Sometimes the county championship seems so maligned that even the ECB has lost faith in it. Despite its thrilling finale back in September, many see the competition as an anachronism with no future. However, guest writer Hector Cappelletti begs to differ. He believes the championship has not only been pivotal in England’s recent successes, but also in Australia’s recent struggles. He explains all below …
Australia’s spectacular collapse against South Africa in Hobart a couple of days previous prompted an interesting discussion in our office. Chief amongst the ruminations was the inability of many of the Australian batsmen to knuckle down and build an innings against quality bowling; the surfeit of limited overs and T20 cricket clearly influencing cavalier, careless shot selection and a general air of impatience amongst many a batsman required to play test cricket.
Compiling an innings, as opposed to bludgeoning one, appears to have become passé as the generation brought up with T20 cricket and the success of the Big Bash emerge into state and test teams. In some respects, the worm has turned, it is a good time to be a bowler in test cricket once again. Pitches may still theoretically favour the batsman at large but the playing surfaces at times seem irrelevant as batsmen attempt a limited overs modus operandi.
Australian cricket searches for answers and solutions. Perhaps the latter partly lies with an old friend. During seasons of yore the English county championship enjoyed a fair representation of players from the Antipodes. Many a batsman regularly played the county circuit, honing their abilities and techniques with the hope of breaking into the all-conquering Australian test team captained by Messrs Waugh and Ponting.
In the pre T20, IPL, Big Bash era it was probably a handy way to make a few bucks during the Australian winter to boot. Thus, names such as Michael and David Hussey, Phil Jaques, Martin Love, Matthew Elliott, Brad Hodge, Michael di Venuto and Stuart Law became part of the county championship fabric; annual returns to their respective counties permitting such batsmen the opportunity to experience the varying conditions that are part of the English summer.
Most of these players plundered runs aplenty but were largely unable to break into the Australian team; Michael Hussey, and to a lesser extent Elliott, the only performer to enjoy an established place in the starting XI but even he had to wait until past the age of thirty. Nevertheless, it could be argued that they became better players for their time in the county championship, experiences that surely counted in their favour if, or when, a call eventually arrived.
The age of T20 cricket has had a changing effect on the overseas player though. Time was when a county would sign one player for the whole summer and said player would perform in all competitions. Now counties are all but required to ship in specialists for each format of the game for short periods of time. Players still venture across from Australia but most specifically for one format, mainly the T20 variant.
Perhaps Australian Cricket needs a leg up from the counties again to help its young players play abroad, establish themselves and learn the trade, a la Chris Rogers or Simon Katich rather than Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch. How often do young Australian batsmen experience the equivalent of a chilly, breezy day at Headingly or Chester-le-Street playing against the swinging ball as opposed to a balmy afternoon or evening at Hove or the Oval slapping leather for fun? Hobart’s very English conditions highlighted the lack of technique and patience in the Australian batting line-up; the success of Kyle Abbott with old style English seam bowling, and a player with county championship experience, further underlining the theory.
Under such circumstances one ponders the status of the poor old, beleaguered county championship. Often it is derided and scorned but maybe the current lack of technique amongst many a test batsman has opened a niche. Perhaps the county championship, with its revised fourteen match season, could once again offer a proving ground for wannabe test batsmen. Particularly as the first class equivalents elsewhere seem to have lost some of their importance.
Glance at the England set up and look at the results. The county championship is disparaged in many a quarter but the stark reality is that it has produced batsmen like Alastair Cook, Haseeb Hameed, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root who can play the long game. Even Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes are displaying maturity in their recent controlled, cerebral performances as middle order batsmen.
Players of this ilk certainly aren’t as forthcoming as previous generations but the breeding ground of the county championship has remained constant, arguably in contrast to equivalents elsewhere which appear to have declined. In some respects its stock has also retained its value. Maybe it will have increased against others in cricket’s currency exchange? Perhaps a fourteen match stint touring the shires for two or three summers could prove of use.
Hector Cappelletti
@yahoooverCC
You can find more good stuff from Hector over at his personal blog Yahoo Over Cow Corner.
I enjoy this. I’m playing in Melbourne for the summer and all the lads seemed to say the same thing, there aren’t many good players playing shield cricket. The season is very short and in two blocks, gains no real attention and batsmen are not under much of a microscope.
