Use of floodlights in county cricket

Floodlights have been used at the Oval in the current match against Sussex. Not sure how many hours of play there have been in this match which would otherwise have been lost to bad light - but I think it's quite a few. It's been pretty gloomy at times in the last few days. Possibly over a season this could result in Surrey getting in quite a bit more play than some other sides, and so giving Surrey an advantage? But is it any different in kind to other factors, such as a county being able to afford to install (a no doubt expensive) quick draining playing area.

I suppose the bottom line is that cricket is meant to be a spectator sport and it would seem daft to have the facilities and not to use them. Do you see other counties going down the same route? I imagine that if there are only a couple of hundred spectators in a ground it doesn't do much for the club finances...

Well, almost every club has permanent floodlights now and I believe that lights were used at Trent Bridge this week as well as at The Oval. They should obviously be used where available in my opinion, taking into account regulations restricting the number of days which they can be used at places like Lord's. It is not a good way to promote the game if new fans see the players running for the changing rooms when it gets a bit cloudy.

Surrey currently playing under floodlights in ther match at the Oval.

At nearby Lord's, the players are off for bad light. The floodlights there can't be used due to objections from local residents about ther regular use.

Can we expect a load of Middlesex supporters to move into the Kennington area in order to object to use of floodlights at the Oval.

The fate of cricket seems bound up with planning permission these days, what with Gloucs making players' contracts dependent on their ability to erect a tower block at square leg.....

The situation at Lord's is a shame but, as one Middlesex supporter sitting near me during the Surrey match put it, "the residents of St. John's Wood have a lot of money".

Basically, they can only use them on certain days (and until a certain time). Those days are all specifically floodlit one-day fixtures and internationals. Middlesex floodlit one-day matches also start an hour earlier than Surrey's.

Shelsey93 wrote:The situation at Lord's is a shame but, as one Middlesex supporter sitting near me during the Surrey match put it, "the residents of St. John's Wood have a lot of money".

Not quite the same situation for Surrey supporters - partucularly those of us living some way from the Oval, eh Corporal?

Sadly so, Guildford! How's things since you transferred to peon status at the salt mines?

Corporal - think I've always been of peon status!

Just a thought, but mightn't it be a good idea to play the CC in the summer?

Unfortunately, spiny norman, it is a trait of the English cricketing hierarchy to organise fixtures in as nonsensical a fashion as possible.

Of course - silly me! And, of course, we have to keep the summer free for the "hit and giggle"...