ECB to do an 'India'

Taking test cricket around the 9 venues and Lords to only get 1 test every 2 years? WTF?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/7779109.stm

I know Lords is a bit stuffy, but WTF? It is the spiritual home of cricket after all....

>> It is the spiritual home of cricket after all....

belated realization that it's the wrong kind of spirit ??


narrow-minded, snobby, non-inclusive, cold ...

The ground rather than the old farts, Bucky boy.

which are the 9 grounds?

Lords
Oval
Trent Bridge
Edgbaston
Old Trafford
Headingley
Chester-Le-Street
Cardiff
The Rose Bowl

cheers jkl. i dont think we have played tests at the last 3 grounds

I'm sure there's a noble principle there at heart but England aren't going to benefit one bit from playing in Wales or at the Rose Bowl. In the former's case- let's just face it Wales isn't a cricketing entity (apart from when Simon Jones emerges fleetingly from his injury cycle). You're just not going get thousands of self-respecting welshmen to turn up and cheer on England plus it rains there even more than the rest of the country and the capacity's half that of he London grounds. Just cut Wales adrift I say, it's rugby country.

And the Rose bowl is in an area of low population density and is a bugger to get to if you're anyone but Jay Dello. It's all about Welsh assembly and Mr Bransgrove's money talking not about giving everyone a fair chance of watching England.

Surely it's all talk... still given our record at HQ the above hardly comes into the equation.

I have you know Eric, that I am a huge fan of Cricket and I go to cricket matches not to bash the English but to support them and enjoy the sport they play.

Personally, putting it as a first Test for an Ashes Series is a very risky business especially if it rains. I am very excited about the prospect of Cardiff getting Test Cricket, but looking at the Broader Picture, I'm scared it will isolate fans. Nevertheless, it will be worth the try so overall I am pleased.

Cutting ties with Cardiff altogether would be a poor move, personally it should be a regular ODI venue to begin with and eventually build up to being a decent test venue over the next two or three years.

People do often wonder, especially English people, why I enjoy an ENGLISH Sport so much. The only answer I can give is that it is a fascinating tactical sport and in comparison to Football, its alot better.

Troglodyte Gardens and Chester-Le-Shit aren't worthy of Test Cricket.

Eric Air Emu wrote:
And the Rose bowl is in an area of low population density and is a bugger to get to if you're anyone but Jay Dello. It's all about Welsh assembly and Mr Bransgrove's money talking not about giving everyone a fair chance of watching England.

Pfft. Chester-le-street isn't the easiest to get to if you live in Devon. Or Spain.

At least the Rose Bowl is a nice ground. It's pretty - and about to be made prettier still:

The Rose Bowl is small and pretty but that's as far as it goes.
It's an arsehole of a place to leave after a days play (bottom left of your picture is where 6 to 7000 people conga queue for five double decker busses to ferry ferry them 5 miles to the nearest Park N Drive - 10 acres of farmland - or the Station).
Moreso, the ground permanently stinks of rancid shit on a warm day from the stagnent Portaloos that are littered around the ground.

A Test Venue?
You must be farking joking.

Dello wrote:

Eric Air Emu wrote:
And the Rose bowl is in an area of low population density and is a bugger to get to if you're anyone but Jay Dello. It's all about Welsh assembly and Mr Bransgrove's money talking not about giving everyone a fair chance of watching England.

Pfft. Chester-le-street isn't the easiest to get to if you live in Devon. Or Spain.

At least the Rose Bowl is a nice ground. It's pretty - and about to be made prettier still:

Not been to Chester-le-Street but like the Rose Bowl it's in the middle of rolling countryside isn't it?



I assume they have the same problems with access there. The toilet problem needs sorting though if the Rose Bowl wants to consolidate itself as a test ground.

Dello wrote:

Eric Air Emu wrote:
And the Rose bowl is in an area of low population density and is a bugger to get to if you're anyone but Jay Dello. It's all about Welsh assembly and Mr Bransgrove's money talking not about giving everyone a fair chance of watching England.

Pfft. Chester-le-street isn't the easiest to get to if you live in Devon. Or Spain.