Personally I’ve always said the big bash is a failure. Sure, it has brought young families back to cricket which is brilliant. But it has had a negative effect on the standard of Australian cricket. The quality is diluted and there are too many overseas or retired internationals involved and they take more focus than the young Australians.
There were chuckles when guys heard renshaw has been picked, in the warmup on Saturday morning someone joked that he should get a game(he got is 2nd first class ton the day before I think), to which the captain chirped that one of the lads should have a chance of playing for the vics then.(the bloke in question scored two tons playing in the twos as he was coming back from injury).
Good article making some excellent points.
In addition, with this and Australia’s recent travails in mind, i’d also argue the following points;
1) The number of counties vs Aus states used to be considered a negative and the producer of players less versed in intense, meaningful matches. However, allied to point 2 to come, one could argue there are more spots available to English qualified players to play and develop, most notably our youngsters. The upsurge in talented kids (Hamed and Duckett et al) cannot be mere coincidence.
2) I can’t remember when but the ECB’s decision of not many years ago to incentivise production and selection of young Eng qualified players (to combat the swathe of ‘Kolpaks’) has also massively helped redress some of our production line issues.
Anyhoo, it’s nice that we’re in a slightly superior position (I think) for once!
The main two problems (amongst many others) with the county championship are that:
1) it does virtually nothing to attract new players and spectators to the game, which IS its primary purpose whether you like it or not, and
2) it loses staggering, eye-watering, horrifying amounts of money every year. Almost every single penny raised by the domestic T20 tournament and the England team gets sucked in the financial black hole that is the CC. Why do you think tickets for Test Matches are so high? Because you’re paying the salaries of every single journeyman cricketer playing in the CC.
I think the championship would be more of a commercial success if (a) they bothered marketing it properly, and (b) played more matches at the weekend when people are actually free to watch. Instead there’s an assumption that all the public want is a diet of endless one-day matches. If you’re a cricket fan, and you like good cricket, a day’s play in the championship is just as enjoyable as the Royal London cup etc imho.
Not that I begrudge him but paying Joe Root £1m a year will cost some too. The average county cricketer is not paid that well. Further it is a conundrum as you want to entice youngsters into the game who might make the grade at international level and to do that they need some job security for a few years.
I also agree with you James the ECB are crap at marketing the game at any level. To me having a channel either on TV or the Web for county cricket with Free to Air would be good too. Most counties seem to have their own set up regarding camera crew these days too. So the cost wouldn’t be that huge. Furthermore counties want people to be able to access cricket via the web etc these days. It’s the ECB and it’s latest contract with Sky that is stopping them.
sure it’d cost to provide decent tv coverage of all county games BUT.. it would raise the profile of the game.. more people would watch it.. this in turn raises the profile of each county.. this again, raises their profile with regards to sponsorship.. etc etc
I’m sure there are enough entry level cameramen etc who would do 12 months-24 months to gain experience etc. things like that
Someone I know at Surrey CC says they are livid that they cannot show their games live on the web. They feel they are missing out on an opportunity.
We have a ‘chat’ room at work (12k odd people)… It’s always got a few 100 people in there when there is no game and when there is a test on.. nearer to 4-5k just there for score updates etc etc
There is a quiet following who would love to watch/go/play cricket but for various reasons are priced out, can’t go, don’t like short formats, don’t have time, other halves, kids etc etc
Absolutely. That and poor marketing/poor scheduling also. It’s been great to have the BBC commentaries and I hope it continues.
Notts stream their CC games so what stops Surrey?
There was a bit of a conflict over this last summer. I think the ECB and Sky clashed over whether internet highlights streamed via the counties websites broke the contract with Sky. I think Sky won but I can’t remember the whole story. A few counties were quite upset.
Sky did win. Poor show.
No they didn’t. Notts showed them right to the end of the season.
Not all County Cricket loses money. Try Scarborough for a Championship game. Two each year and ground 80% full most of time.
Superb point Michael. Some of the out grounds create a real carnival atmosphere. If they sell out better than the main venues, keep playing there! It might be the novelty that brings local crowds in but it’s worth repeating to see what happens.
You may be right about the appeal and financials of the CC but that seems to completely miss the point of the article. The CC is essential to a healthy test team, and test cricket remains the measure of cricket success. So the CC should not be measured in isolation but rather as part of a wider measure of res ball cricket.
