Flavour of Caribbean jaunt leaves a sour taste in my mouth

Apparently, it’s no longer enough to deprive them of watching England players turning out for their counties.

Nor is it sufficient to stage Championship matches on different days of the week, thus making it difficult for those spectators to plan and attend.

No, the latest indignity for all those who watch county cricket in this country is... wait for it... a proposal to stage Championship matches outside of this country.

Why, the Caribbean would appear a favoured destination, according to England and Wales Cricket Board plans to ease fixture congestion.

The thinking behind the idea is as follows.

With counties needing to squeeze in 16 Championship games per season, along with a superfluity of one-day fixtures, the season could be extended to start in March.

As the weather here is often not conducive to cricket at that time of year (although it’s probably just as likely to be sunny these days as throwing it down), the solution is apparently to start the season overseas.

Technically, the season already starts overseas with the annual MCC versus Champion County match in Abu Dhabi, which has also been mooted as a possible location for Championship games.

However, the Caribbean has emerged as a possible destination because so many counties – including Yorkshire – regularly go there for pre-season training, where they are guaranteed good weather and outdoor practice in the sunshine.

To accommodate the glut of one-day matches in midsummer – specifically the money-spinning Twenty20 Cup – the Championship has been increasingly shoehorned into the start of the season.

This is because one-day cricket is the cash cow and, in the eyes of some administrators at least, Championship cricket the cow’s backside.

I don’t know about you, but I find the very idea of playing Championship cricket overseas incredibly insulting to county spectators.

How are they supposed to afford to go and watch?

A quick glance around the crowd at Headingley or Scarborough would tell you that the majority of people who watch county cricket are old-age pensioners, people who have more time on their hands during the working week when many of the matches are staged.

The last time I checked, OAPs are not treated too well by governments and politicians and I’m guessing that there would need to be a pretty sharp rise in the state pension to get Joe Bloggs of Pudsey flying out to watch Yorkshire start their season at somewhere like Barbados – not that Joe Bloggs of Pudsey even comes into the equation.

Come to think of it, who is going to fork out for the county clubs’ accommodation and flights to get out there?

Are the ECB going to pay for it, or would it have to come out of the counties’ coffers?

From a financial point of view it makes no sense at all.

From a cricketing point of view it would further distort the playing field and devalue the tournament, which is already a lottery due to the fact that counties are often without players due to full international and Lions’ commitments.

Apparently, there is little chance of the idea of playing Championship cricket overseas happening next year when the schedule undergoes a revamp to accommodate more Twenty20 action.

It is something that has been mooted as a possibility further down the line.

But that it has even been mooted as a possibility – and surely it is one that will be shot down in flames by the sane people left – shows how out-of-touch the powers-that-be are with the average spectator.

It shows how much they take them for granted and mock their support.