[BhoysFC1995]

Game in Limbo

PLANS for the restucturing of English domestic cricket were put on hold today following a meeting of the country's 18 first-class counties.

Counties Reject ECB Plan

FCF chairman Mike Soper will head the new group, which will recommend changes in time for the 2006 season.

He told BBC Sport last month: "The Championship is a great competition and to muddle it up with one-day games seems completely stupid."

what i don't get is how the tests are set up- it seems like there are soo many draws; a win/lose seems like it rarely happens.

btw, anyone have any news on how Twenty20 is doing this year?

[Andy TAUS]

Originally Posted by BhoysFC1995

what i don't get is how the tests are set up- it seems like there are soo many draws; a win/lose seems like it rarely happens.

BhoysFC1995,

Tests are the purest of the international cricket formats (versus One Day Internationals - ODI's) and are played for up to 5 days, both teams having up to two batting innings each. The number of tests played are from one up to five, depending on the series arrangements agreed to by both countries.

Draws versus win/lose:

Depends on the team. AUS' attitude is to "go for the win", whereas some other teams "play not to lose", hence more frequent draws. If you check the AUS team site:

http://aus.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/NATIONAL/AUS/

& their recent results, you'll find that draws are few & far between.

There is a ratings system for both types of Internationals (Tests & ODI's) world-wide where wins/draws/loses are given points over a period of time and are published monthly. AUS is top of both lists currently.

[BhoysFC1995]

andy,

thanks. i know what a test is, and how it works; what i am trying to figure out is the english domestic version. when i was watching sky sports news the other night they were showing county highlights and for example- the one match ended in a draw but one team got 12 points and the other got 8 (which had lesser points). it seems to me by giving out different amounts of points for draws, it takes away an incentive for a win.

also domestic tests in australia are only 4 days- not five, so i wonder if its the same in england. for the limited knowledge i have- it seems like the enlgish verison (domestic) its more centered on getting massive runs while the aussie is they go for the win.

[Craig the Aussie]

Small terminology thing here - a "Test" is a 5 day international between full ICC member countries. What you are referring to (domestic 4 day matches) are correctly called "First Class" matches.

The English county system has things such as bonus points (I'm not sure of the current system), so scores matter. Also, what may have happened in teh game you refer to is that although the match was a draw, one team led on the first innings.

The Australian system is very simple - 2 points if you win on first innings, 6 points if you win outright, so scores are irrelevant, winning is all that counts.

[Peakite]

At this stage of the season we do tend to get quite a lot of rain affected matches, which do result in a lot of draws around this time of year. I'd expect to see a lot less later on. A problem I would assume that isn't so great in Australian domestic cricket? Although we also do play four day games.

As for the points there are up to eight bonus points (five for batting, three for bowling) in the first 130 overs of the first innings for each side. With the points for a win, tie and draw are 14, 7 and 4 respectively, the extra 10 points available are certainly worth pushing for, especially when you only lose four for the draw. And dominating a drawn game will give a team some advantage.

And as an edit (I was slow writing that, I did check the points used this season, it has changed in the past).

Craig, we don't have any points for a first innings lead, although they could get more bonus points for more runs scored.

[Craig the Aussie]

Yep, we get very few rain affected games.

Also, I should mention that we have a final between the top 2 teams after the home & away season. That is a 5 day game, and the second placed team must win outright to win the championship. Any other result favours the top ranked side, who also host the final. This year Victoria hosted Queensland and batted for as long as they could (scored over 700).

We used to have a bonus points system, but it was jettisoned many years ago. I should mention that if a team leads on first innings, and loses outright, they retain their 2 points.

[OldFanatic]

Bump. Move to cricket forum.