Well said Andy.
Sure, but the question is, do we really need to pay 200 cricketers to play every week in front of largely empty stands just to produce the 1-2 new England players each year? How many England players even come through the county system anyway? Most of them seem to come straight from the national academy to the Lions to the national team with only a handful of CC games along the way.
So, is that really an efficient use of resources? Could we not achieve the same result with half the counties? Or even, the same counties, but half the games?
Even when seen as part of the wider cricket ecosystem, the CC seems completely unfit for purpose. Probably the best thing we could do to safeguard some form of 4 day cricket for the future would be to radically reform it while we still have the chance.
As I’ve been saying for years: less teams, less games, but more weekend games, more day-night games, more England players available, more cricket at outgrounds.
Decent enough piece.
I don’t think anyone within English cricket can gloat because the effects are just the same here. The quality of cricketer produced is declining and all the focus in on the Hit and giggle stuff.
I’m no fan of white ball cricket BUT it is the main money spinner within domestic cricket and so you do need to cater for it. However, the other main money spinner is England cricket and Sky tv money which, should all be pumped into the 4 day game. Counties should be rewarded for producing test cricketers and the payments ranked depending on Englands stature.. so ranked no1 gets you more than if you are 8th etc
Plus, The focus from the ECB should be on ensuring contracts for 4 day cricket is better than the money on offer for white ball.. White ball really shouldn’t be a gravy train for cricketers.
Hameed seems to be literally a rare exception rather than a product on a functioning system. When you go through the rest of the players in the county championship you see little quality and very noticeable white ball techniques (Hales, Roy, Duckett, Vince, Lyth, Lees etc etc).. The county game needs to be strong enough to weed these players out..
I don’t wish Aus any more harm than I do any other side overly.. In fact, the fact everything is weaker isn’t a good sign overall for anyone… unless all you really care about is generic stats and winning.
I would also be interested to know if 2020 leagues are in fact bringing people into the game or whether it’s just something corporates are generally using for a cheap place to ‘entertain’ clients.
You can argue that people are people but if they aren’t going to support the game by playing or organising then tbh… they aren’t much use
I wonder how many kids actually take up the game and then give up bored of 2020 when the same 3-4 do the bulk of the batting and bowling etc etc.
I know someone here loves 2020 and reckons everyone should play it but I really don’t think it’s the format to save the game and is a red herring created purely to make money. Money men remember do not care one bit about survival of the game, quality of the game..
Big Bash isn’t a great standard.. it’s just ‘fun’ to watch.. that will make money.. but won’t raise the standard of the game in anyway.
Kids are limited in the overs they can bowl and have to retire after 25 runs I think. Most clubs try to be accommodating otherwise kids don’t come back.
YOu need to go visit as many clubs as you can and look on play cricket scorecards.. sadly that isn’t what happens. It’s the same few getting to bat nad bowl as clubs simply don’t care about the average to crap kids.. they are just income and are expected to quit.
Until that mentality changes nothing will change. Jnr cricket is like our football used to be.. simply get as many kids as you can in, ensure the good ones are treated well.. rest.. who cares
Not entirely true – it depends on the club. I play for a middling village club in Surrey and we regularly play what would be called ‘average to crap’ 14-17 year olds in our 3rds (and sometimes 2nds). We know they are the future of the club and we also know that the best kids will be poached by the likes of Guildford anyway. Like many other village clubs around here we also have u13, u11 and u10 teams playing their own fixtures.
There is no requirement for kids to retire at 25 when they play a senior game (which they cannot do until 13). They are over limited (although it beats me why 17/18 year olds should be limited when 60 year olds can be bowled into the ground. :)
Don’t waste your time mate. Anyone who has any experience with junior cricket leagues or bringing kids through to adult level would agree 100% with what you are saying. Most kids teams are bowled out in 20 overs, never mind only “3 or 4” getting a bat!
Madaboutcricket just has a bee in his bonnet about T20 cricket and doesn’t care that the lines he is spouting are complete bollocks. Several people have explained this to him before, he’s not interested in listening.
“I wonder how many kids actually take up the game and then give up bored of 2020 when the same 3-4 do the bulk of the batting and bowling etc etc.”
