Cricket on the brink......

Here we are a week away from the first pre-season 'friendly' at Grace Rd against Notts and just a couple of weeks from the opening game against Loughborough MCCU. We can only hope that the match against the students is less damaging to the season as a whole than last March proved.

One thing though is sure, even a later start (last years game was at the end of March) will see plenty of cold hands

The AGM was held last week. Congratulations to those elected to the board and commiserations  to those unsuccessful. With Paul Nixon now with his feet firmly under the table there is an air of optimism not seen for some seasons.
​Further reasons to 'feel good' about the summer to come was the announcement of a return to Oakham for an RL50 game in May v Lancashire and a small profit for the 3rd year running

So on the brink of the new season what of the bigger picture ?

Well it feels like the game is also on the brink. Unrest in the ECB ranks, disquiet amongst members, players following the sun and the $ across the world dictating  terms with 'White Ball' contracts while the Counties are stuck in the middle.
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​Lets be honest anyone talking about 'White ball' cricket really means T20. At least in the UK; where  a single 50 over competition with 7 games, played before June is out hardly constitutes a significant career step forward. In fact when you look at Leics accounts for the last year  match receipts for the RL50 were less than 50% of the receipts for the county championship and when you combine the receipts from both competitions they still total less than 16% of the total for T20.

​If anyone doubts where the future is  just crunch the numbers.

​So what of  'proper cricket' ? The disappointing performances of the National team this winter have at least stirred some long overdue debate but where exactly that takes us is anyone's guess. I don't doubt that the non test match Counties are keener to secure a more sensible format but whether they carry enough weight to see a positive outcome is debatable.

​Put in context it appears that Glamorgan have received £2.5m for not hosting test matches. LCCC's share of the ECB pot last year was £2.1m. A coming together of the 10 non test counties and the minor counties in some form of semi-pro competition is a distinct possibility in the 2020's.

​On the brink indeed.....

​So make sure you dig out the long johns, heavy sweaters, woolly hats and gloves, the season is almost here