A Description of the Domestic System in each Test Playing Country

[Andy Mellon]

I thought a good way to get this county forum up and running would be to publish a full description of how each domestic league system works in each of the test playing countries. Obviously, my knowledge is largely restricted to the UK cricket scene, and so I'll provide a description of how that works and which teams compete.

The major first class domestic competition is the County Championship. This competition has games which take place over a period of 4 days and is split into two divisions. Movement between the two divisions is by promotion and relegation. Currently, 3 teams are relegated from division 1 and 3 promoted from division 2 per season. This year, the County Championship D1 was won by Warwickshire and D2 was won by Nottinghamshire.

In addition to the 4 day league, there is a one-day competition called the National League. Similarly to the County Championship, this is split into two divisions. The teams are against subject to 3 up 3 down promotion and relegation based on their one-day performances. Since 2002, Scotland have also been allowed to compete in the National League. This year's competition was won by Glamorgan:

On top of this competition, an annual cup competition is run. This is currently called the C&G Trophy. This is a one-day competition which allows 50 overs per innings. All the county teams compete in this competition from the start of May. However, the 1st round of the competition starts in the preceeding August when the county UCCEs and the minor counties play each other for the right to take on a first class county. In addition to these teams, Ireland, Holland and Denmark have all been known to enter a team for the C&G Trophy. Ireland performed particularly well in the current year when they knocked out the well fancied Surrey. The end of the trophy takes place at Lords' in August when a showpiece final is held. This year's final was contested between local rivals Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, with Gloucestershire winning for the 2nd year in a row.

In 2003, an additional competition was introduced to increase the exposure of cricket to the British public. This was the infamous Twenty 20 competition which involves short one-day games of 20 overs per side which can be played after work hours to allow those who cannot normally get to see cricket to attend. And attend in their droves they have, with some of the biggest county gate receipts for years. This years competition was won by the unfancied team from Leicestershire.

Below the level of the first class county game, there is a minor county championship which allows all the other less followed, and generally less populous counties to compete in a national competition. This is once more split into two divisions, but this time on a regional East/West basis with the winners of the two leagues playing off at the end of the season to decide the winners of the Minor Counties Championship. Often, young up and coming first class county players will be blooded in a minor county first XI to allow them to gain some competitive 1st team exposure. Since 2003, the amount of former first class players in the minor county game has been restricted to 1 per team to allow more young players to gain experience. Minor county matches are played over the course of 3 days.

This year's final between Devon and Bedfordshire took place on the 12th, 13th and 14th of September and was shared by the two counties as the game was restricted by rain.

Edit:

Further to the above, the ECB announced reforms in December aimed at reforming the one day game. The National League will feature in the first half of the season as described above, but Scotland will not compete.

Instead, the C&G Cup will be reformed into 2 divisions (North and South) with Scotland competing in the North Division and Ireland competing in the South Division. The minor counties will not be competing. The winners of the 2 conferences will play each other to decide the winner of the Cup

[Andy Mellon]

Domestic cricket in New Zealand, like in so many of the test playing countries, gets comparatively low billing compared to the national side. The state championships have much few matches than the English equivalents. Two major competitions are contested in New Zealand. These are the State Championship (4 day league) and the State Shield (one day league). In the State Shield, a league system is played so that each team plays the others twice. Once these games have been played, the 2nd and 3rd placed teams play-off in a semi-final for the right to meet the 1st placed team in a final. This meant that in 2003-4, the 2nd placed team (Northern Districts) won the competition after beating Canterbury in the final.

State Championship: Final Table 2003/04

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Team              Played Points
Wellington           8     24
Canterbury           8     22
Otago                8     20
Auckland             8     16
Central Districts    8     13
Northern Districts   8      6 


State Shield: Final Table 2003/04

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Team                Played  W   L   NR  Bonus  Pts  Net-RR
Canterbury            10    6   2   2     2    30   +0.504
Central Districts     10    5   2   3     1    27   +0.314
Auckland              10    4   3   3     2    24   +0.346
Wellington            10    4   4   2     1    21   -0.146
Otago                 10    4   5   1     0    18   -0.231
Northern Districts    10    1   8   1     0    6    -0.585 


Central Districts won the Semi-Final against Auckland by 3 wickets
Central Districts won the Final against Canterbury by 99 runs thanks to Craig Spearman's 85 off 48 balls. Spearman took 30 runs off one Paul Wiseman over!

