More on the IPL

I think one of the comment contributors to last night's article is missing my point.

Mr Bigboy suggests that "we may not be one of the six teams to get an alliance with an Indian team, but there is nothing stopping us getting an alliance with an Australian team. No good folks moaning about 2020 cricket, because it's here to stay for a good while, its want most of the public want to see. Check out attendances and compare them to other forms of the cricket."

There's two points here. First, I didn't complain about T20 last night, merely about the fact that lesser counties will be marginalised. Regular readers will know that it is not my favourite form of the game, but it is a cash cow for clubs, provided that they don't overdo it. Already there's a big danger that countries are playing way too much at the expense of the real thing, while Lalit Modi is now telling the ECB how to organise their fixture list. Hmmm...

Secondly, the idea of the franchises is to be made up of a team from each country. Therefore Hampshire, the Cape Cobras, Victoria and Trinidad and Tobago will become part of the Rajasthan Royals Brand. So we can't team up with an Aussie side as they're part of the global plan. I'm seriously uncomfortable about this, as it is big bucks to the ones who get the deals with the remainder living off the scraps.

The Bradshaw-Stewart plan of a couple of years back wanted to establish an elite grouping of sides to form similar franchises in this country, but the counties were against it. Understandably so - it would be like turkeys voting for Christmas. I still can't get my head around why anyone would want to watch a composite side that was made up of, say, the best players from the East Midlands. The concept disregards decades of parochialism and I couldn't conceive of cheering on Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire players in any circumstance. Maybe I'm unique, but I don't think so.
Besides, under these plans only Nottinghamshire would be likely to survive.

Gloucestershire, Somerset, Worcestershire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire would seem to be the most vulnerable under such a plan. I hope that it doesn't come to fruition, especially in my lifetime.

Speaking of Northamptonshire, they suffered a big blow today in losing Rikki Wessels and Johannes Van der Wath to the new visa legislation. They have been resigned to it for some time, but while Niall O'Brien will doubtless be the keeper of choice, replacing Van der Wath's all round skills could be a problem with the season on a matter of weeks away.

Meanwhile, Worcestershire HAVE signed an overseas player for the T20, despite saying they couldn't afford one. Steve Smith may not be known to many people, but he is a fine prospect and his leggies and googlies have been used to good effect at the death of T20 this winter. He is also a good batting prospect and several good judges see him as the next top Aussie spinner. While not the biggest name, that could turn out to be an inspired signing.

Finally tonight, a nice job as Banqueting and Conference Executive at Derbyshire is advertised today. I would have quite fancied that one myself if I lived a little closer, but that would be a heck of a commute...