| thecricketer.com | thecricketer.comThe News
Willis reveals his ‘2020 Vision’
He wants to divide the season in half,
fi rst to red ball, second to white
He calls for three divisions in the
Championship, with only 10 matches
Bransgrove backs him and believes
most central contracts should be axedEXCLUSIVE by Huw TurbervillBob Willis was the saviour at Headingley in
1981, and now he wants to rescue English
cricket again. With administrators working
on a new fi xture schedule from 2020, he
has unveiled his own ‘2020 Vision’.
The former fast bowler and now Sky
broadcaster calls it “a radical plan to
improve the quality and competitiveness
of County Championship cricket, thereby
producing better cricketers for England’s
Test team.” It is distinctive for dividing
the season into halves – the fi rst
is dedicated to red-ball cricket
“with no distractions”. White-
ball formats then take over in
the latter half.
County fans may be
disappointed to learn
that Willis wants
a reduction in
Championship
matches from 14to 10, with six teams in a Premier League
and six each in Divisions One and Two- not equal conferences, as many in the
domestic game are pushing for.
“The conference idea would lead to
another 20 years of mediocrity,” he
told The Cricketer. “The reduction in
Championship matches to 10 should give
a real big-occasion feel to each contest,”
he says. “If the laws of the land allow, only
players qualifi ed for England would play
in it.” He has also called for the Premier
League matches to be televised.
He wants Test preparation reduced
from three days to two, “because many
more centrally contracted players will
be playing in the Championship, where
they should be, rather than in the nets at
Test grounds”.
He wants one Test in May, two in June
and three in July, with only the last two
overlapping the counties’ T20, the Vitality
Blast. He believes no other cricket should
be played while the fi rst four Tests are on,
with county Blast games on in the evening
after the last two Tests. “It is imperative
that England contracted players are
available for the ECB’s new competition,
provisionally titled The 100. How on earth
can you not have Joe Root, Ben Stokes
and co playing in it? The ‘new’ audience
could enjoy the choice of two matches
each day. One 100 game starting at
lunchtime and one at teatime during the
school holidays. The best players in the
world should be tempted fi nancially to
take part.”
The counties, meanwhile, would play
each other home and away in the T
Blast in a total of 34 matches each from
mid-July to the end of August.
He is calling for England’s white-ball
cricket to be played in September, with
England Women’s in June and July.
Rod Bransgrove is impressed by the Willis
plan, and agrees that there should be three
Championship divisions of six, with 10
matches. “Bob has no real county bias, and
although I do not agree with all aspects of
his plan, it is an exceptional piece of work,”
he told The Cricketer. “We have to ensure
our fi rst-class game is protected, and to
do that we need to ensure our domestic
game is properly tended to.”
The Hampshire chairman has o ered
his own thoughts on what the calendar
should look like from 2020 – and the
headline is that he would abolish all but a
few central contracts.
“I’m a big fan of Duncan Fletcher, but
his concept of central contracts has
been extended too far. It used to beABOVE
‘Championship
matches should
have a real big-
occasion feel to
each contest’HARRY TRUMP/ GETTY IMAGES/GEOFF BARTON