CMJ: Counties mass in opposition to MacLaurin (13 Sep 1997)

Saturday 13 September 1997

Counties mass in opposition to MacLaurin

Christopher Martin-Jenkins

IT BECAME clear yesterday that Lord MacLaurin, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, miscalculated when he said he was strongly in favour of a split into two divisions of the County Championship.

Lines between counties have been humming ever since and by yesterday afternoon, the chairman and chief executives who have been co-ordinating opposition to the plan were predicting privately that only seven of the 19 voters at the First Class Forum on Monday - the 18 counties plus MCC - would definitely support two divisions.

The County Championship itself, by dint of the intriguing climax to the battle for the 1997 title, seemed to be making its own case for its continuation as a single league as Glamorgan neared the victory which could put them back in front of Kent with a game to go.

Meanwhile, in a further possible departure from the recommendations of `Raising The Standard`, England`s coach David Lloyd supported a call by Northamptonshire for a squad of players centrally contracted to the ECB each season.

The resentment at what some counties see as an attempt to push through two divisions was thinly disguised in a statement yesterday by Philip August, secretary of Gloucestershire: "Lord MacLaurin has been asking us to wipe away 120 years of traditon but most counties want to keep things as they are. We have now been presented with an opportunity to do this and we at Gloucestershire intend to take it."

He was referring to the alternative plan championed by Glamorgan, whose chairman, David Morgan, will also chair Monday`s meeting. His "enhanced championship" would keep an all-play-all league of 17 games but with the added incentive that the counties finishing in the top eight places would go into a brief knockout cup competition the following season. The bottom four counties would be penalised by having to play each other in the NatWest while the other 14 are pitted against minor counties.

Northamptonshire`s chief executive, Steve Coverdale, yesterday criticised the blueprint further for concluding that there is no justification "at this stage" for central England contracts or any alteration to the present voluntary code by which counties have agreed wherever possible to rest England players if so requested. Coverdale said: "Representing the England side now is like getting on to a treadmill."

Lloyd will push for a centrally managed England squad when he makes his report to the board on England`s defeat by Australia. Reacting to the news, he said: "What I say in my report is confidential but I`ve made no secret of the fact that we have to learn lessons from the way Australia and South Africa do it and to a lesser extent the West Indies and Pakistan, too.

"If we want to compete, we`ve got to be more professional in managing our players. No names, but twice this season, bowlers reported for England duty with injuries when they said they were fine. Test players needs rest, quality practice time with the best coaches of their specialist areas on the best surfaces, careful monitoring of their diet and fitness and a thorough analysis of the opposition."

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