[Andy Mellon]

In the Outcast Cricketing country of Zimbabwe, the domestic competition is in a sorry state. The main domestic competition, the Logan Cup was contested by 4 teams in 2003/04. These were Mashonaland, Matabeleland, Midlands and Manicaland. The Logan Cup is a 4-day competition. Each team plays the others in the league twice. The most successful batsmen in 2003/04 were Trevor Gripper and Stuart Carlisle who both averaged over 100 in 4 innings. The highest average for a player who played in all his team's matches was for Greg Strydom who averaged 61.9 with a high score of 216. The most successful bowler was Tatenda Taibu (yes, that Tatenda Taibu) with 20 wickets at 13.75. The final league positions in 2003/04 were as follows:

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Team          P W D L Points 
Mashonaland   6 3 1 2  78.0
Matabeleland  6 3 1 2  76.5
Midlands      6 3 1 2  74.0
Manicaland    6 1 1 4  50.5 


As this shows, it was a very close competition, the result coming down to bonus points.

The same 4 teams contested the Faithwear Clothing Inter-provincial One-day Competition. This was also won by Mashonaland. In this competition, you play the other 3 teams 3 times. The matches are restricted to 50 overs per side. The results were as follows:

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Team          P W D L Points 
Mashonaland   9 5 3 1   22
Midlands      9 3 4 2   16
Manicaland    9 4 4 1   14
Matabeleland  9 3 4 2   12 


EDIT: I Would also like to highlight the fact that it appears that in the current season, Namibia are competing in the Faithwear Clothing competition, as they just thumped champions Mashonaland by 101 runs thanks to an unbeaten 112 by Gerrie Snyman.

[Andy Mellon]

In the West Indies, one major domestic competition is run. This is contested between 6 West Indian entities. These are Barbados, the Windward Islands, Guyana, the Leeward Islands, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica.

This competition is a one 50 over innings per side affair with each bowler restricted to a maximum of 10 overs. Each team plays the others once in a league format with the top 4 teams after 5 games going through to contest semi finals.

This year, Barbados won the league format but were defeated by Trinidad in the semis. Guyana went on to beat the Windward Islands in the other semi, but were defeated by Trinidad in the final thanks to an undefeated partnership of 78 runs for the seventh wicket.

A cup competition is also run called the Carib Beer Cup (or whatever the current sponsor is). This was won in March 2004 by Barbados who were victorious against Jamaica in the final. The cup competition is a 4 innings, unrestricted overs competition with matches similar to an English County Championship match.

[Andy Mellon]

The South African domestic season has undergone some major transformations in the past few years. Significantly, the number of first class teams was reduced and consolidated into larger regions. This is a reform advocated in the UK as a way to overhaul the outdated first class system.

The main first class championship is the Super Sport series. This is fought between the 6 regions. The games take place over the course of 4 days and innings are not restricted by overs. It is at this level which you will find the main test players and those competing for a spot. This year's most consistent batter was Lance Klusener who scored 407 runs at 101.75. It should be no surprise that names like De Bruyn, van Jaarsfeld, Pollock , Dippenaar, Boje and Rudolph feature heavily as well as the occasional Zimbabwean (Neil Johnson). Best bowling (over ten wickets) was from Andrew Hall with 14 at 21.35. Look no further than the Super Sport series for the future of South Africa and the names for their A-Team. This year's championship table finished as follows:

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Team                    P W L T D  BAT  BOWL  PTS
Dolphins                5 3 0 0 2 18.92  14  62.92
Titans                  5 2 1 0 2 20.88  16  56.88
Eagles                  5 2 2 0 1 16.12  16  52.12
Western Province Boland 5 2 3 0 0 16.30  13  49.30
Lions                   5 2 1 0 2 11.54  14  45.54
Warriors                5 0 4 0 1 12.06  18  30.06 


Below this level is the first class UCB Provincial Cup. This is competed by the provinces. As such, there are a larger number of teams (11) which compete. The first stage of the cup is the group stage. This consists of 2 groups where each team plays the others once. The winner of these groups and the runners up go on to compete in a Semi Final and Final to decide who is the winner. This season's competition is still on going with Griqualand West remaining the only unbeaten team.

In terms of the one-day championships, once again there is a split between regional and provincial. The regional competition is the Standard Bank Cup. This is still on going with the Eagles leading the table with 3 wins out of 4. These games are limited to 45 overs per innings with the standard one day rules applying throughout.

Between the provinces, the UCB Provincial Shield is fought over annually and is split as in the UCB Provincial Cup with 2 leagues, semis and a final. The leading 4 day team, Griqualand West have so far lost both their one day games in the competition to date, showing that a different set of skills is required for the two types of cricket. North West, Free State and Gauteng are setting the early pace.

