Davidson accuses ECB of 'talking nonsense'

John Carr: accused of putting forward 'crackpot proposals' © Getty Images

Under fire from the ECB for being to blame for many of the ills affecting county cricket, one of the county chairmen attacked recently by the board has hit back. In an exclusive interview in today's Daily Telegraph, Neil Davidson, chairman of Leicestershire, accused the ECB of "talking nonsense".

Davidson, who runs Arla Foods, the country's biggest milk supplier, defended the position of his fellow chairmen. "The majority of us are not old farts, but are either entrepreneurs or running businesses, and the average age of the chairmen is 50. So when John Read [the then ECB press spokesman] says county cricket is holding back English cricket he is talking nonsense. The counties are English cricket. Without us there would be no Test team and no cricket in this country."

What really upset Davidson was the recent proposal put forward by the ECB, and rejected by the chairmen, for domestic reform. "These were crackpot proposals," he told the paper. "Lamb did not say much at the meeting but John Carr [cricket director] said this was for the good of cricket. But they had not tested it with the consumers."

Davidson admitted that four-day cricket will never draw the crowds in significant numbers, but said that it was vital for the future of the game. "[It's] not a bum-on-seat event. However it is necessary to produce players for the Test team and that is are our prize asset and our cash cow. But Twenty20 and the other one-day matches are bums-on-seats events and we need to make them happenings, like baseball in America.

"I would like the ECB to provide floodlights for all counties, to see Twenty20 made into a national league and played on a Friday evening so people can bring their kids and those who would otherwise go to the pub and drink, could drink at cricket. The National League should be 40 overs starting at 5pm."

And, like many of his colleagues, he was not happy with the way the Zimbabwe issue was handled. "The ECB were unfortunate to be caught in a political situation, but how did England find itself isolated on the world stage? The chairmen kept being told by the ECB we are going, when we really don't want to go. That is no way to handle such an issue."