page revision date: 17th August 2008
Are there too many draws in local cricket?
The draw factor in Pembrokeshire Cricket has been discussed for many years, with traditionalists saying that there is a place for a draw and the radicals suggesting that it is stifling the game and so fewer people watch league cricket and only go to limited overs matches.
Those who favour the former view say that it is up to the team bowling second to bowl the opposition out whilst those who want a win-only situation say that the team batting second should try harder to beat the tally set and if they don’t then they don’t deserve to have points allocated as a reward since both teams have the same number of overs to seal a victory.
This column comes down somewhere near the middle in that we see the value of a close draw but are convinced that clubs in the county should be looking for a change because at the moment a team cam pick up a batting bonus point for coming within 70 runs of the opposition and scaled upwards in units of ten runs so that a full five batting bonus points are the reward for getting within 30 runs from the same number of overs.
Draws in other sports
The traditionalists argue that there are draws in other sports like rugby and football but conveniently forget that the draw there is for matching their rival’s score, not falling way behind. Imagine a rugby team getting a draw if they finished 30 points behind the other team, or losing 5-1 in football because they managed to score a goal?
In the limited-over games played in Pembrokeshire now, the majority of good skippers who win the toss will win the toss, bat first and set a challenging total and then put real pressure on the opposition because there is no draw and so they have to give chase or lose. Imagine a captain in Division One batting first – the other team would be astonished!
I would like to see a compromise where a team is rewarded for getting within 40 runs and not losing but any other scoreline where the margin is greater would be considered a win. Then we won’t have the crazy situation where the leading team in the top echelon won’t have only four wins from ten matches played yet still be 27 points ahead of the chasing pack!
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