Vic Marks: Making a point, or even 16

Vic suggests a different point structure in the championship to encourage greater risk-taking

27.10.26, 12:21 3 Minute Read

Another championship season came to a conclusion with 16 counties envious of Somerset’s position. Of course, the locals were disappointed to come second (once again). That barrier still remains and it hovers menacingly in a manner similar to the late 70s, when the Somerset team was often tormented in its pursuit of the club’s first trophy, of any sort. Now, the championship is the holy grail. This is the toughest of the domestic competitions to win, requiring a talented team of course, but also tenacity and endurance.

The schedule of the championship, the format, and the points system keep changing along with the priorities of those in charge; the perfect solution is forever compromised. A common complaint, especially for those residing in the west, is the absence of any championship cricket in August. I’ve already expressed a reluctant preference for some red-ball cricket to be played during the Hundred. This would be tricky for the club to manage since so many of our players are enrolled in distant Hundred squads but it is a travesty that there is such a dearth of cricket at the County Ground during the school holidays. However, there appears to be little prospect of this happening in the near future.

Make it more like football?

There may be greater scope for some change by tinkering with the points system in order to encourage more positive cricket. Currently, I believe the dull draw (even though this does not occur that often) is too well rewarded. Play on the flattest of tracks, which allow sides to chalk up five batting points, and it is possible that a run-drenched draw can deliver 16 points at the end of the game. Play on a spicier pitch, which makes reaching 250 - the remarkably high landmark required for the first batting point - a real struggle and the winning side of what might well have been a gripping titanic battle, receives 19 points. A paltry difference to the draw.

The way in which points are accrued in cricket is more complex than in football, which has a beautifully simple system. One radical change, taken by the football authorities in 1981, has endured and it has enhanced the game. Back then, they decided that in the football league a win should be worth three points rather than two and the upshot was that ambitious sides were less content to play for a draw, which still delivered one point.

My suggestion is that championship cricket should follow suit, which means that a victory would result in three times as many points as a draw. This could result in fifteen points for a win and five for a draw or maybe the differential would be eighteen and six points. Such a change might encourage captains to gamble towards the end of a game in which the bat has been dominating or when bad weather has intervened. They might opt for the challenging declaration that triggers a thrilling run chase. The art of the declaration has diminished in recent times. In the era of three-day championship cricket, this was readily used by ambitious sides. Now, the tempting declaration is a rarity, only applied in the final rounds of the summer out of desperation. It might be fun if it was revived.