Chester-le-Street & The Oval confirmed for Ashes 2013

According to the Beeb.

The other 3 tests are open for bidding (farking ridic) - as if Lords isn't going to get a gig!

Rose Bowl, OT & Oval to host India the following year.

The bidding thing came about because some bright spark pointed out that the previous arrangement of simply deciding where a test ought to be was illegal under competition law.

Lord's? Why would we want to play there? Most of the current side have nothing but bad memories of it.

And it'd piss off merlin no end, so that's a big plus.

JKLever wrote:According to the Beeb.

The other 3 tests are open for bidding (farking ridic) - as if Lords isn't going to get a gig!

Rose Bowl, OT & Oval to host India the following year.

So Banindia only get the smaller grounds.

So is Trent Bridge being gradually squeezed out, despite all the developments of recent years? It's looking more like it could be getting one Test every couple of years, mainly against weak opposition.

Keeping 9 or 10 Test grounds happy is going to be very difficult, particularly with three of the seven Tests in a summer pretty much guaranteed to be in London still, probably four if the Olympic stadium becomes a cricket ground as some have suggested recently.

Shoeshine wrote:The bidding thing came about because some bright spark pointed out that the previous arrangement of simply deciding where a test ought to be was illegal under competition law.

The only good thing is that it means those missing out will need to get their facilities sorted out.

OT & Headingley have been pretty poor stadiums for a few years now despite them being iconic grounds in England

beamer wrote:
Keeping 9 or 10 Test grounds happy is going to be very difficult, particularly with three of the seven Tests in a summer pretty much guaranteed to be in London still, probably four if the Olympic stadium becomes a cricket ground as some have suggested recently.

That's not going to happen re- the Olympics, but you're right if they are going to open it up to bidding that has to include Lords & The Oval too.

JKLever wrote:

Shoeshine wrote:The bidding thing came about because some bright spark pointed out that the previous arrangement of simply deciding where a test ought to be was illegal under competition law.

The only good thing is that it means those missing out will need to get their facilities sorted out.

OT & Headingley have been pretty poor stadiums for a few years now despite them being iconic grounds in England

The likes of Cardiff have raised the bar, haven't they? Headingley seems to have spent a lot recently, but I don't know the ground. Old Trafford has been an absolute hole for years now, which is such a shame.

Headingley looks a bit bland to me, no character at all. It's saved by the decent atmosphere.

Zat wrote:Lord's? Why would we want to play there? Most of the current side have nothing but bad memories of it.

And it'd piss off merlin no end, so that's a big plus.

Qunt .... whoops ... poo head!

PS. Lord's is a cert.

No problem with Lords, Oval or C-L-S (which will be an even better ground by then) - they deserve it after being forced to host the dross that was the WI. And hopefully they'll be hosting it at a time when they have a decent chance with the weather.

But that leaves in all probability one of OT,Edgbaston or TB missing out.

Shoeshine wrote:

The likes of Cardiff have raised the bar, haven't they? Headingley seems to have spent a lot recently, but I don't know the ground. Old Trafford has been an absolute hole for years now, which is such a shame.

Only because the Welsh Assembly stepped in.
On it's own Glamorgan couldn't manage four quid between their all members, let alone another £3M to guarantee a Test at Cardiff.
OT and not TB ought to be censored/chopped ... as you say, Lancs (one of the richest clubs) have done SFA to upgrade OTwhereas Notts have at TB.

Merlin wrote:

Shoeshine wrote:

The likes of Cardiff have raised the bar, haven't they? Headingley seems to have spent a lot recently, but I don't know the ground. Old Trafford has been an absolute hole for years now, which is such a shame.

Only because the Welsh Assembly stepped in.
On it's own Glamorgan couldn't manage four quid between their all members, let alone another £3M to guarantee a Test at Cardiff.
OT and not TB ought to be censored/chopped ... as you say, they've done SFA to upgrade the ground whereas TB have.

Well, they're doing it now. Even if the plans do look forking horrendous....

Yeah I squinted at the plans (on the Lancs website I think) some time ago and they do look bloody awful ... oh well, dems Lankies I s'pose.

Merlin wrote:

Shoeshine wrote:

The likes of Cardiff have raised the bar, haven't they? Headingley seems to have spent a lot recently, but I don't know the ground. Old Trafford has been an absolute hole for years now, which is such a shame.

Only because the Welsh Assembly stepped in.
On it's own Glamorgan couldn't manage four quid between their all members, let alone another £3M to guarantee a Test at Cardiff.
OT and not TB ought to be censored/chopped ... as you say, Lancs (one of the richest clubs) have done SFA to upgrade OTwhereas Notts have at TB.

Don't disagree. But when the ECB look at bids, where the money has come from doesn't really enter the equation, does it? Tax payers might ask the odd question.