No need to tinker with 40-over game when it has something for everyone

If you were at The Kia Oval for our win over Hampshire in the Yorkshire Bank 40 on Monday, you could be forgiven for wondering why the competition will return to 50 overs per side next summer.

Fans of all ages would have found something to enjoy about that match. The 40-over game is long enough for the purists, but there is also always something happening, so those supporters new to the sport are unlikely to get bored.

From a fan’s point of view, 40-over cricket means you lose that middle period of a 50-over game that can be dull. In those situations, teams don’t want to lose quick wickets and just tick along at four or five runs per over.

So 40-over cricket is a really exciting game, especially with the new power play rules for this summer, and Monday’s YB40 match was a real advert for the format. Our supporters were certainly chanting and singing at a volume I hadn’t heard for a while.

The flip side is that 50-over cricket is played at international level, and the county game is the breeding ground for the international one. The England and Wales Cricket Board have to keep producing players for the national side, so when we return to 50 overs next summer, we will mirror international cricket.

Yet clearly, we’re producing good cricketers for international 50-over cricket as it is. England are second in the ICC rankings as they prepare to host the Champions Trophy in this country next month. So maybe the skills required for 40-over cricket actually transfer to the longer form of the one-day game. Perhaps it is a case of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’

It will be interesting to see what happens in 50-over domestic cricket next summer. Maybe batsmen will continue whacking it for the whole innings and we will start to see regular totals of 300 or 350. Let’s not forget that most spectators watch limited-overs cricket to see runs. That’s why it was invented, after all.

Those are considerations for the future. Tomorrow, we’ll be looking to carry the superb form we showed in our opening YB40 game against Hampshire into the second match against Durham. After beating Hants by nine wickets, we can go into the game feeling very confident.

The Kia Oval Beer Festival runs from tomorrow to Monday alongside Surrey’s YB40 and LV County Championship clashes with Durham. Go to kiaoval.com for details