County Championship ready for first-ever day-night games as England prepare for August's Edgbaston Test

Hampshire chairman Rod Barnsgrove spoke exclusively to The Independent on how he hopes this will change the First Class game

Edgbaston will host England's first-ever day-night Test match (Getty)

There are those who will readily tell you that the sun is already setting on County Championship cricket – but this week, as high summer approaches, a renewed spotlight will be shed on world cricket’s oldest First Class competition.

How many people will attend the first ever round of day-night fixtures remains to be seen, with most counties expecting people to pay on the gate rather than buy tickets in advance. The ‘Sold Out’ signs are expected to remain in cold storage no matter how high the mercury rises.

The main purpose of the experiment is to allow England’s players practice under the lights in the run-up to the country’s first day-night Test against the West Indies at Edgbaston in August.

It is, though, a welcome innovation that could spark greater interest in a competition enjoying something of a renaissance since Middlesex’s thrilling last day title-sealing win against Yorkshire at Lords in September.

The official attendance for that Championship denouement was 7,408 – a figure that no county is likely to get anywhere near this week.

Hampshire chairman, Rod Bransgrove, however, believes that even a doubling of the number of people coming through the gate for a four-day fixture would represent a huge step forward.

“We don’t innovate a great deal with Championship cricket, I guess, because we’re stuck with this feeling that not many people come away and that it’s generally regarded as a breeding ground for international cricket,” he tells The Independent.

“This is a bit of breakthrough and it will give us an opportunity to look at a new commercial possibility for the game.

“I think we’ll have a good turnout of members and I think that quite a few might give county cricket a try again in the evening, certainly if the weather holds.

“If we could double the crowd in year one I think that would be seen as a great success – we would bank that and move on.”

A thrilling final day in 2016 saw Middlesex snatch the title from Somerset (Getty)

Those who come through the gate in the biting cold of April and in the dying days of September would beg to differ with the assertion that the county game has simply become a breeding ground for Test cricket.

Despite seeing their Test players all too infrequently, most county members still view the Championship as cricket’s Holy Grail. Just ask those Yorkshire and Middlesex supporters at Lords nine months ago and those Somerset fans who had to endure the agony of having the title snatched away from them despite their heroics at Taunton in that final round of 2016 matches.

What counties will genuinely hope, though, is that day-night Championship cricket attracts a younger audience and goes some way to shoring up a fragile looking supporter base in the future.

“This has been done with the Test match in August in mind but after so many years of work in this area, it’s pleasing to see that it’s becoming more common place,” says John Stephenson, the MCC’s head of cricket and a man who has been the driving force behind day-night four day and Test cricket.

“It’s a massive break with tradition but I think it’s the right time of year to do it. The evenings are warm and, in theory, it’s a great opportunity to get the kids down there after school and get them into four-day cricket.

“Let’s hope that works.”


 Joe Root will be on display for Yorkshire 
 (Getty)

There is certainly no shortage of talent on display.

Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Adil Rashid are all available for Yorkshire for their match against Surrey at Headingley. Those lucky enough to be travelling to the Riverside, meanwhile, can watch Ben Stokes and Mark Wood bowl against Moeen Ali as Durham take on Worcestershire. It will be Stokes’ first Championship appearance of the season and, in all likelihood, his last too.

“Anything that brings people back to the game of cricket has to be a good thing,” says Bransgrove. “Instinctively, I feel that the numbers will come in to support the shorter form games but if we can still develop and encourage the red ball market by whatever means, then we should certainly do it.

“If this is something that’s repeated every season then I think it’s crucial that the England guys are available. That’s hugely important and if that’s the case then you have this attractive round of fixtures to look forward to every year.”

In his superb book on the final match of the 2016 County Championship season, The Kings of Summer, Duncan Hamilton describes how the ECB’s innovations are awaited with a weary sigh of resignation on an almost annual basis.

“Every winter we wait for the tinkering. Every summer we come to terms with it,” he writes.

As the floodlights come on and the people (hopefully) come in, however, this particular experiment might win a rare seal of approval.