The 2024 domestic schedule has 15 County Championship fixture slots instead of 16, with every side set to have a rest from action through rounds four, five or six.
With a busy international summer – which includes the men’s T20 World Cup hosted by the West Indies and the United States in June – the ECB has tried to limit the impact of another packed fixture list for counties across all competitions.
Vitality Blast matches will be staged almost entirely on Thursday nights, Friday nights and weekends, running from the end of May to mid-July.
The Charlotte Edwards Cup Finals Day will be at Derbyshire’s County Ground on June 22, while the knockout phase of the Vitality Blast is set for a ‘Super September’ which will see the remaining five trophies – across men’s county, regional women’s and disability competitions – all be decided.
Fordham accepts the ECB’s hand was forced somewhat in the schedule jigsaw, which sees the Hundred window moved slightly earlier to start at the end of July, while all the men’s bilateral international cricket has to take place after the T20 World Cup.
Fordham, though, feels the compromises will play out to be worthwhile when the new season starts on April 5, with Surrey opening the defence of their County Championship title away to Lancashire
“We are able to schedule these competitions reasonably satisfactorily, but we would all always like to do it better from a performance point of view and provide more distance between red and white-ball transitions if that is at all possible,” Fordham said.
“One thing we have done this year, and I think for the first time, which is a consequence of getting by with 15 rather than 16 slots, is ensuring that between Championship rounds there is always a three-day break.
“Normally you would expect one game to be home and one away so there is often added travel between games, so a three-day break between four-day games is really quite important.
“We have been able to achieve that in 2024. That is not something we have been able to achieve in every previous season, so again, there is a bit of give and take.
“I am confident the schedule is the best output that we can possibly have, but there are always priorities to be made and compromises to be made.”
Of the 126 Blast group-stage fixtures, 122 will be played over the most commercially appealing Thursday to Sunday slots.
ECB’s county cricket managing director Neil Snowball is confident the 2024 schedule strikes the right balance for all parties.
“Because we have got the longer (Blast) group stage, we can actually just have those two blocks with the one transition (between competitions) of rounds nine and 10, whereas previously we have sometimes flipped between them,” Snowball said.
“That was one of the things that they really didn’t like from a player welfare point of view, so I think that is a positive.
“It is always balancing the commercial with the welfare, but certainly, there was a lot of good feedback from the PCA (Professional Cricketers’ Association).”
The 24-year-old Joseph, who signed with Worcestershire, for the first seven games of the 2021 County Championship season, has had a fairly solid debut spell so far.
In four games, Joseph has scored 128 runs, with a high score of 61, as a lower-order batsman, and taken 10 wickets. According to the player, things have, however, not been easy as conditions are very different to the Caribbean.
“I wouldn’t say it’s been the best or that I am extremely satisfied, but it’s improving as I go along. It’s a lot different to the Caribbean, it’s different conditions in terms of different grounds, different types of surfaces, and different types of players, so it’s also about adjusting to everything at once. It’s helping me to improve as a player in terms of adjusting to situations a bit quicker,” Alzarri told the Antigua Observer.
“Some days you turn up and it’s like three degrees and very cold in the mornings and then it goes from three to 12 degrees, to 15 and then back down to three. So, it’s just really difficult sometimes, but it’s all part of the job. All part of the learning experience,” he added.
Joseph signed up with the league last month, following the West Indies series against Sri Lanka.
Over the past several months, the bowler has made the headlines for positing solid totals at the crease, as much as if not more than multiple wicket hauls.
Against New Zealand, in December of last year, Joseph recorded his highest total of 86, which was his maiden half-century. The Antiguan then went on to add another after scoring 82 in February this year against Bangladesh.
Fast forward a few months later and the player has taken his form with the bat to a debut season of English County cricket for Worcestershire. With best scores of 46 and 61, Joseph has shown plenty of ability to be handy with the bat when the team needs it. In four matches to date, Joseph has scored 128 runs and claimed 10 wickets.
“Whatever I could contribute to the team I am happy to do, so it’s good that I have been getting a few scores but for me, I think it’s also about being consistent doing it,” Joseph told the Antigua Observer.
“I have always enjoyed batting but it was just down to me being a bit more focused on it so I think for me it’s just about staying focused, being consistent in any aspect of the game.”
At the end of the first day, Joseph remained unbeaten on 46 from 81 balls and sharing in an eighth-wicket stand worth 89 runs with Ed Barnard. The partnership took Worcestershire to 305 for 7, after looking in some trouble at 216 for 7 earlier on.
