C Martin-Jenkins; ECB make steps to reach the top (4 May 1998)

4 May 1998

ECB make steps to reach the top

Christopher Martin-Jenkins

FOR reforming zeal the present Government cannot begin to compare with the England and Wales Cricket Board. Like the Bolsheviks of immediate post-revolutionary Russia, Comrades MacLaurin and Lamb are intent on a purge which will reach every corner of the game. They are doing it with the full agreement of the majority of the peasants and at least some of the aristocracy and they are getting most, but not all, of their reforming programme right.

The lingering bastions of conservatism in the counties may have limited the imminent changes to the professional tier of the game to abolition of the Benson and Hedges Cup, the introduction of two divisions to the 40-over league, an extended NatWest Trophy taking in 38 counties and a new knockout competition for the top eight in the Britannic Assurance County Championship, but that is probably sufficient for the time being. It is just below the level of first-team professional cricket that the old order is changing fast.

Club and county second XI cricket is in the process of being thoroughly reformed and the offensive on the schools has begun in earnest. Sixty-five cricket development officers are already employed full-time to attend to the grass roots and more are planned.

The ECB have just issued a bullish survey of junior cricket, but it would be wise to take the results with a largeish pinch of salt. The claimed figures are that 51 per cent of primary schools and 67 per cent of secondary schools play cricket. But how much cricket and how many matches?

At least development officers are in the field now doing something about it. Moreover, there is no doubting the claim that 50 per cent of affiliated ECB clubs have junior sections and that more than half of primary schools now possess a Kwik Cricket kit.

These improvements are not new but those to county second XI and top-class club cricket are. Two new competitions have started with the intention of bringing professional and top-class amateur cricket closer together. Both tournaments impose a limit of two contracted professionals a match. Selection for one of these sides is something for the more ambitious club players to aspire to, and in the case of young ones the opportunities to catch the eye of county coaches will increase.

Selection is the province of the 38 county boards, an amalgam of county and club officials, and many may follow the initial approach of Sussex, which has been to choose young players for the 60-overs-a-side matches in the regional, 38-county competition. This is contested in eight groups, each county playing two home and two away games, before becoming a knockout for the top eight counties. They have gone for more experienced club players for the knockout cup, also contested by the 38 counties, this time over two days with a maximum of 100 overs a side.

Meanwhile, the county Second XI Championship for the young professionals - and sometimes older first-team reserves - is reduced to 12 matches this year, most of which will be played, by mutual consent, over four days rather than three. There is a growing view among county coaches that the ECB's original plan to phase out the Second XI Championship altogether would be a grave mistake. In the words of David Gilbert, formerly of Surrey, now Sussex, "the gap between first-team county cricket and club cricket is just too big to be bridged".

Gilbert points to the fact that in Australia, second-team state cricket has actually been more formally organised in recent years. He coached Queensland's second XI to nine wins out of nine in 1993-94 and a year later many of the best young players in his charge went on to win the senior Sheffield Shield.

What the county board competitions should achieve in time is a certain reduction in full-time county playing staffs. So long as the first-team programme remains as heavy as it is, serious reductions are unrealistic but for those who remain salaries should improve, as they need to if talented young all-round sportsmen are to opt for cricket, unlike the Neville brothers of Manchester United or Liam Botham of Cardiff RFC.

Club cricket has answered the call for change with remarkable enthusiasm during the recent winter. In most parts of the country, with the most notable exception of Lancashire, clubs are sorting themselves into pyramid structures and in some areas preparing the way for regional leagues.

It has already happened around Birmingham, where 12 clubs from Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Staffordshire have formed the new Birmingham and District Premier League. For the moment they are continuing with 110-overs games, with a limit of 55 overs for the side batting first, but from next year they plan to play either 120 overs in a single day or 200 over two days.

In many areas the top leagues in each county are holding eliminations throughout this season to narrow down the top clubs even more. Surrey, Sussex, Essex, Kent, Middlesex and Devon are among them. In Yorkshire they are playing 10 weekend fixtures in the Australian style of 100 overs a day: essentially single innings matches but with the potential for extra points if one side dominate to the extent of bowling the opposition out twice.

Where the ECB plans may be going too far, at least in some areas, is in hoping for regional premier leagues and two-day cricket. Feeder leagues building to a premier competition in each county - a genuine pyramid - are essential and almost everyone accepts as much; but there is a limit to the commitment of time that amateur cricketers can reasonably be asked to make and much to be said for a top league in each of the 38 counties. That would cut down on travelling and expenditure and allow all county clubs to maintain a proper liaison with all the players within their boundaries, thereby building loyalty and common purpose.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)