Domestic cricket - anyone?

English domestic cricket has been grabbing cricket fan’s attention for years now. I’m a huge follower of county cricket for the sole reason that this is the platform from where the future international stars arise. County cricket of England no doubt has a monopoly over the domestic cricket of rest of the cricketing nations. It has been going on for so many years now and therefore it is so popular and hugely followed all throughout the cricketing globe.

There are certain aspects that one has to focus upon when it comes to English domestic cricket. No doubt, it’s a great platform for all the local English players but at the same time, it’s an equally great opportunity for players from nearby countries like Ireland and Scotland to play alongside foreign stars and quality local players, side-by-side also getting an opportunity of making a name for themselves at the international level because this is the cricket that matters.

To take an example from the recent times, Eoin Morgan – born and brought up in Ireland, learned his cricket in Ireland and now he’s a well accomplished batsman playing for England, furthermore also performing equally well in a international t-20 league like IPL where we don’t see any Ireland player. He has got the fame and of course the money that perhaps he hadn’t got if it wasn’t for English domestic cricket. Morgan is a great example of how English domestic cricket can change a cricketer’s life, just a few years back we saw him playing for Ireland in the 2007 WC, which least to say was a dream-run for Ireland cricket team but no one at that time knew who Eoin Morgan was and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have thought that in just the mere time of 4-5 years he’d be as accomplished as he is today.

County Championship, 40 over’s and the t20 tournament, each 3 have their own respective audience in the English domestic cricket. The thing I love about English domestic cricket is the turnout of the people coming to watch the matches. Very rarely do we see nowadays even “few” people turning out to watch 4 day matches in domestic cricket and this is the case all throughout the cricketing globe.  Even in this case, the crowds that turns out for English domestic cricket is heaps better. One can easily see kids, adults and matured people turning out to see 4-day matches.

In the current cricketing world, English domestic cricket certainly gives us a sense of “freshness”. It’s a platform for local English players, cricketers from minnows as well as foreign international players to enhance their cricketing skills. The pitches are “ideal” for cricket; this is one of the main reasons as to why we see each year foreign players very willing to play in English domestic cricket.

English county cricket – 2013, has begun and I’ll be closely following it. It is the ideal platform to see young cricketers making a name for themselves, watching international cricketers helping other players of their team with their invaluable feedbacks/suggestions. Following county cricket has become a lot easier, all thanks to the ESPN cricinfo team. Surely you too, wouldn’t want to miss out on the fun. Do catch this year’s English domestic cricket and who knows, we might see a future international star in the making.