Finally, a new 20:20 style competition has been introduced for 04-05 to be competed by the regional teams. The Standard Bank Pro20 series starts on March 30th 2005 with the final a month later on April 27th. Following the success of 20:20 in the UK, the competition is eagerly awaited by the South African media and cricket fans alike.

[Andy Mellon]

Similarly to other test playing countries, Bangladesh has a domestic first-class competition as well as a domestic one-day competition. Both competitions are contested between six teams (Khulna, Sylhet, Dhaka, Barisal, Chittagong and Rajshahi) over a period beginning from the start of December until the beginning of March. The competing parties are called 'Divisions'. The first-class matches are competed over the course of 4 days. It is known for foreigners to play in the Bangladeshi championship and some high profile Pakistan players in particular have taken part.

For example, Abdur Razzaq turned out for Khulna last year and in a memorable match against Sylhet, he took 7-11 in Sylhet's 1st Innings followed by 3-51 in the second in a victory for Khulna.

A quick look at the bowling averages for the 1st class competition shows that Bangladesh are struggling to produce batsmen. No less than 10 players took more than 10 wickets at less than 20. Khaled Mahmud taking 14 at 11.14 and Saifullah Khan taking 63 at 16.33. In contrast, only 2 batsmen averaged over 50 who batted more than 6 times.

The one day competition is contested between the same teams (or divisions) over the same period of the year. The matches contested are 50-over affairs using the standard one-day game rules.

See this link BD lowest test score better than all the rest. for some further details written by bdmoderator

[Andy Mellon]

In Australia, 3 main domestic competitions are run. These are the Pura Cup (first class competition), ING Cup (1-day competion) and the Cricket Australia Cup (a competition involving the main states' 2nd XIs plus an Australian Capital Territory team (based in Canberra)

The main competitors in these competitions are the 6 main state sides - Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

The fixtures for these competitions run from October to March. The Pura Cup is a normal first-class competition where the games are run over the course of four days with no over restrictions. With the championship currently in mid-season, Queensland lead the way from New South Wales with a commanding lead of 6 points after 4 games putting Queensland close to securing the championship.

In the ING Cup, Queensland again lead the way but only by a single point from Tasmania. Both teams have won all 4 games with Queensland ahead purely on more bonus points secured. These games are based on 50 overs per side per innings.

Finally, the Cricket Australia Cup is based on the Pura Cup format with the matches taking place over a period of 4 days. As mentioned, this is contested between the states respective 2nd XIs (or Academy teams) plus a team from the Australian Capital Territory. In some games, it is common to field 12 players, but only 11 are allowed to bat or field. With only 2 matches into this years CAC schedule, 4 teams are equal top on 8 points with Tasmania, WA and ACT bottom on nil. Tasmania and ACT have played only 1 game a piece.

Thanks to Beny for the following additional information about Australian Domestic Cricket:

1. In Televised ING cup games, signs are strategically placed around the ground. Any player who hits the sign on the full is rewarded with $50,000 from ING. Also anybody in the crowd who catches a six recives $100 unless the player who hit the ball is the selected 'trump' player in which case the person who catches the ball gets $500.

2. Cricket Australia set a salary cap of $90,000 per individual and a certain amount per team. Usually only one player in a team receives that $90,000.

3. The Pura cup and ING cup are generaly considered the more important than the CAC. A good analogy would be to compare the Pura and ING to The premier League and the FA Cup. The CAC is generally not as important and is more used to enable the weaker teams to have a go (compare to the English League cup)

[Maranello]

Introduction
The first-class cricket set-up in Pakistan is an organisational mess. No other country has organisations, public institutions and banks etc playing in the main domestic competitions. This adversely impacts public interest in the competitions - no one really cares whether Pakistan International Airlines beat Pakistan Customs or vice versa.

In addition, the various competitions have undergone many changes over recent years, with a new structure being introduced in the current (2004/05) season too. I will try and explain the current structure as simply as I can, and will not make any comparisons to how things were previously.

Competitions

1. Quaid-e-Azam Trophy
This is the main first-class league tournament, where teams from the various regions of the country participate in four day matches. Eleven teams participate in this, with each team playing the others once, hence a total of ten matches per team. At the end of the tournament, the top two teams play a Final.

The latest points table for 2004/05 can be seen here

The champions last year were Faisalabad. Peshawar, the current year leaders, are led by Test discard Wajahatllah Wasti (6 Tests, 329 runs, avg: 37), and has young fast bowling hopefuls Waqar Ahmed (in WAT A team), Riaz Afridi (recent Test debutant) and Fazl-e-Akbar (Test discard), as well as former Test off-spinner Arshad Khan.

