As the County Cricket season draws closer, the question – as always – becomes how to generate interest.

Cricket is one of the most popular sports in the country, but the county game is usually overlooked. It suffers from awkward scheduling, where fixtures take place in the daytime when most people are at work. It suffers from the fact that the best players are chosen to play for their country in the more glamorous test matches. It suffers, too, from the other sports which are presented in much more sparkling fashion in the media. And indeed, it suffers from the perceptions these facts generate amongst potential fans and followers.

After a trial period last season, Somerset CCC have continued their partnership with MyActionReplay to stream all of the club’s home fixtures in the County Championship and the One Day Cup in the 2018 season.

NEWS: We are delighted to announce that our free live streaming service is set to continue throughout the 2018 season!

INFO -> https://t.co/Wc4bYVZVK5#WeAreSomerset pic.twitter.com/gLr9UtaaPA

— Somerset Cricket ???? (@SomersetCCC) March 18, 2018

Excitingly for Somerset fans, the action will be available free of charge and streamed on the club’s website, with access possible on mobile, tablets and games consoles, too.

Over the years, the county game has looked in decline, with games taking place in front of empty stands. And whilst that never looks great when stacked up against footage of packed stadiums from other sports or even higher-profile test matches, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the interest isn’t there.

In fact, sometimes the things we see as weaknesses can actually be strengths. Playing your games in the middle of the daytime might not be prime time, but on the other hand it does give you a timeslot that few other sports are competing in.

Another weakness of long-form cricket is seen as its slowness, and the fact that other sports condense much more action into a shorter period of time. And yet, when you combine the slow, relaxed feel of a game of county cricket with the fact that it takes place during the daytime, you get a sport people can quite easily follow in the background at work whilst they’re at work.

We are looking to stream all home CC and 50 over games with BBC Commentary synced up and a brand new graphics overlay ????

Should be a great tool to prove the popularity of County Cricket in the West Country! #WeAreSomerset https://t.co/wAMrV0AkVf

— Ben Warren ???? (@BenWarrenSCCC) March 18, 2018

The fact that live-streaming is now such a widespread phenomenon means county cricket clubs can provide their own streams and everyone can access them from wherever they are.

The streams will feature graphics overlays, which can display scores and batsman info, as well as pause and rewind functions. They will also have BBC radio commentary synchronised with the action on the field, providing viewers with audio as well as video.

Ahead of the new season, live-streaming is beginning to show that some of what we used to see as weaknesses can very easily become strengths.