Yorkshire CCC captain calls for trophy incentive for regionalised cricket

With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to wreak havoc on the sporting schedule the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Thursday that there would be no domestic cricket until August 1 at the earliest, a month later than the previous holding date.

As a result of the new postponement the Professional Game Group have been tasked with drawing up plans for a shortened 2020 campaign, including an option which would see a four-day competition split along geographical lines in place of the two division Specsavers County Championship.

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison has stressed the need for “unorthodox” solutions to the present predicament and White Rose skipper Patterson believes the regional idea could provide the perfect tonic for players and fans alike.

“We’ve got to be creative because realistically we couldn’t even get a half a regular season in now,” he said.

“We need to be imaginative and come up with something and I think regional would be good. If we ended up with one or two Roses matches against Lancashire, and some games against Nottinghamshire and Durham, that would be a good option.

“It could be brilliant.”

Patterson was insistent that there would need to be an incentive to any new competition but favours a one-off piece of silverware rather than conferring championship status.

“There’s got to be something riding on it, we can’t just be playing ‘friendly’ cricket because that takes the value away. You need bragging rights,” he said.

“You couldn’t realistically call it the championship, deep down you’d know it’s not the same as a long season playing home and away, so a new trophy might be the fairest solution.

“In a shortened competition you can win two or three games and get on a roll, but it’s not the same as playing the best teams in the country twice.

“What it might do is open our minds to a different ideas and experiences. We can be stuck in our ways in terms of how cricket is played and how it has to be but we’re in a position where we might have to change the format.

“It could be an opportunity to have a look and see how it works because people have been calling for fewer championship games for years.”

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