Why do you keep repeating this nonsense when I’ve explained to you several times that its not the case? In the vast, vast, vast majority of T20 leagues around the country, batsmen have a set retirement and bowlers bowl 3 overs only. There is far, far more T20 cricket played in the UK than all the other formats of cricket put together.
There’s a word for deliberately saying something you know not to be true, its called “lying”. You’re a liar and a troll.
Stop trolling, its just embarrassing.
yes I forgot, you know best. Sure.. fine.. woo.. you do know everything.. jedi master.. woo
haha
Feel free to never comment on anything I put and I’ll feel free to never comment on yours. Job done.
Perhaps if you just stopped talking out of your arse, then other fans of this website wouldn’t have to repeatedly point out that you were talking out of your arse.
Are you a junior cricket coach or administrator? How many T20 leagues are you involved in? I coach 2 junior club teams, a development squad, a county squad, and have captained 4 different adult teams in 3 different T20 leagues around the country. I know what I’m talking about. I don’t think you do.
THe other thing no one talks about is the quality of coaching.
We live in an era that puts qualifications above everything.. if you are willing ot pay the money to sit on a course you get a piece of paper and suddenly you are better suited to do a job..
Why do we have more coaches than ever before and yet are failing to produce the quality?? WHy does the captain of Englands Test team have to go to a outside batting consultant ?? why are the ECB employing ramprakash and all the other coaches within the ECB… Who are the coaches not producing spinners… who are the bowling coaches who aren’t able to fix bowlers like Finn….
etc etc
Something is wrong massively within the system coaching wise, administration wise within the game.
The issue of producing spinners is a difficult one. Most county sides will run with one specialist spinner (plus an all rounder) whilst have 3 specialist seamer roles. This means there are fewer opportunities for young spinners to break into county sides than for young seamers. This is especially seen when the county side has an overseas spinner. Warwickshire have had Jeetan Patel for about 6 years which has limited opportunities for the likes of Poysden, and Derbyshire have just announced the signing of Imran Tahir for 2017 which could be catastrophic for the development of Matt Critchley, perhaps the most promising spinning all rounder amongst Englsih youngsters.
With spinners I am convinced the talent exists. It is the opportunities to develop which are scarce.
Poysden signed a new contract this week so let’s hope he’s been promised more opportunities.
You’d think with 18 counties, there would be ample opportunities for a half-decent spinner to develop every now and then.
Its two things: firstly the attitude towards turning pitches has to change. A pitch which turns even slightly on day 1 is marked as substandard and the county fined. That’s bullshit. People need to change their attitudes. A pitch that spins on day one is no worse than a pitch that seams on day 1. The only really “bad” pitches are ones with extreme variations in bounce. Everything else is fair game in my opinion.
Secondly, a lot of the spin bowling coaching at the minute is just plain wrong. They have this obsession with spin bowlers having a dead-straight run-up like a fast bowler and then having this huge pivot into a side on position at BFC, despite the fact that the best spin bowlers over the past 100 years have always approached the crease at a slight angle! Just look at Ansari – you can tell the ECB coaches have been at him, that’s why he drops short so often and gets clobbered.
Coaching qualifications are valid and useful and definitely improve your coaching ability.
However, having been on several courses myself, the quality of the advice on HOW to coach seems a lot more advanced than the advice given on WHAT to coach – which not only changes frequently, but is often complete bollocks, in my humble opinion.
They’ve actually had a radical switch in recent years – I did a course in 2012, and then another a few years later, and they’ve swung from being overly technically prescriptive to virtually banning any technique coaching whatsoever.
I never thought I’d see Ben Stokes and “cerebral performance” in the same sentence.
Back when there was an abundance of overseas players involved in county cricket I used to argue England was the only country in the world that didn’t have a home ground advantage. England might (and I stress “might”) have won a few more games at home in the 80’s and 90’s had less of the opposition had less experience playing in English conditions.
Some-one might be able to correct me about this but I have also seen the decline in standard in the shield competition linked to abolishing the seconds games. I think they now (or at least for a time) had an under 25 competition instead of playing Shield seconds. I’m told there was quite a difference in standard.
The 2017 CC fixtures were published overnight.
This is very interesting from Dobell:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/1068294.html
The details near the end of what Surrey’s report into broadcasting rights has found are very different to what the ECB and their stooges have been putting about.
Did anyone read the market research paper? http://www.sportcal.com/pdf/documents/oando/cricket_insight_paper.pdf