Commentary: Regional games would foster the new breed (7 July 1997)

Monday 7 July 1997

Commentary: Regional games would foster the new breed

By Christopher Martin-Jenkins

FOR county cricket, the watershed of the season has arrived. On Wednesday, the second round of the NatWest Trophy will offer a final chance to counties who already know that they are out of the serious running for the bigger prize of the Britannic Assurance Cham- pionship: -L25,000 bigger, although the gap should be wider. At the end of the week, Surrey and Kent will contest the Benson and Hedges Cup final at Lord`s.

Only the AXA Life League offers possible consolation for those who otherwise face the second half of the season in limbo, but most of the pacemakers on Sunday are also among the front runners in the championship. Lancashire are the exception, but now they have emerged sleepy-eyed from the starting stalls, they might not quite be out of the championship race anyway.

There is no getting away from the differing priorities which now face counties like Sussex, Derbyshire, Durham and Northamptonshire. If, as everyone agrees in their heart of hearts, the strength of the England team is not just the first priority but the only one, the question must be asked, before the new die is cast on Aug 5, whether the relegation which would face these counties in a two-division system would hinder or help the development of possible England players?

Commercially, certainly, remaining championship games for the strugglers would be spicier if winning or losing might make the difference between staying up or going down. It would dissuade county coaches, however, from taking chances with young players of promise rather than older ones whose careers are in the twilight stage. The same applies, of course, to those counties who might be pursu- ing promotion. Better the devil we know would be the natural philosophy when choosing between 34-yearold John Smith, who has been having a modest season but has made his championship hundreds under pressure in the past, and 22-year-old Bill Brown, who is full of talent and second-XI runs.

What is certain is that for those promising youngsters who have found a way into the first XI, even in the weak and struggling sides, the prospect of regional matches against future touring teams will give opportunities which have not existed before to circumvent the rule that it is far easier to get picked for England if you are playing in a strong and successful side. It is no coincidence that Surrey, Kent and Lancashire between them provided seven of the XI playing in the third Test match.

Naturally, they would dominate in regional selections, too, but David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, is convinced that regional matches against the touring teams would both satisfy visiting teams wanting shorter tours and give him and his fellow-selectors valuable extra chances to assess rising talent from the 18 counties (even, perhaps, in exceptional cases, from all 38).

The 400 or so members of the Cricketers` Association have, I understand, shied away from a regional competition between themselves, apparently afraid that it would be against the interest of the majority of them individually because it would lead to smaller county staffs.

There is not much doubt that two divisions would have the same effect, so most players prefer only a slightly altered version of the status quo. What cannot be denied about the idea of a regional tour- nament accompanied by a 17-match county championship is that England players and those on the edge of national selection would miss even more championship games than they do now. Kent, Lancashire and, especially, Surrey would all claim that England selection has affected their progress in all competitions this season. But the whole debate can be summed up in three words: club versus country.

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