Morgan backs return to three-day cricket

David Morgan: 'To have a two-division Championship in which Lancashire and Yorkshire don't play each other is short-changing the game and the public' © Getty Images

David Morgan, the chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board, has surprisingly revealed that he will push for a return to three-day cricket and a one-division Championship. The Championship was split into two divisions in 2001, and Morgan has made no secret of his belief that a single division would be preferable.

Speaking in the Independent on Sunday, Morgan said that there was "real merit in a single Championship, where winning the title would impress everybody. To have a two-division Championship in which Lancashire and Yorkshire don't play each other is short-changing the game and the public. If you look at the last few years you will have seen by accident the best bowlers in one division and the best batsmen in the other. What the hell is the point in that?"

While there will be changes in 2006, it is little more than tinkering, with a reduction in the number of sides promoted and relegated from three to two.

"The jury is definitely out on two divisions," Morgan continued. "The former board discussed it informally and it is something we must address."

What will raise more eyebrows is Morgan's desire to go back to three-day matches, with 120 overs-a-day minimum as opposed to the present requirement of 104 overs. "It would give the players some rest and it might do wonders to speed to over-rate, a real cause for concern," he explained. When a minimum over number was first implemented in the 1980s it was set at 120, but it was soon reduced as matches regularly ran an hour or more past the scheduled close.

Many county members would support Morgan. The four-day format has not been popular with them, and thoughtless scheduling has not helped with many counties barely playing any first-class cricket at weekends.