The total marks Joseph’s second 40+runs innings of the young season, having opened up with 46 from 55 against Derbyshire last week. On that occasion, the bowler also chipped in with 3 wickets drawing commendation from Worcestershire coach, Alex Gidman, who praised the player's mentality.
When play resumes Joseph could be looking for his first half-century in the competition, having signed a seven-game deal with Worcestershire for the first part of the season a few weeks ago.
The 24-year-old has taken 37 wickets from 15 Tests and shown plenty of ability with the bat of late, scoring half-centuries on successive Test tours of New Zealand and Bangladesh.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, West Indies scored 230 all out from their 50 overs thanks to Nandu, who was the top scorer with 80 from 120 balls faced. He struck nine fours. He lost his opening partner Anderson Amurdan, who failed to score and then Teddy Bishop for 12 as the West Indies got off to a poor start at 25-2.
However, Nandu and Ackeem Auguste mounted a recovery with a stand of 78 before the latter was dismissed by Rehan Ahmed for 25.
The loss of two additional wickets – Justin Beckford and Giovonte Depeiza - for just four runs saw the West Indies slip from 103-2 to 107-5 and in danger of collapsing. However, Nandu and Carlon Bowen-Tuckett staged another recovery with a 55-run sixth-wicket partnership that was broken when he was dismissed by Sonny Baker.
Tuckett and Johan Layne (16) put on 25 for the seventh wicket and then 19 more with Isai Thorne (6) before being ninth out for a well-played 48 from 94 balls faced.
Baker finished with 4-41 and Ahmed 3-30. Nathan Bramwell took 2-37.
Needing 231 for a fifth victory in the series, England Young Lions enjoyed a solid start between George Thomas and James Rew. The pair had put on 52 when Nandu bowled Rew for 28. At 64-1, Singh dismissed Alex Horton for 10 and then 27 runs later had Thomas stumped for 38 as England reached 91 for 3 in the 20th over.
England slipped further to 105-5 as Layne dismissed Daniel Ibrahim for 6 and Singh picked up his third wicket when he removed James Coles for 9.
However, Ahmed’s obdurate unbeaten 68 kept England in the hunt but they kept losing wickets at the other end as Nandu dismissed Thomas Aspinwall for 1 and Singh removed Fateh Singh for 13 as England reached 165-8 in over number 38.
Andel Gordon dismissed Barnwell for 1 and then ran out Baker for 3 as the West Indies closed out the match with their pride intact.
Singh returned figures of 4-51 while Nando had figures of 2-35.
An independent Cricket Discipline Commission panel found five individuals – John Blain, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard and Richard Pyrah – had used the term “P***” about former Yorkshire team-mate Azeem Rafiq or other people of Asian ethnicity when it issued its decision in the case on March 31.
A sixth individual – Gary Ballance – had already admitted using racist and/or discriminatory language and is expected to be sanctioned at the same hearing on Wednesday.
The panel will consider any written submissions or verbal representations from or on behalf of the six before deciding on any sanctions, but the PA news agency understands a written submission had only been received on behalf of Ballance as of Tuesday afternoon.
The other five individuals had withdrawn from the proceedings and did not appear at a liability hearing held in early March, with the charges against them heard in their absence.
Among the panel’s sanctioning powers are the imposition of suspensions and fines, and ordering an education or training course be completed.
The CDC panel cleared former England captain Michael Vaughan of using racist and/or discriminatory language.
Yorkshire admitted four charges in the case, which stemmed primarily from allegations made by Rafiq and the club’s handling of the claims.
A separate hearing will deal with the sanctions the club will face on June 27.
Former England international Hoggard was found to have used the term “P***” towards Rafiq and other Asian players during the 2008 season, and the term “Rafa the Kaffir” towards Rafiq.
It also found he had used the term “token black man” or “TBM” towards former Yorkshire team-mate Ismail Dawood, and dismissed Hoggard’s assertion that Dawood had created the nickname himself.
Gale, a former Yorkshire captain and head coach, was also found to have used the term “Rafa the Kaffir” towards Rafiq and the term “P***” towards Rafiq and Yorkshire academy player Mosun Hussain.
Blain was found to have used the term “P***” in 2010 and/or 2011 while at Yorkshire, while Bresnan and Pyrah were found to have used the term “fit P***” or “FP” about Asian women.
