Logan Cup 2020 - 21 : Discussion

[foreignfield]

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id ... st-cricket

This is quite a good article. I'm very surprised that so many County cricketers have benefitted from the MCCU system.
I can only think of a handful that are currently at University and playing County cricket.
Suicide rate amongst ex cricketers is three times the national average.
Average "retirement" age is 26!! That's brutal.
The problem also is that not many cricketers at Uni do high powered degrees that guarantee you a high standard of living. Once you take the plunge into cricket its a big gamble. Unless you're a superstar the people in charge of your destiny have you firmly by the scrotum.
The semi-professional era of yesteryear would have been a lot more conducive to more balanced individuals.

The abnomally high suicide rate goes back decades. And it sure wasn't all roses back in the day when a benefit year--a the discretion of some gentlemen on the County committee--was often worth as much or more than the pittance ordinary pros were payed over the course of a decade. One of the reasons why players seldom changed counties. Semi-pros were not all doctors or lawyers either. Felling trees in witner might keep you fit as a bowler but doesn't set you up for life. Careers were longer, that's true, but the old retirement plan of taking over a pub has been many an ex cricketers gravestone.

On the academic side, you're right, an Oxbridge degree vs. an online certificate in greenkeeping fom the Rip-off University of D.T. -- no competition.

[ZIMDOGGY]

I know I bang this drum but I think for elite cricketers (and that needs to be policed carefully) ZC pays for part or all of their uni fees in UK/SA. Upon completion said players are immediately contracted to ZC for the equivalent of the duration of their studies and if they choose to walk out then have to repay the cost of their education. For one/two cricketers a year I don't think this is beyond the pale financially.

Horse before the cart there.

They should do it concurrent or do it after the careers down at least somehow.
That’s if they are proactive but like Googly said they don’t care nearly enough.

[Kriterion_BD]

Pat Cummins went to university but yes for the very best players in aus they are already in a system, earning big bucks or bucks by 19/20, as well as developing, so no need to go to uni at that stage.

https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/new ... keter.html so did Andrew Strauss

Ravi Ashwin has a degree in IT and Sikandar Raza has a software engineering degree.

Cummins, Ashwin, Strauss would be exceptions to the rule. Cummins was out injured for so long maybe he had enough time to attend a semester or two, but I doubt he has a degree. Raza is whole different case since from what I understand he's like an amateur cricketer that was talented/hard working enough to make it as a professionally cricketer. I don't think Raza played any first class, U-19, or List A cricket before coming to Zimbabwe in his mid 20s.

Mushfiqur Rahim actually has a master's degree in History. I have no idea how he got it because he has been playing for the national team continuously since age 19/20. None of the other Bangladeshi players have been to college/Uni and many players from the previous generation (Ashraful, Aftab) probably didn't even finish high school, given the age at which they debuted.

[Zimco]

Pat Cummins graduated in 2017 from of UTs with a bachelor of commerce- took six years for a three year degree.
https://www.uts.edu.au/partners-and-com ... er-success

Wahab Riaz has a degree in biotechnology.
Rahul dravid, Imran khan, anil kumble, misbah Ul haq.
There are a lot of people from the subcontinent with degrees. Not everyone makes it initially at 19 and many go/used to go uni which enables them to keep playing cricket

Nick Welch must have a degree now. Lots of the female cricketers also have degrees

[ZIMDOGGY]

Pat Cummins graduated in 2017 from of UTs with a bachelor of commerce- took six years for a three year degree.
https://www.uts.edu.au/partners-and-com ... er-success

Wahab Riaz has a degree in biotechnology.
Rahul dravid, Imran khan, anil kumble, misbah Ul haq.
There are a lot of people from the subcontinent with degrees. Not everyone makes it initially at 19 and many go/used to go uni which enables them to keep playing cricket

Cummins just followed the idea I suggested the last page. Simply did it part time. Probably set him back 2 hours a week.

As for the other cricketers mentioned above and in Kriterions posts, just goes to show how common and easy it is. Zim have it the easiest because of their downtime.

Remember every day common people with families and 9-5 full time jobs do part time degrees.

[eugene]

I honestly think many players, the white guys particularly, have pretty much given up on ZC and the game in general in the country. I think they just take it as an opportunity to get paid and play a bit of cricket. Best case scenario it leads to some lucrative T20 contracts in the sub-continent. In what other sport or team would guys miss international tours to attend a wedding, go to the Maldives, play golf, etc? You just don't hear these things in other professional set-ups.