2. PCB Patrons’ Trophy
This is where departmental teams play each other, ie nationalized institutions, banks and public bodies, in four day first-class matches.

The 2004/05 tournament will commence in Feb 2005, after the Q-A trophy has concluded.

Last year, the teams were divided into two pools; Pool A had seven teams (one ‘guest’ member was Bangladesh A), whilst Pool B had six teams. Each team played the other once, with the winner of each pool contesting a final.

During the 2003/04 tournament, the final Pool A ranking were as follows: Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), Pakistan Customs, Bangladesh A, Defence Housing Authority (DHA).

The Pool B rankings were: Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, Allied Bank Limited, National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Limited, Karachi Port Trust and Sui Gas Corporation of Pakistan.

The final was thus between WAPDA (the national electricity company) and Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, and was won by the Bank. The Bank’s team was led by new ODI debutant Rao Iftikhar Anjum, a medium pacer, and included Test regular Abdur Razzaq.

3. One-day competitions
The teams participating in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy also participate in the Quaid-e-Azam Cup, a one-day competition. Simply, the teams in the Patrons’ Trophy also play in the Patrons’ Cup, a one-day competition.

Summary
The two main competitions are interlayed with each other, so all players play for a regional team (eg Karachi Whites) in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for the three months of the season, and then for a departmental team in the next tournament (Patrons' Trophy) for the other 3-4 months.

Verdict
This first-class set-up clearly does not encourage crowd participation, and does not get much at all, especially in the Patrons’ Trophy. It also does not encourage teaming when everyone plays for two different teams, with two different sets of team-mates, each season.

Some historical perspective
This bizarre set-up exists because historically people did not watch domestic cricket, and no one would buy its TV rights. So there were not enough funds in domestic cricket for it to sustain itself and the players on a professional basis. Many decades ago, the way around this was to get all the players in domestic cricket employed by nationalised organisations, eg the Banks, the State Utility companies, the PIA (airlines) etc. This way, the players were employed, received monthly salaries dependent on their grade in the public organisation, and thus had a secure income and could play cricket full-time for six months. The other six months they had various jobs in the nationalised organisations, often to promote or manage sport.

Current changes
Now, in the multi-channel world, TV and sponsorship money is being invested into the domestic game. PCB is actively marketing the Quaid-e-Azam trophy, the regional based tournament, and has secured a lucrative TV deal with Ten Sports as well as a sponsorship deal with ABN AMRO, the Dutch bank.

The way forward
Pakistan's domestic set-up is definitely the weakest in all the countries. There are some things that can and should be changed in the short-term.

Mismanagement is rife in PCB; most of it is not wilful corruption, but more along the lines of political infighting, jockeying for position and lack of professional nous. Though admittedly, Pakistan is by no means alone in this and is probably better off than the Indian board. In my view, simply sorting out this mismanagement and politics, which does not require a lot of money, only the political and managerial will, will reap dividends.

The current PCB Chairman, Shehryar Khan, a former top diplomat, has taken some very encouraging steps. A recent interview with Khan can be read here. He does say some very encouraging and sensible things about the domestic cricket structure, the role of the “departments”, the future of the regional teams, and so on, and I would recommend the interview for anyone keen to acquaint themselves with the future direction of Pakistan cricket.

Club cricket
There is a vibrant, informal and ad-hoc club cricket network in Pakistan. It is not a system, but a loose, un-coordinated network. Generally, there are no professional coaches, no official funds, but club cricket exists at all levels, played everywhere, in grounds and stadia, but also on the streets, in fields, in backyards, in garages, and in people's houses.

Stop Press (From Andy Mellon)

As of April 2005, Pakistan have introduced a 20:20 style competition to help introduce some interest amongst the populace in the domestic competitions. The competition was hit by controversy when Shoaib Malik effectively threw a match in protest against a prior match result. The teams competing were:

Karachi Dolphins
Lahore Eagles
Faisalabad Wolves
Peshawar Panthers
Sialkot Stallions
Rawalpindi Rams
Hyderabad Hawks
Multan Tigers
Quetta Bears
Lahore Lions
Karachi Zebras

[Andy Mellon]

Similarly to the Pakistani domestic structure, the Indian structure seems to be in a constant state of flux.

In 2002-3, the main first class competition, the Ranji trophy underwent a major overhaul with it being split into two divisions. These were titled the Elite and Plate groups. Promotion/relegation between the two would see the bottom two Elite teams replaced with the top two Plate teams.

