County Cricket / Paul Moon / 19 March 2008 / 2 Comments

Pablo Luna - Moonlighting for Betfair. Pablo attempts to dissect the problems at the heart of English cricket and calls for wholesale changes in the management

In England we need to accept that our county cricket is dire and in its death throes before we can move forward! The standard is wretched. I have a few submissions, which obviously need debate and clarification, but we must change or perish!

English cricket needs to accept that the economic power is with India. The halcyon days of English supremacy is a thing of the past. India now generates 80% of world cricket's income. £411m has been spent on TV rights for a 59-match competition in April and this will succeed and become a regular feature in the cricketing calendar. Though purists will scoff at it we have no option but to delay the start of our season to May. Cricket in England in April is always dismal and disrupted so this is not a real problem.

Unfortunately this does illustrate a fundamental problem for world cricket regarding the lack of a proper governing structure. Cricket has become dysfunctional.

We need to create a Premiership with just 6 teams playing 10 games. The Premiership should be heavily promoted and supported by the ECB with new sponsorship helping its financing. These counties need to attract and play the best players so a transfer system should be created. This would stop dilution and create a potent top tier of cricket like the Pura Cup in Australia.

The other 12 counties could be divided into two leagues of six sides with a single side aiming for promotion. The extra playing time would allow the ECB to move quickly to create something similar (obviously not as lucrative) to the Indian Cricket Leagues.

Positive cricket must be rewarded. The points system must be changed. The best national sides play with a positive attitude and this must filter upwards.

The state of the pitches must be addressed by the ECB. Playing on slow lifeless tracks for most of the summer is not the right preparation for Test cricket where you face real fast bowlers and world class spinners.

I am not against the Kolpak Ruling but there should be eight guaranteed places for Englishmen eligible to play for England. Real financial incentives must be imposed by the ECB. Central funding to counties should be determined by the percentage of contracted players employed who are qualified for England. Success in developing players who will eventually play for England should be rewarded. The criteria for approving foreign players must be tightened to ensure only excellent players come in. My views on the Kolpak Ruling can be found at:

http://betting.betfair.com/cricket/indian-premier-league/will-the-birth-of-the-indian-premier-league-signal-050308.html

The ECB should not allow the needs of the counties to get in the way of the national team and the development of the next national team. If they did they should be punished. The counties mandate should be to provide England with the requisite players. The buck stops with the ECB.

The administrators of English cricket are at best mundane and at worst a disgrace! Hapless Peter Moores has taken our national team backwards from Duncan Fletcher and I did not think that possible. What exactly has he done? With other dithering selectors, Geoff Miller, Ashley Giles and James Whitaker we really have a gaggle of losers. I abhor the jobs for the boys approach within the ECB and would like those above sacked along with Hugh Morris and Mike Gatting. Retaining the status quo is not an option! We need a more dynamic and forceful approach!

Lazy David Graveney got the boot from being a selector but landed the National Performance Manager - what is that all about? He said "I feel that I can play an important part in ensuring that we maintain a consistent flow of world-class talent from the county academies into our international teams at all levels". Maintain? Maintain world-class talent? What world-class talent? He must be having a laugh and at our expense!

Our national team should be a beacon to youngsters, it is not even a candle. The team is not revered unlike India, Pakistan or Australia. I suppose you could call Kevin Pietersen a role model of sorts but who else in the team would encourage a youngster to sacrifice?

I would make Sir Ian Botham, Bob Willis and Mike Atherton the selectors. I would make Nasser Hussain Managing Director of the ECB. I would get rid of all the other peripheral jobs. Their remit would be to compete and build towards the next 2009 Ashes series in Test Cricket and to build a side that would take us close to the 2011 ODI World Cup in Asia.

Nevertheless, the county cricket this season starts on Wednesday 16 April 2008 and turns my thoughts to who can get out of the LV County Championship Division 2. It does seem strange that we have Warwickshire [2.82] Essex [4.5] Worcestershire [5.1] and Middlesex [5.1] in this division. Surely one of these will win it? Somerset at [16.5] to win Division 1 interests me. If [21.0] were offered I would put my £50 on it. They will have openers Langer and Trescothick playing all year and look like they are going forward.

Note: Would a change in the structure of English cricket be beneficial for the game? It is one of those debates that'll rumble on and will cause chatter and arguments around the cricket fraternity day in and day out for year on year. This summer with The Ashes Betfair are putting a website together that'll show exactly how fans react when up against each other when talking about this five test series. To check it out please visit fan v fan

Tags: Nasser Hussain, Peter Moores, Sir Ian Botham