Just over 66 per cent of those who responded to our online poll put the four-day tournament top of the pile, ahead of the Royal London One-Day Cup and the Vitality T20 Blast, while a further 18.06 per cent said they liked all three events equally
The County Championship remains the overwhelming favourite competition of cricket fans in England and Wales, The Cricketer’s Big Cricket Survey has revealed.
Just over 66 per cent of those who responded to our online poll put the four-day tournament top of the pile, ahead of the Royal London One-Day Cup and the Vitality T20 Blast, while a further 18.06 per cent said they liked all three events equally.
The scheduling of the Championship, and the reduction in the number of matches to 14 per season, has been a hot topic among county cricket lovers in recent years, and the survey results go some way to showing why.
Even when broken down by age group, the first-class game is the clear favourite, with the exception of the under-18 category, where an equal number voted for the Blast.
As is to be expected, the older respondents get, the more likely they are to favour four-day matches.
Of the 18-24 bracket 31.78 per cent put the Championship top, 56.63% of 25-39 year-olds put it outright first in their order of preference, for 40-54 year-olds the equivalent figure was 65.33 per cent, among those aged 55-65 it was 76.07 per cent, while 81.29 per cent of over 65s listed it as their favourite.
One individual among that top age bracket put their weight behind the Blast, while less than eight per cent of over-40s shared that opinion.
Among the younger age groups, there is a slightly more diverse set of tastes, with a much larger share of under-25s saying they liked all of the competitions equally.
However, the message was reiterated that cricket fans feel most passionately about the most traditional aspect of the sport.
Are you a county member?
Yes: 36.98%, No: 63.02%
Perhaps unsurprisingly, county members are more inclined to favour the Championship.
A total of 76.34 per cent of all those members polled said the red-ball game was their favourite, with just 3.72 per cent backing the Blast and 13.99 per cent saying they liked all three equally.
For those who pay on the day, the spread was a little more even. A fifth said they were equally entertained by all three competitions and while the County Championship still led as the outright favourite - with 59.98 per cent of the vote - 10.6 per cent put the Blast top of the pile.
One conclusion that can certainly be made is that 50-over cricket on a domestic level is the least appealing to supporters. Just 6.79 per cent of the respondents to the survey said the Royal London One-Day Cup was their favourite fixture in the English summer calendar.
HOW OFTEN DID YOU ATTEND COUNTY MATCHES IN 2017?
| Never | Less than once a month | Once a month | Once a fortnight | Once a week | More than once a week | |
| County members | 4.03% | 11.19% | 18.36% | 24.03% | 13.13% | 29.25% |
| Non county members | 39.02% | 42.96% | 13.47% | 2.97% | 0.44% | 1.14% |
READ: The ECB's full response to our survey's findings
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