Time for Somerset to be cast into minor counties?

[Oliver]

Perhaps instead, along with the innovation of "going upstairs" for the odd decision in televised matches, the powers-that-be should also experiment with restricting technological bat design "enhancements" to make the contest fairer between bat and ball.

I know, I know, people go to grounds to see runs scored, but really when there is no contest on a small ground, as we have witnessed time and again in this rather dull World Cup, surely making a big bat a heavy bat, and a small bat a light bat, and then perhaps just banning anything as big as three pounds... would give the seamers a bit of a chance as well as the guys who rip it so astonishingly through their interesting actions.

Really I watched those "doosras" against New Zealand the other day, and if that isn't a [can't possibly say that word for fear of being banned from this site, hung drawn and quartered, sued and admonished within an inch of my life] then I'm a Dutchman.

Regards to all,

Oliver van Hoogenstraten.

[Occasional Fan]

Originally Posted by Rachael

Well, Somerset have been serial offenders for so many years ...

I know the point you are making - and I sympathise with it - but isn't the real problem here that no offence has been committed? (I like the Trade Descriptions Act point as well, but I think it will have to be you bringing a private prosecution somehow.) Can they really be punished for doing something which is not outside the law?

[Rachael]

Northants were docked points for having the temerity to produce a pitch that actually allowed spinners to get some turn the other year... so pitch inspectors seem to be able to deem playing surfaces unfit for cricket even when they are ideal for cricket. Given a pitch that was (by all accounts) more like a road than a cricket pitch.... one would have thought the scope for action was adequate.

Sadly, the myopic ***** at the ECB seem to think any tin-pot batsman ought to be able to score runs (even if he has no clue against the turning ball)... but have no problem if extremely competent bowlers are presented with no chance whatsoever.

Someday, someone should point out to the bean-counters that bowling (at least spin and swing bowling) is by some margin the most interesting part of the game

[Collyisamackem]

Hear hear Rach, one of the most thrilling sights in the game for me is when a spinner is ripping it and causing the batsman to really have to think about his shots, and the genuine contest that follows. A recent example was Panesar vs India - a genuinely talented spinner getting turn and bounce against a series of quality batsmen, some of whom took him on and succeeded and some of whom fell foul of his craft and guile. A non-turning, non-bouncing road that offers nothing to the bowler - like we saw in Pakistan in 2005 or at Taunton, is boring and takes the joy of watching a real contest away.

I'm not saying that we should make all our pitches into bunsens, but we need to redress the balance between a surface that favours the batsmen and something which is more even. As well as putting the boundaries back and keeping a close eye on bat manufacture, that is.

[flanflinger]

As pointed out already, and this is where I stand on this one, if you produce a pitch that makes a draw the most likely outcome, then the team that gets punished is the one that plays on it most.

The problem is also that when the batsmen then play away, and play on pitches that do give the bowler something, and they are used to not having to work then they are more likely to struggle when the travel.

I don't think dropping them from the County Championship is the correct idea - (particularly as they are the only team from that part of the country - Cornwall, Devon and Dorset are all minor counties) but as they say time will show the wiser, and having a pitch that benefits nobody will mean that Somerset will be the biggest losers.

[Occasional Fan]

I'd forgotten the Northants incident. Good - so there are teeth in the system. Let's use 'em!