Domestic cricket hopes for 50-over flourish

Steven Crook (Northants) I hope so. Watching that series showed what was possible. It feels as if the shackles have been broken. 500 might be possible.

Lewis Gregory (Somerset) I agree. It's shown what is possible. It shows a no fear attitude and it shows that you can take the T20 attitude into the 50-over game.

Angus Fraser The 50-over game has been much maligned. People have been writing its obituary since T20 came along. But I always think 50-over cricket is the best day of cricket you are likely to get. If you turn up to a Test to watch Joe Root but Australia are batting, you might not see him. And if you go to a T20 and your star batsman has a hack at his first ball - as he has to - and gets out, you don't see him, either. You get everything. You see bowlers bowling properly and batsmen building an innings. And the format has been rejuvenated by the World Cup and England's performances against New Zealand.

AF The aim at the World Cup was to play a similar game as we did in the New Zealand series. But if players aren't playing well enough, that is difficult. It's one thing to say you're going to play a certain way, but you need the pitches and the players to do it. You can't fast track the skills into players. But yes, the World Cup showed where we needed to be and, over a period of time, we will get there.

Everybody is aware of what happened at the World Cup. It was extremely disappointing. You get to a situation where you hit rock bottom and think we might as well go out there and have some fun. We had nothing to lose. Players went out there with that attitude. Huge credit must go to Paul Farbrace and Eoin Morgan. Players have known that, if they go out there and get it wrong, they will not be chastised. Eoin is a stubborn bugger, you know. He's a bloody good bloke, but he is stubborn. Even when England got it wrong in that New Zealand series, he was adamant that they would keep on doing it that way.

SC We put a lot of focus on our white-ball cricket at Northants. The Royal London is a big focus for us in the second half of the season. We've gone close to the semi-finals in the last couple of years, and hopefully we can make it this time. I love it, bowling aggressively and trying to smash it out of the park. It suits my game.

SC There are only a limited amount of pitches. When you're playing T20 and Championship matches and, at Northants, we have charity games on the square, too, there aren't many new pitches around. So we may not play on the surfaces we saw in the ODI series, but if we play with the right intent, we can still see some high scores.

AF I have huge sympathy for groundsmen. They have 20 games on any square and there are only so many pitches that can work for TV. Last year we played three games on the same pitch. But, with the good summer we've had, the groundsmen should be able to control the pitches. They should be able to control the amount of water they've put into them. And we're playing the competition in a bit of a window - at the end of July and in August - which will hopefully have allowed counties to prepare for it. We will play some games at outgrounds. There's more 50-over cricket at outgrounds.

Ravi Patel (Middlesex) At Lord's they always play to one side of the square for our games so one boundary is ridiculously short. It makes for an uneven battle between bat and ball.

SC Each player, each team, will play their own way. But the guys who stand out, the guys who get picked by England, will have to play that brand of cricket. But we're used to playing 40-over cricket - this is only the second year of 50 overs - so it may take a bit of time to get used to it.

AF People are under pressure to win. T20 scores tend to go down as the tournament goes on as pitches are reused. So it could be similar. The last year of 40-over cricket, you needed to score 280 to win, really. The scores had gone up already. Maybe you get yourself into a position at 30 overs and then play a T20 for the last bit of the innings. Get 160 or 180 in the last 20. But England didn't play like that. They were aggressive through their entire innings. There wasn't a late surge.

SC It's become one giant T20. But I don't think it's a generational thing. I'm pretty old, but I feel I go out and play aggressively. It's more about mentality. Some teams will play on low, slow wickets.

AF There is a danger that sides will think "we have to get 370" but they're on a 250 pitch and they get bowled out for 140. So, yes, the goal is there to play that style of cricket, but the surfaces and the skills will have an impact.

LG The game is becoming more about all-out aggression, yes. At Somerset we've looked at trying to take early wickets. The only way you'll stop people scoring 300 and more is by taking wickets. So with bat and ball, you have to take the aggressive option now. If you just try and contain and they have wickets in hand, you're going the distance.

But I don't know if you have to play that way. There are many ways to skin a cat. Look at Joe Root: he doesn't go out and whack the ball to all bats. He plays properly, he hits gaps and runs singles.

AF Kane Williamson from New Zealand is the same.

LG Yes. Sam Northeast doesn't look to whack it everywhere. You have to score quickly, no doubt.

RP You have to play your natural game. If you are a top-order batsman and you don't hit sixes, you can still win games for your team by being there at the end of a run-chase with an unbeaten 100. I don't think you have to change the way you play.

AF The game has progressed from when I played. And it is a more attractive game now. And that's good, as long as the skill levels are high. Runs are only worth something if the skill level of the batsman has gone up. Not if you're manufacturing a situation where batting is too easy.

LG It's a hard skill to execute. When you nail it, it's hard for a batsman to get it away. But if you miss if by even a foot, you go out of the park. So bowlers tend to feel there's more leeway with mixing it up and keeping the batsman guessing. But yes, if you get it right, it's not going far.

