Re: Notes from January 2024 Forum

[VauxhallRey]

Someone complained that he kept getting emails from the club about the 100 and wanted to opt out of these mailings only.

[Wokoval]

Many thanks to VauxhallRey for the update on the second forum. Good to know the club will update us about developments. Any significant changes need to be approved by the Membership.
Somewhat puzzled that the players don’t like the pitches at Guildford. I get the impression these days that modern players want everything to be perfect when they would benefit from playing on a variety of surfaces.

[Wokoval]

Many thanks to VauxhallRey for the update on the second forum. Good to know the club will update us about developments. Any significant changes need to be approved by the Membership.
Somewhat puzzled that the players don’t like the pitches at Guildford. I get the impression these days that modern players want everything to be perfect when they would benefit from playing on a variety of surfaces.

[VauxhallRey]

Think that Guildford is a road and the strategy is built around pitches with bounce and a bit of nibble.

They said that any significant changes would have to be agreed by the General Committee not the membership. Key therefore to get the right people on GC.....

[Wokoval]

Last championship game in 2021 v Glamorgan at the Oval was a real Road.
Agree there is a need to get the right people on the GC, you get my vote if it helps!.
Apologies for duplication of post above, me and technology folks.

[Ali888]

Discussing reserved seating for the Blast and 100 games which have a large walk-up.  Quite a few non-members getting into Members' Areas, plus Members using other Members' cards to get their friends in.  Looking at potential chipped or Facial ID cards.


So what ? The Membership has been paid for.This has been going on since time began.I remember at school in 1966 a bloke who was going on holiday for a month gave me his Chelsea season ticket.

I've never heard of anyone being challenged at Cricket or Football over this.

I think the issue is more that non members gain access to the Pavilion.

[Steve]

Thanks for the notes good of you to share them. Any one say anything about overseas players for this season? I am surprised no members asked the question!

[VauxhallRey]

Not mentioned.

[ianrnb]

Thank you for the notes from the first forum (it was good that Stewie was at that one). I agree with most that was recorded.

I fully support the model that is being proposed by our Chairman.

Having watched all of Surrey county championship matches away last season there is no doubt that our team and 'home member experience' are among the best in the country, it is obvious.

I do enjoy all forms of cricket and part of our memberhip growth has been through the diversity of cricket on offer at the Oval. People are chosing to be members for very different reasons. I hope that those who tend towards the purist county model accept that there are more members who like the variety including the 100. I liked the comment about our membership looking younger. I think it is also more diverse in terms of ethnicity and gender.

Lets all get behind our club to build an exciting future.

[David W]

"There was quite a bit of applause for someone praising the 100 as being more exciting cricket."

Depressing to hear this

My recollection is that this was a Scottish chap near the front who wondered why people oppose the Hundred and do these people hate exciting cricket?

I find that question either provocative or completely unaware of the problems.

Each to their own but I’m a member of Surrey County Cricket Club in three competitions and won’t transfer my allegiance to a new team.

To suggest I don’t want exciting cricket……

I’d add that there was applause but this was limited to a minority in my view, proving the division this thing has caused.

[Wokoval]

The Hundred has divided the game and ruined the schedule
Diversity is all very well but it is most definitely not the main thing. What matters, in my opinion, is the quality of the cricket and the development of players for Surrey and England.

[Jhe10077]

I’m all for the 4 Day CC and winning the Title is the Biggest Accolade a Team can Achieve. But being realistic the younger supporters rather watch crash bang whack it and walk cricket they’ve got no time for the Longer version of the game. Who are we to argue.

[VauxhallRey]

Both can co-exist. Indeed, without white ball, our red ball team would be significantly weaker.

[Wokoval]

Agree that both can co-exist. I am not against white ball cricket. I don’t like T20 and refuse to watch it. However, I have to accept it is popular and brings money into the game. It needs to be controlled though. I will never accept the Hundred in the form it is at present.

[adelaide]

Agree that both can co-exist. I am not against white ball cricket. I don’t like T20 and refuse to watch it. However, I have to accept it is popular and brings money into the game. It needs to be controlled though. I will never accept the Hundred in the form it is at present.

By "form" are you referring the actual format or to franchising? If the latter, is it all franchising or is is it OK if Surrey is a franchisee?

Your earlier post referring to the importance of development of players for Surrey and England - of course it's wider than Surrey; you need healthy competition to make it worth watching.

[Wokoval]

More the format though not keen on franchising either. We will have to see the detail in due course I guess. I agree with your last paragraph, you were correct to pick me up on it.
Feeling a bit sore after seeing England throw their wickets away without any fight.

[Chinaman]

Yes they did throw their wickets away in a display of brainless cricket. They need to learn that you can't slog your way through every game.

[adelaide]

More the format though not keen on franchising either. We will have to see the detail in due course I guess. I agree with your last paragraph, you were correct to pick me up on it.
Feeling a bit sore after seeing England throw their wickets away without any fight.

Interesting, as it would only take a few keystrokes to turn the Hundred format back into 20-20. I wonder sometimes whether the format was introduced specifically to draw fire away from other aspects.

For me it's franchising, which undermines the counties and the CC and - when coupled with the short duration of tournaments - is the cause of all the angst about players jetting off all over the world instead of playing for their county.

Franchising can work in sports where players are just as committed all year round for several years to a franchise through long term contracts as they would be to any other club. The NFL is the most obvious example. Of course there is a huge amount of money involved and most of their player development is done by the colleges, then in the land of red-blooded capitalism they adopt the "woke" approach of giving the least successful teams the first draft picks!

[Wokoval]

I don’t disagree at all. Overall franchising presents a greater threat to the game. My distaste of the format is that no other country has adopted it and it is not played at international level. I would also think it confusing for youngsters to have different rules for the 2 short format competitions.

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