CM Jenkins: Cure To Hand For Ailing England (12 Mar 1996)

The Electronic Telegraph Tuesday 12 March 1996

Cure to hand for ailing England

While the party is certainly over this time, Christopher Martin- Jenkins lays down his guidelines for a rosier future

THE England players,flying from Islamabad, arrive hometoday, one part of them dejected to be the first England side in six World Cups not to reach a semi-final, the other relieved to have left behind the dust, hassle and a downward spiral of defeat and consequent demoralisation.

There are solutions to all England`s problems, at the top and at all levels of the pyramid beneath. They are listed below, to save time and trouble for the Acfield working party, the latest one set up in order to delay painful decisions by county committees whose first and over-riding instincts have been selfpreservation.

They must now seek the common good. We should not exaggerate the problem: the World Cup is the most important one-day competition but Test cricket is still the ultimate trial of strength.

Nevertheless, England cannot afford to underestimate the importance of one-day cricket in the modern scale of values. In the limited-overs game, only Zimbabwe of the Test-playing countries are inferior to England, on the evidence of the World Cup.

The Test record points the same way. Going back only to 1987, although the malaise dates from much earlier with a single false dawn in Australia in 1986-87, the overseas record is eight series lost to one won; 17 Tests lost, five won. At home, it is five series lost, four won; 20 Tests lost, 11 won.

A lack of class is the first reason for England`s relative decline, but through lack of thoroughness and the right sort of preparation we do not even make the best use of what we have. Outstanding players like Dominic Cork and Darren Gough do not last because they are stretched too far.

The words of the chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board, Dennis Silk, that many people running the game at county level "have been living in a fools` paradise" are merely a public expression of what he has been privately saying and thinking since he conscientiously made it his business to join part of all the England tours after he retired from teaching. That he has waited so long to say it and been so powerless to act to put things right is, of course, a part of the problem. He has been afraid of upsetting the counties.

Only if the counties, through the new Board, are prepared to entrust well-chosen officials with the power to make reasonable decisions will there be any chance of greater control of, and swifter reaction to, world events. Silk, for example, was prevented by opposition from other members of his executive committee last November from setting up the national academy which, by giving special training in all aspects of cricket to various age-groups, can only help.

By combining the new indoor facilities at Lord`s and an excellent outdoor ground with residential accommodation at the Shenley Cricket Centre in Hertfordshire, now a charitable trust, the academy could start within weeks.

The mission is to ensure that every child has the chance to play, talent is nurtured from boyhood, the county game continues the development, and the Test team is given every chance and suitable reward. The professional game must generate the necessary money but without compromising the national team. Here are the other solutions:

* Retain Ray Illingworth as chairman of selectors and manager of the England team until the end of this season.

* Give him and his successors the undisputed right to withdraw a player or players from any county matches if it is in the interests of the England team. The right must not be abused (why should it be?) and counties should be compensated by the Board at a rate of #500 a day for the loss of a player`s services.

* Retain Mike Atherton as captain of the England team for the next 12 months at least.

* Appoint John Barclay as manager and Dermot Reeve as coach for the next three years from October 1996. Reeve is bumptious and ambitious and they say he has his own agenda, but he is full of ideas, a proven leader, in tune with the methods of Bob Woolmer, lively, positive and not a regular enough member of England sides for it to be a problem that he will have played with so many of the team.

* Barclay and Reeve must work closely with county coaches and captains. These two, plus Atherton, will advise an experienced selection committee of three former Test players who have time to watch a lot of cricket.

* Appoint at once a full-time press officer who understands the needs of the media and of the England team and management and can satisfy both, as happens in South Africa.

* Cut England`s tour next winter to six weeks in Zimbabwe, eight in New Zealand. No subsequent England tour to begin before November or end later than April 10 (in the case of West Indies tours, players to have three weeks` break before starting the home season).

* England to lobby the International Cricket Council for an absolute upper limit to the number of Tests and one-day internationals any country may play in a calendar year - say 10 Tests and 15 internationals.

* Finalise a National Development Plan by April 1996 to attract badly needed National Lottery and Sports Council finance.

* Start an England Cricket Board from October 1996, formed of 38 counties, each with their own cricket board responsible for the development and administration of the game in their area, to be financed by government (Sports Council and Lottery) and ECB money. First-class counties to have two votes to remainder`s one on matters pertaining to first-class cricket, but all to be subject to the decisions of the board`s management on all playing and financial matters.

* The new chief executive of the board to be someone with fresh ideas, with a proven record in management but a working knowledge of the game at all levels - possibly Tony Cross, the Warwickshire vicechairman, better, someone of similar calibre with no county axe to grind.

* Existing executives of the TCCB to have similar roles on the new board to allow for a smooth transition, but to accept the need for change.

* Cricket, as opposed to marketing, to be jointly run by a manager of national cricket (Illingworth until September, Barclay from October) running England affairs at all levels, and a director of national development, initially Micky Stewart. These two managers to be of equal status, well paid and to co-operate fully with county coaches and administrators.

* Abolish the Benson and Hedges Cup from 1997.

* Consider abolishing one of the other one-day tournaments from 1999, or reducing the number of Sunday games by playing in two regions with semi-finals and final for top two in each league.

* Abolish the Second XI Championship and the Minor Counties Championship from 1997 and replace them with an ECB Championship, sponsored, in four regional zones, knock-out for winners of each league with a final at Lord`s. Two-day matches with first innings points as in leagues in Australia and South Africa.

* Reduce professional county staffs to 18 from 1997, plus two or three university students on contract from mid-June: some threeday second XI cricket to be played, but emphasis on practice under enlightened coaching.

* From 1997, touring teams to England to play only a few warm-up matches against the top four teams in the previous year`s championship, plus six four-day games against six regions, each formed from groups of three of the existing first-class counties, chosen by national selectors in consultation with county coaches.

* This year`s selectors to follow the policy of Australia after the 1987 World Cup; in other words, to identify players of talent and character, to nurture them in every way by close co-operation with their county coaches and physiotherapists and to stick with them for as long as is reasonable.

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