the game last night finished just before 9.30 pm, which is precisely when a 20-over game which went the distance would finish.

You make some valid points about how Surrey could improve the T20 Blast experience. Ticket prices are a touch too high now. There is a family zone, and I am sure Surrey would extend it to encourage younger supporters. You will know better than me, but I am not under the impression that there is any shortage of beer drunk at The Hundred. There may be some more kids there, but that is mainly as a result of the cheap ticket prices and the games being played during the school holidays. This could be achieved by the county competition without driving a coach and horses through the county game. It is a price which does not need to be paid, and it must not be.