In addition, the Duleep trophy which had previously been fought between Zonal teams was restructured to be contested between 3 Elite and 2 Plate teams.

The only competition remaining on the old Zonal basis was the one-day competition, the Deodhar Trophy.

In contrast to the popularity of international cricket, Domestic Indian cricket is very much a poor relation. Even at the final of the Ranji Trophy in Mumbai, the stands were all but empty.

In 2002/3, the Ranji Trophy was won by Mumbai who defeated Tamil Nadu in their 39th final. This was Mumbai’s 35th Ranji Trophy victory. The top wicket taker in the Ranji format was Madhya Pradesh’s former test leg spinner Narendra Hirwani. Karnataka won the Plate competition to regain their place at the domestic top table.

The Duleep Trophy was a disaster. With imaginatively titled teams such as ‘Elite Group C’, it was very difficult to get fans interested. Even though the Duleep is considered a step towards national selection, it did not count for much as some of India’s main players dropped out for international duty.

An additional first class match played in India is the Irani Cup (not named after the Essex and England cricketer) which pits the winner of the last season’s Ranji Trophy against the Rest of India. The winners of the Ranji in 2001/2 were Railways (akin to Derbyshire in their unfashionability) who defeated the Rest of India by 5 wickets in the Irani Cup

[Andy Mellon]

Firstly, there are a lot of different competitions in Sri Lanka.

These are as follows:

(i) Provincial Tournament
(ii) Premier League
(iii) Premier Limited Over Tournament
(iv) Twenty20

Similarly to the old Indian system, the Provincial Tournament is a first class competition nestling between the major domestic championship and international level. Within this, 5 teams compete in 4 day first class matches. They play one game against each other with the top two teams in a league competing against each other in a final. Looking through the provincial squads is like looking at a Who's Who of Sri Lankan cricket with virtually every name having played test cricket for them at some point.

The premier league is the main first class competition. This is competed by the cricket clubs and takes the form of 2 leagues of 8 teams with the top 2 teams from each competing in semi finals and a final. The results of the current year leagues were as follows.

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Group 'A'
Teams                   P W L FW FL FT MT NR   BA  BO   POINTS 
Colombo Cricket Club    7 - 1 5  -  -  -  1  12.11  8.1 60.21 
Burgher Recreation Club 7 2 - -  3  -  -  2  10.985 11  45.985 
Galle Cricket Club      7 - - 3  2  -  -  2  10.585 8.4 42.985 
Panadura Sports Club    7 - - 3  2  -  -  2  9.15   7.3 40.45 
Tamil Union C & AC      7 - - 3  1  -  -  3  7.67   7.3 38.97 
Ragama Cricket Club     7 1 1 -  3  -  -  2  9.01   9.3 38.31 
Bloomfield C & AC       7 1 - 1  2  -  -  3  8.465  6.5 34.965 
Police Sports Club      7 - 2 -  4  -  -  1  9.985  6.9 16.885  
Group 'B' 
Teams                   P W L FW FL FT MT NR   BA  BO   POINTS 
Sinhalese Sports Club   7 1 - 4  -  -  -  3  10.44 7.1  61.54 
Colts Cricket Club      7 1 - 3  1  -  -  2  9.625 9.1  54.725 
Moors Sports Club       7 - - 3  1  -  -  3  9.52  5.9  39.42 
Chilaw Marians CC       7 1 1 1  1  -  -  3  10.58 8.1  38.68  
Nondescripts CC         7 - - 3  1  -  -  3  7.38  7.1  38.48 
Sebastianites C & AC    7 1 - -  3  -  -  3  10.9  7.8  30.7 
Air Force Sports Club   7 - 2 1  4  -  -  -  9.43  6.8  24.23 
Kurunegala Youth CC     7 - 1 -  4  -  -  2  7.45  7.8  15.25 
(NB FW= First innings won; FL = First innings lost; MT = Match tied) 


The final is being contested by Sinhalese and Colts on the 10th to 12th of December. As these games are a level below provincial competition, the games take place over the course of 3 days. Points are awarded for leading after the first innings.

The one-day competition is played by the same teams over the course of 50 overs under normal list A one-day competition rules.

In addition, from August to September this year, a knockout Twenty:20 cup was contested. The final took place on the 3rd of September and was won by Chilaw Marians who scored an amazing 227-6 off 20 overs with Gajanayake scoring 76 off 40 balls. In reply, Colts could only muster a paltry 124. Wickramasinghe scoring 42 off 25 balls.