Re: 2011 Cricket Season : Mon Sep 05, 2011 1:09 pm
I found myself agreeing with a lot of that, I have to say.The one thing that got me about that Warwickshire side was that most of the time they played for the draw and a win was a bonus. That doesn't make for good cricket and that side were not good to watch when they were doing that. At least when you get teams winning a lot of games and losing a few you know they're going for a result. Durham at Hampshire this year being a prime example. Warwickshire in '04 would've gone for the draw in that game. The bonus points system has struck the right balance now, I think, although I'm still not keen on the system.
Which brings me round to the point you made about Lancs, Surrey and batting points. In 2008 Surrey finished bottom of the table with 45 batting points. Lancashire finished 5th with 24 batting points and a grand total of 170 points. If Lancashire had managed to gain the same batting points as Surrey that year we would've won the title with 191 points to Durham's 190! (5 wins, 9 draws, 2 defeats...) It does show that we're seriously behind other teams in the batting department, but then again it also shows up flaws in the bonus points system, albeit there's been changes made since then.
I have heard the suggestion that bonus points should only be awarded if a team wins, which would cut out people shutting up shop for the draw. Whether it's feasible in reality or not is another matter.
