By Dale Budge
Counties Manukau Cricket should look to separate the T20 format out from the rest of its current structure in a way to grow the sport in the seasons ahead.
Manukau City were crowned Inder Lynch T20 champions a couple of weeks ago after the completion of the five round plus finals format, played over two weekends.
Most people in the region have applauded the move to concentrate more on the longer form of the game and the return to a full round of W.H Taylor Shield two-day cricket after Christmas but there is a way to use the T20 concept to grow the sport even more, while leaving Saturday for one day and two day cricket.
I would move T20 to a much longer schedule, played exclusively on Thursday nights post-Christmas and open it up to more than just the six Premier clubs.
After Christmas the daylight hours would cater for matches beginning at 5.30pm. I would even look at the idea of playing day-night versions, where lighting is up to standard.
Traffic is much reduced in the January-early February slot, while university is off and people take holidays in the latter part of the summer break season, making traveling to games a little easier.
One option I would seriously explore is the idea of playing matches at Navigation Homes Stadium, under lights.
We have just seen United take out the Premier 2 T20 final and it would be the perfect way to encourage clubs that do not currently have a premier team to start taking steps towards that path.
There would be the opportunity for Waiuku, Tuakau and Mauku to play as stand-alone clubs rather than the merged Southern Districts (the concept is working well but it is an option for these clubs to keep their individual identity) while the likes of United, Glenbrook-Maramarua, Clevedon and Pohutukawa Coast could consider entering sides as well.
Some of the bigger clubs could look at entering a second side as well.
The shortest form of the game offers the best way for emerging sides and players to compete against teams and players of a higher standard. The streaky nature of the game would be well-suited to many players not currently playing premier cricket and could be a significant way to bridge the gap to the next tier.
By playing the shortest form of the game on Thursday nights, you open up the possibility of a livestream game each week as well, which creates a range of benefits.
It is fair to say Counties Sports Hub would be very interested in such a concept.
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