The players of the 90s made minimal money, held down fulltime jobs, raised families, and played twice as well as the current lot.

[jward]

But yes scheduling vacations during the first class season is poor, it would be slightly frowned upon in club cricket.
[/quote]
The problem caused by scheduling vacations or weddings during the cricket season is often that these arrangements have to be made in advance, and the players so often have no idea of the dates when the cricket will be played - like right now! We heard that cricket, probably the Logan Cup, is scheduled to start on 3 December. We are still waiting for a fixture list. We apparently have rain scheduled for this week also. In past years dates have been changed at short notice, leaving some players with alternative arrangements they had to make in advance and finding they clash. I think it was Kyle Jarvis's wedding was originally scheduled for a date when it was not expected to clash with cricket - only for the fixture list to be changed when it was too late.

[eugene]

The problem caused by scheduling vacations or weddings during the cricket season is often that these arrangements have to be made in advance, and the players so often have no idea of the dates when the cricket will be played - like right now! We heard that cricket, probably the Logan Cup, is scheduled to start on 3 December. We are still waiting for a fixture list. We apparently have rain scheduled for this week also. In past years dates have been changed at short notice, leaving some players with alternative arrangements they had to make in advance and finding they clash. I think it was Kyle Jarvis's wedding was originally scheduled for a date when it was not expected to clash with cricket - only for the fixture list to be changed when it was too late.

John, why do you think ZC always schedule domestic cricket during the rainy season? Are they hoping to save a bit of money from cancelled games?

[ZIMDOGGY]

But yes scheduling vacations during the first class season is poor, it would be slightly frowned upon in club cricket.

The problem caused by scheduling vacations or weddings during the cricket season is often that these arrangements have to be made in advance, and the players so often have no idea of the dates when the cricket will be played - like right now! We heard that cricket, probably the Logan Cup, is scheduled to start on 3 December. We are still waiting for a fixture list. We apparently have rain scheduled for this week also. In past years dates have been changed at short notice, leaving some players with alternative arrangements they had to make in advance and finding they clash. I think it was Kyle Jarvis's wedding was originally scheduled for a date when it was not expected to clash with cricket - only for the fixture list to be changed when it was too late.
[/quote]

It’s all still poor.
Jarvis’ wedding could have been anywhere from March to September but he tries to play surgeon with what week ZC won’t play etc.
There’s an obvious solution here.
Just like how cremer could still play cricket with a bit of planning, and how the uni guys (as mentioned) can do uni at the same time as cricket AND choose a degree out of the 70% (guess) that can be done online


If you want to play you could make it happen. ZC players need to toughen up.
John Bateman, from the Wigan RL club, took a contract and left his family to come to Oz for two years to prove himself in the NRL and nailed it. Where’s that determination in ZC? Despite the admin shit. Also, Uni people still work during their degrees.

[Googly]

Nobody gets married in winter, we all take advantage of our stunning summer nights. Dec is a good time because people are back from overseas and this place rocks. The best time of year weather-wise is March April for me. Its cooling down and the countryside is beautiful and green.

Nobody is going to prove they're made of the right stuff to an organisation that likes to play God, can't even arrange a schedule, let alone stick to it and doesn't like you based on your skin colour, and pays you when they feel like it.
Just play cricket from September to mid December, resume mid January, or better yet March April May and there's no rain. Its not hard.
Just watch the cluster f$# about to unfold with the cricket over the next couple of months. It rains, groundsmen have yet to learn how to cover a pitch. I've lost track of how many games have been cancelled because water leaked under a cover or they didn't cover because everyone's a weatherman here, or the covers have holes or they just didn't feel like it. Thats before all the other organizational stuff that's going to go wrong.
I'm waiting to see what the cricketers will do when they realise there's only two months of cricket and the supposed expense of the bio bubble is going to be used as an excuse to chop salaries. Watch that space!

If you go into a bio bubble the day you start a game you can't really call it a bio bubble can you? Its more like a snot bubble. Then two weeks later when the season is half over you'd potentially be in a bio bubble i guess. Then there's the Xmas break and then back into another snot bubble that will morph into a bio bubble when the List A season is half over.

Will there be Covid tests during all of this??
They had better used expired test kits because if just one person out of 120 tests positive and they follow proper protocols its a jungle. I'm assuming they won't follow protocols because they're starting with a snot bubble from the outset
I assume the Bubonic Motel staff, the bus drivers, etc etc are in the same snot bubble?

There is a genuine spike in Covid happening here right now as well but if anyone can get us through the "season" by lying and bullshitting and fudging the rules we've got the right people