General Cricket Discussion

I think it's just because most people only tune in to watch their national teams, so it allows you to only see coverage of one series/match.

Honestly, I also preferred the previous layout. But I can see why they've changed.
I never fully understood their reasoning behind changing the orignal UI. Some pages (like statsguru) still have the old UI and it looked far better
 
I never fully understood their reasoning behind changing the orignal UI. Some pages (like statsguru) still have the old UI and it looked far better
I disagree, i like the new one.
 
Poor Mongolia — they're in the only Asian Games group with 2 teams. Win their only game, and they're through to QFs.

Only problem is, they've never played cricket before and their opponent is Afghanistan
It has been changed now: Bahrain have pulled out, Afghanistan given direct QF entry, Mongolia move to another group.

Group A: Mongolia, Maldives, Nepal
Group B: Cambodia, Hong Kong China, Japan
Group C: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand
Quarter-finals (direct entry): India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan

So SL vs Afg QF is a lock-in, while the other 3 teams will play group qualifiers.

Looking like Nepal, Hong Kong and Malaysia to qualify, although Japan and Singapore could pose a challenge.
 
Watching Bangladesh play cricket must be so sad! They have been playing ODI since 1986, and honestly haven't ever shaken up the game.

It's not like they have the financial instability of something like a WICB, or the political instability of Pakistan, or the lack of infrastructure like the likes of Afghanistan. Yet they have never really been an exceptional side nor a revolutionary side with batting, bowling, or fielding. Got white washed at home against NZ without putting up any sort of fight.
 

Why has the format been tweaked? The 4 group round robin followed by the Quarter-Semi & Grand Finale was perhaps the most exciting one. This current one is simply atrocious.
 

Why has the format been tweaked? The 4 group round robin followed by the Quarter-Semi & Grand Finale was perhaps the most exciting one. This current one is simply atrocious.
My guess is they expect to make more money due to interest in India under 19s. So want more matches.
 
The old format at the U19 World Cup guaranteed 6 matches for every team, regardless of what round they got in. This new format doesn't do that. The teams finishing lower will get fewer games in total. U19 World Cup should be about giving match exposure to young players, and not commercializing the tournament.
 
 
Occasionally I go on Cricket Archive adventures and find something I never knew about but should have done.

A couple of days ago, this happened when I learned about the Hawke Cup in New Zealand: something that I undoubtedly should already have known about, but which had until then passed me by. It's taken me until today to find a free waking moment to write about it.

It is named for Lord Hawke, who donated the trophy and specified that it be competed for amongst the "minor associations" in New Zealand. The Plunket Shield, which had started a few years prior, was competed for by Auckland, Canterbury, Otago and Wellington. Hawke's Bay would briefly appear either side of the First World War, but they spent most of their time as a "minor association". Teams representing Northern Districts and Central Districts would not come to be until the 1950s, and both teams were loose confederations of several "minor associations".

The Plunket Shield was originally decided on a "challenge match" basis with between one and four games held per year. The titles won in this period are no longer counted towards a team's official tally. The "challenge matches" were abolished and replaced with a round-robin league in 1921, and it has remained so for over 100 years.

But what if a competition had been founded with challenge matches in mind, and simply never given them up. Perhaps it twisted itself into a ridiculous byzantine shape just to retain them. That competition would be the Hawke Cup. There are currently 21 Hawke Cup teams, split into four zones of six, six, four and five teams respectively. The idea is that there will be a round-robin in each Zone, and then the winners will go through to the challenge matches*. The exception to this is in the current Hawke Cup holder's zone, where they progress regardless, and the best team that isn't them progresses to the challenge matches. The holders will then face off against each of the four challengers in an attempt to retain the Hawke Cup over the winter. For the challenging team to take the Hawke Cup, they need to either win a home challenge outright, or win an away challenge on first innings (or outright).

Nelson once held the Hawke Cup for seven years, defeating 28 challenges. The current holders are Canterbury Country, which means that two of the four Zone 3 teams will progress to the challenge matches this year.

I feel reasonably comfortable saying that only cricket could come up with something this silly. I love it.
 

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