At least the Rose Bowl is a nice ground. It's pretty - and about to be made prettier still:

Whereabouts is the Rose Bowl? I know a couple of people at uni in Southampton so I know the place quite well, but I've never seen it or signs to it. I have considered going to watch Hampshire on a couple of occasions... Not really MY county as such, but one of my preferred ones.

Oh, and I like the mini-M25 around the edge...

From the Hampshire website :

From the North: M3 southbound to junction 14, follow signs for M27 eastbound (Fareham and Portsmouth). At junction 7 of M27, filter left onto Charles Watts Way (A334) and from there follow the brown road signs to The Rose Bowl.

Errr ... but don't even try .... !
There's no parking anywhere near the ground (all residential and coned off) and as I said, the nearest Park N Drive is in a field 5 miles away - serviced by 5 double decker busses each carrying 30 passengers!!
If you arrive late you're farked ... you end up parking at the far end of the field - and on your return (in the dark, field unlit) you have to navigate through 5,000 cars to find yours before then joining a queue to the exit - 12 lanes leading into ONE exit gate !!! If it's been raining, you'll need a 4 wheel drive to get yerself out!!

I've witnessed irate drivers leaving their engines running whilst charging almost 100 yards to remonstrate with queue jumpers ... there's a murder in the making there!!!

Never again for me ...

You were that guy stuck at the back of the queue weren't you Merlin?

C'mon now fess up.

"Never again for me" - that's a result.

It's in the middle of nowhere in relation to the city, but it's easy to find once you get on the M27.

Multimap

And, addressing Merlin's complaints about access - which is pretty shoddy at the moment - and places where he can meet other men and get unnaturally intimate the toilets, the redevelopment includes:

Improved spectator facilities will be integral to both the Hotel development and new stands providing the highest quality, permanent catering, toilet and merchandising units. Purpose built facilities for disabled spectators and their carers will be incorporated in to the new stands development.

...

Following significant improvements over the last two years including a new emergency services route and a dedicated pedestrian exit, visitors have experienced a greatly improved access to, and egress from The Rose Bowl.
The new development proposal includes a further vehicular route that has the potential to further reduce the traffic impact on the local community.

http://www.rosebowlplc.com/pages/new-developments/

And: http://news.bbc.co.uk/solpda/ukfs_sport/hi/newsid_7132000/7132099.stm

It's a work in progress, of course, but moving in the right direction.

Dello wrote:

Eric Air Emu wrote:
And the Rose bowl is in an area of low population density and is a bugger to get to if you're anyone but Jay Dello. It's all about Welsh assembly and Mr Bransgrove's money talking not about giving everyone a fair chance of watching England.

Pfft. Chester-le-street isn't the easiest to get to if you live in Devon. Or Spain.

At least the Rose Bowl is a nice ground. It's pretty - and about to be made prettier still:

Unless my eyes deceive me that's a computer graffic.

[quote="Dello"]

Eric Air Emu wrote:

wow that looks like North Carolina

[quote="PlanetPakistan"]

Dello wrote:

Eric Air Emu wrote:

wow that looks like North Carolina

Looks like the bit of Tracey Island where Thunderbird 3 launches from.

Eric Air Emu wrote:

Dello wrote:

Eric Air Emu wrote:
And the Rose bowl is in an area of low population density and is a bugger to get to if you're anyone but Jay Dello. It's all about Welsh assembly and Mr Bransgrove's money talking not about giving everyone a fair chance of watching England.

Pfft. Chester-le-street isn't the easiest to get to if you live in Devon. Or Spain.

At least the Rose Bowl is a nice ground. It's pretty - and about to be made prettier still:

Unless my eyes deceive me that's a computer graffic.

No it isn't. And to prove it, I've just taken a picture of myself standing on the outfield.



Case closed.

The real thing...


Are the 4 roofs in that computer graphic there yet or is that future plans?

It's a lovely setting but whoever planned the ground access obviously needs firing.

They're on the way...

http://www.rosebowlplc.com/pages/new-developments/

whats the capacity of each ground? and will the grounds get matches strictly on rotation or will the bigger grounds get the bigger matches?