The Cricketer Magazine – June 2018

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wickets (one of them Rahul Dravid) in his first over.
But, over the years, the ECB have diluted their own
product. They pushed it into the margins of the season,
where the need for spinners and fast bowlers was
minimised. They produced young player incentives which,
while well-intentioned, saw experienced pros replaced
by kids who should have been learning their trade in the
seconds. They made it harder to sign overseas players and
Kolpak registrations – under current legislation, neither
Viv Richards or Graeme Hick would have qualified for
county cricket when they first started – and they allowed
England-qualified players to miss chunks of the season to
play in Lions games, foreign domestic tournaments or, at
times, simply to go to the gym.
The final bit of tinkering – the introduction of an
eight-team top division ahead of the 2017 season – was
the catalyst for the conference idea. It meant that, at
the end of that season, a quarter of the teams in the top
division would be relegated. That caused consternation at
some of the bigger counties who felt the danger of
relegation hung over them all season and informed their
selection. It was also noted that sides in Division Two

• where sides no longer play all other sides home and

away – could be hugely advantaged or disadvantaged by

the luck of the fixture list: play the best sides twice and

promotion was far harder. And that, in turn, can influence

the strength of Division One.

The real problem remains the window for white-

ball cricket. While the ECB insist Test cricket is their

priority, the evidence suggests otherwise. For if you have

a window for white-ball cricket, you are prioritising

those formats at the expense of the first-class game. That

prioritisation is the reason the County Championship

has been pushed to the margins of the season and

compromised its effectiveness as a breeding ground for

Test cricket.

There are decent reasons for that window. The players

and coaches believe it helps them raise the standard

of the limited-overs game and it may help recruit

overseas players. But while it’s there – and while the

prime weeks of the summer are given over to white-ball

cricket and the revenue it raises – the Championship is

compromised. And if you compromise the Championship,

you compromise the development of the Test team.

Conferences aren’t the solution; they’re another step in

the wrong direction.

Above

Jonathan Trott

was so battle-

hardened that he

made a century on

Test debut

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OPINION | oPeNeRS