leeslover Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 There has been some talk of merging counties to create regional/city cricket teams for the Twenty20 game to help compete with the Indian Premier League. I was wondering how this would work. Naturally, Lancashire and The Other Place have already stated that they don’t need to merge with anyone, so that would be the first two sorted. Warwickshire and Worcester would be no-brainer for the Birmingham franchise, Hampshire, Sussex and Kent could represent the South Coast, Essex and Northants might get squeezed together, Surrey and Middlesex would be London. Of the remainder, it seems logical that Notts, Leicestershire and Derbyshire would join forces to represent the Midlands, and Somerset, Glamorgan and Gloucestershire would team up at Cardiff. This leaves Durham, who I would expect to be united with Scotland and Ireland. Now, I don't think for a second that this is going to happen, but I've had some great fun suggesting the above at the expense of mates who support Bristol City, Newcastle and Forest When they challenged my first assumption on the basis that Lancashire haven't won owt for ages, I simply point out that we are a Big County. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hometownclub Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Sounds about right LL we are far too 'big' to merge with anyone. I would generally agree with your groupings but would make Yorkshire merge with the Durham group aswell making us the only county to retain our single entity as we are such a 'big' and wealthy county. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted April 30, 2008 Author Share Posted April 30, 2008 Sounds about right LL we are far too 'big' to merge with anyone. I would generally agree with your groupings but would make Yorkshire merge with the Durham group aswell making us the only county to retain our single entity as we are such a 'big' and wealthy county. That was my dilemma – to squeeze an anti-Yorkshire slur in by joining them with Durham while we stay independent, and annoy my mate from Rotherham, or to annoy my Geordie mate, who is extravagantly bigoted towards the Celtic Fringes, by classing Durham in with them as Minor counties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hometownclub Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 That was my dilemma – to squeeze an anti-Yorkshire slur in by joining them with Durham while we stay independent, and annoy my mate from Rotherham, or to annoy my Geordie mate, who is extravagantly bigoted towards the Celtic Fringes, by classing Durham in with them as Minor counties. I see your predicament you had so many slurs to dish out and were running out of slur opportunities within the confines of this County cricket groupings topic. I would still throw Yorkshire in with Durham and the other Minor Counties and infer that I was also classing them as a Minor County nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted April 30, 2008 Author Share Posted April 30, 2008 I see your predicament you had so many slurs to dish out and were running out of slur opportunities within the confines of this County cricket groupings topic. Wait till my mate from Nottingham sees my suggestion for them, he'll run the 20 or so miles from where he works to beat the crap out of me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
help_shiny Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 I reckon they might go down the road of setting up 'franchises' in the big cities/places with decent grounds. A couple in London and then 1 each in Manchester,Birmingham,Nottingham,Leeds and 2 from Southampton,Durham & Cardiff. An 8 team Super League with little reference to the current County setup or maybe they'll have those 8 teams and then just tie in each county to one of them for players. 2010 - Manchester Thundercats versus Birmingham Mighty Robot Warriors coming to the 'Greggs Pasties Arena at Old Trafford' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted April 30, 2008 Author Share Posted April 30, 2008 I reckon they might go down the road of setting up 'franchises' in the big cities/places with decent grounds. A couple in London and then 1 each in Manchester,Birmingham,Nottingham,Leeds and 2 from Southampton,Durham & Cardiff. An 8 team Super League with little reference to the current County setup or maybe they'll have those 8 teams and then just tie in each county to one of them for players. 2010 - Manchester Thundercats versus Birmingham Mighty Robot Warriors coming to the 'Greggs Pasties Arena at Old Trafford' Trouble is, who would feel any loyalty to the Manchester Thundercats? It wouldn't really upset me, but they wouldn't automatically gain the support or interest of the majority of the County. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
help_shiny Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 ah but you're one of those traditional cricket fans you see - they dont want your ilk. They want to open it up to a whole new demographic - it's THUNDERMANIA! I've just reminded myself of when the A League was starting off in Australia a few years ago. They changed the names of one of the teams to something daft and when the supporters complained the chief exec said something along the lines of "well, they're not the kind of people we're after". I must go away and find this...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macca Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Trouble is, who would feel any loyalty to the Manchester Thundercats? It wouldn't really upset me, but they wouldn't automatically gain the support or interest of the majority of the County. Yeah I agree with that but I think you would be a greater interest from Manchester and the immediate surrounding areas than you would if they were just called Lancashire. I'd prefer it if cricket moved away from the county system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
help_shiny Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 The club were Hollandia, commonly known as Brisbane Lions who were renamed Queensland Roar. The chief exec said: "Personally, I might have gone for a more traditional name, but the decision has been made and we stand by it," he says. "We know the traditionalists don't like it, but frankly they are not our target market. "The overwhelming evidence from our research is that people under 25 like the name, and that's the demographic we're after. The young kids who don't watch soccer at the moment, they're the target." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forte_Baby Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 I have said for a while expand the divisions and include the minor counties with promotion and relegation between them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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