Following the announcement of Essex’s 2024 fixtures, a number of changes in Regulations and Playing Conditions have been approved for next summer.
The changes have been made following recommendations from the Cricket Advisory Group, which includes current men’s and women’s Directors of Cricket, and players from the men’s county and women’s regional teams.
Representatives from the Professional Cricketers’ Association, Head Grounds Managers, and officials also make up the CAG.
The CAG forms its recommendations following discussion and analysis of domestic cricket, which are then sent to the ECB’s Professional Game Committee to be considered for approval.
County Championship will return to awarding eight points for a drawn match
A drawn match in the 2024 County Championship will be rewarded with eight points for each county, which is an increase from the five awarded last season.
The CAG debated whether last season’s change to five points for a draw, allied to the change in batting bonus points, had achieved what it set out to do, which was to encourage teams to bat long yet still incentivise a win.
It was felt that the two changes had perhaps worked against one another and therefore the draw points should return to eight, but that batting points remain the same (250-450 run range), which would still incentivise the preparation of good pitches.
Kookaburra ball use expanded to four County Championship matches
Following the two-round trial of the Kookaburra ball in the County Championship last season, the PGC approved a recommendation to increase the use of the Kookaburra to four rounds next summer.
The specific rounds in which the Kookaburra ball will be used are still to be determined, but the ECB have confirmed that the matches will happen in two separate consecutive rounds of two matches each.
The first two rounds are set to occur in the early part of the season (April-May) when all 18 counties are playing.
The second two rounds are set to be staged in the latter part of the season (August-September), again when all 18 counties are playing, but will not be staged in the final two rounds.
2024 will provide more opportunity to assess and interrogate data collected for use of the Kookaburra ball in the County Championship, and how that affects performance and other skills – such as reverse swing and spin – in domestic four-day cricket in England and Wales.
The optional use of hybrid pitches in the County Championship on a one-year trial
The use of hybrid pitches will be permitted in the County Championship next season as part of a one-year trial.
The use of hybrid pitches has, until now, been limited to white-ball cricket, though the one-year trial will assess the value of using hybrid pitches in multi-day cricket, with counties having the option whether to use hybrid pitches or not through the season.
Removal of ‘bowl-outs’ to determine the winner of a white-ball final should a match not be constituted
In men’s and women’s white-ball competitions – namely, the Vitality Blast, Charlotte Edwards Cup, Metro Bank One-Day Cup and Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy – if a final cannot be constituted then the trophy will be shared rather than a ‘bowl-out’ being used to decide a winner.
Each white-ball knockout match will continue to have a reserve day in place to mitigate against a match not being constituted, with the CAG determining that a ‘bowl-out’ was an unsatisfactory way to determine the winner of a final.