AF To some extent, a batsman makes a yorker. If they come down the pitch, or go back in his crease, it can make the difference between turning the same ball into a yorker, half-volley or full-toss. The other thing is, if you do get a yorker slightly wrong, a batsman can still score at 360 degrees. If you bang it in short, you are probably limiting their options to 120 degrees.

LG That's it. In the county game, there tends to be one side of the pitch that has a much longer boundary than the other side. So you try to utilise that. And, having played with Jos Buttler, I know that even yorkers can disappear. But yes, we practice the yorker a lot.

SC I think it's a massive part of the game. If you get the yorker right, it's hard to get away. Yes, some guys can, but they're taking risks to do it. It's the hardest ball to get out of the park.

AF We were talking about this the other day: are you better, as a bowler, just trying to hit the top of off stump? Bowlers are getting so funky now, moving around the crease, hiding the ball, but then most of the deliveries are going to miss the stumps. So the batsmen can do what they want with no consequences. At least if you bowl straight, you have a chance of taking wickets. And there's nothing that slows a batsman down more than getting him out.

LG James Hildreth was saying this the other day. As a batsman, he said "why don't you just try and hit the stumps? If the batsman misses, you hit." There are times when it pays to keep it that simple.

AF The bowler in me is happy he retired. Though we might have some games where sides set off trying to score 400 but are bowled out for 140. The fact that you can get it right and still go out of the park is interesting. I wonder if it affects the way you go about your business. Do you pursue the skills with the same intensity knowing that, even if you get it right, you can go miles. So do you press the gamble button and think I might as well go for it. Rather than remaining mentally strong and thinking that, if you get it right, you can have a huge impact? My answer would have been to slip in a couple of beamers!

LG You have to learn to live with that. There are going to be days when the batter gets on top. You have to understand that, if you execute the skill you were trying to execute and you still get smashed, then fine. You have to adapt to the wicket and the batsman.

RP Confidence in your ability is very important. You have to back yourself to deliver under pressure. I try to spin the ball hard and take wickets. Eoin Morgan is a great captain for me. He tells me to go and attack.

LG Yorkshire are always a decent side. At Somerset we're going to have a young team with a lot of allrounders, which will hopefully work well for us.

RP Warwickshire are a very good one-day side. They were runners-up last year - and they won the T20 - and they have a side full of all-rounders. They have a lot of England, or ex-England players, so they will be one to watch.

SC Warwickshire are a decent shout. I see them as a real threat. Lancashire, too, could do well.

AF Somerset have been a dangerous side for a while. They have lots of allrounders and the likes of Trego and Trescothick. And Kent did well last year and are doing well in the T20 Blast. They have a lot of dynamic batsmen who do play fearless cricket.

LG David Willey. He has the skills to make a big impact.

RP Sam Billings. I played a lot of youth cricket with him so I've seen him develop. He can hit 360 degrees and he is very confident.

SC Having missed a lot of last year, David Willey can do something special. He's had an injury, so maybe he will need to start as a batter, but he has won games for us as a batsman. He is a very dangerous player.

AF Sam Northeast has had an outstanding T20 campaign - I think he's the second highest run-scorer - and Tom Westley is a dangerous cricketer. He did well last year and someone who I think will push through. David Payne at Gloucestershire did well last year, too.

LG I agree with Ravi, Sam Billings at Taunton last year was just silly. He may well have been the best player I played against last year.

RP As a spinner, I really like Jeetan Patel. He has a massive impact in most games he plays. He bowled incredibly well in the final last year and almost won the game for Warwickshire.

SC Rikki Clarke is a terrific player. I've played against him a lot over the years and, right now, he is on top of his game. He is contributing with bat and ball he is a lot of the reason why Warwickshire are doing well in white ball cricket. He bowls well up front and he smashes it all over the place. And he is an unbelievable fielder.

AF I was going to say the same thing: Patel and Clarke.

AF: It's a fair question. And you're going to get a fair answer: that's not for you to know.

AF Every side will have played half-a-dozen group games before we sit down to select the ODI side against Australia. It will be relevant. The side did pretty well against New Zealand so you have a nucleus there but people can come through and shine.

The long-term goal remains the 2019 World Cup. You can see that there is a correlation between the sides that get through to major global finals and the number of caps they have within that team. So to have a large proportion of the squad playing a large number of games ahead of the next world cup would be advantageous. And, as we've been saying, the 50-over game has become a long T20. When we sat down to select the T20 side against New Zealand it was the same. The cricket is producing the same skills.

Yes, the next two global 50-over events are played in England in the first half of the season. But the Kookaburra ball does a bit less and good players adapt.

RP I see it as an opportunity, yes. Since Graeme Swann retired, there has been a hole. Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali are doing well, so I need to emulate what they're doing. But it's more important for me to think about what I do and try to be successful than to look too far ahead. I'm a big admirer of Moeen.

LG I enjoyed the taste of the England one-day set-up for the game in Ireland in May. It definitely makes me hungry for more. The Royal London is a chance to show what you can do in 50-over cricket.