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[KD4]

Hampshire have signed Hashim Amla for the first 3 months of the season.

That's a good signing for Hampshire but I do remember he had a stint with Derbyshire a few years ago and he didn't do that well.

[procricket]

Hampshire have signed Hashim Amla for the first 3 months of the season.

also what going to happen to Weatherley and Alsop

[ProCricketer1982]

Hampshire have signed Hashim Amla for the first 3 months of the season.

With morkel, AB going.... maybe Amla will become. Ore permenant ?? Tbf, having those players in the championship would be great.. better than the likes of topley, hales, rashid, Stevens etc

[ppccopener]

Hampshire seem to be the happening County at the moment, Northeast ain't even had a net yet and he's called up by England, now Amla is going there!

I think more and more SA players will look to come here, their test side is getting weaker

And whether it is good for the Championship to have so many kolpaks/EU players is a moot point RPC.

If you believe championship cricket is there to produce test players we could be heading for something very different.

We might be seeing the decline of Test cricket starting to gather pace.

[Manormanic]

I fear so.

Here there is interest, albeit interest that may not always be about the cricket. But elsewhere, odd days are well attended but games are not as a matter of routine.

Unless the ICC act to protect the long form, it'll be limited to the Ashes within my lifetime.

[Tailendfielder]

I think test cricket is in serious danger now. I think @ppccopener is right. Probably for another thread though

The only bonus to these agreements is raising the standard of county cricket. With English guys opting out the gap between county and international cricket could grow so back filling them with high quality ex internationals should be good for younger players develoment.

[WalkingWicket37]

Reading between the lines, could the Amla deal develop into something similar to what Hampshire had with McKenzie?

It may be wishful thinking but some of the wording made me think there could be the prospect of something more long term

[CasualSpinner]

I fear so.

Here there is interest, albeit interest that may not always be about the cricket. But elsewhere, odd days are well attended but games are not as a matter of routine.

Unless the ICC act to protect the long form, it'll be limited to the Ashes within my lifetime.

The Stumped podcast revisit this frequently and there has been some interesting suggestions for reviving test cricket and making it more appealing - everything from more sponsorship and 'sexiness' input a la t20/ODIs to reducing the number of overs bowled per day. I've always found they balance suggestions quite nicely to give both sides of the argument and it seems like there's plenty of ideas floating round. I'd be gutted if it were to just be limited to Ashes cricket.

[edge]

The Stumped podcast revisit this frequently and there has been some interesting suggestions for reviving test cricket and making it more appealing - everything from more sponsorship and 'sexiness' input a la t20/ODIs to reducing the number of overs bowled per day. I've always found they balance suggestions quite nicely to give both sides of the argument and it seems like there's plenty of ideas floating round. I'd be gutted if it were to just be limited to Ashes cricket.

Too many voices in cricket worry about changing the game - what's wrong with test cricket? Day/night isn't a bad idea as it doesn't fundamentally change the game, but it doesn't need messing with, just promoting properly. You can't change the fact that it's a multi day game so don't worry about that, but it needs context and promoting properly. There's a reason the Ashes is the biggest series! Too many piss poor pitches, lousy coverage and no end goal other than the slightly meaningless no1 ranking. Sort those and the game would instantly be better for it.

Oh, and kill off ODIs and use the time gained to schedule the international game properly in tests and t20s.

[CasualSpinner]

That's what a lot of the people on the podcast say - it's not broken in terms of the format, just needs better promoting in a T20/ODI world. That and the fact that players can earn several times more plying their trade in the IPL/BBL for a couple of months instead of wanting to play top-level red ball cricket.

I'm definitely with you on the ODI front though - they clog up the calendar too much.

[alexhilly1492]

Notts were due to announce a signing at 10am

Blanked out picture resembling Ross Taylor was used to announce the announcement

Ross Taylor got injured and now announcement is cancelled!

Not saying it was Taylor to be announced but all seems a little obvious and his injury could well be worse than first though!

[KD4]

Leicestershire have signed Nabi as their 2nd overseas player for the Blast this year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/43315143

[KD4]

Kent have signed Heino Kuhn on a Kolpak deal. Am I right in thinking that this is the first signing they've made this winter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/43322192

[Manormanic]

*facepalm*

[alexhilly1492]

Notts were due to announce a signing at 10am

Blanked out picture resembling Ross Taylor was used to announce the announcement

Ross Taylor got injured and now announcement is cancelled!

Not saying it was Taylor to be announced but all seems a little obvious and his injury could well be worse than first though!

Toss Taylor does in fact join Notts

Overseas for first half of season!