PCA chairman Daryl Mitchell argues independence 'paramount to the integrity' of The Hundred

There are concerns that with the county chiefs now directors on the boards of the eight new sides, they could pick directors of cricket and coaches from their own clubs. They in turn could be accused of preferring their own county players...

The people who select the teams for The Hundred must be seen to be independent, the Professional Cricketers’ Association have stressed.

There are concerns that with the county chiefs now directors on the boards of the eight new sides, they could pick directors of cricket and coaches from their own clubs. They in turn could be accused of preferring their own county players.

"Initially it was sold as something completely different and new," said Daryl Mitchell, on the day the Worcestershire batsman was re-elected for a second and final two-year term as PCA chairman at their annual meeting at The Kia Oval.

"But to have a director of cricket in charge of both lists (Hundred and county)… that is inherently not different. As soon as you start controlling two budgets there is a massive conflict of interest and there will be severe issues.

"I am amazed that the non-host teams that have been paired up with the host counties would even contemplate letting this happen. I think it’s signing your own death warrant to a certain degree and making life extra difficult for yourselves."

^{Daryl Mitchell}

The Cricketer revealed that the team based at Lord’s will be run by a board consisting of Guy Lavender, chief executive of MCC, and his two counterparts at Middlesex and Essex, Richard Goatley and Derek Bowden respectively, plus an independent. They in turn will select the players in this autumn’s draft.

Although Lavender will chair the decision-making for the Lord’s team, it is not a given that the host CEO will fulfil this role for all eight. Lancashire are believed to be the only county affiliated to the new Manchester/Old Trafford-based side though.

"The PCA and ECB were initially completely aligned on it," said Mitchell.

"I have sat on two cricket committee meetings where it’s been passed through that it has to be independent, it’s paramount to the integrity of the competition.

"I sat on the working group, which was pretty unanimous – it needed to be independent people in charge of selecting these teams, and from a players’ point of view it is imperative that you have the best 96 players. We don’t want bias or even the perception of bias. Everyone should have a fair and equal opportunity to be in that."

^{Old Trafford}

There are also concerns that if more players are picked from a certain county, that county will get more compensation from the ECB.

If a coach from a certain county was to lead one of the other teams though, any perception of bias would be eliminated.

The Hundred teams have not been named yet, but Mitchell revealed that a 'dummy player draft', ahead of the real thing in October, "worked well".

Each team will also have a 'wildcard pick' after the 2020 Blast.

"That will be a good opportunity for players,” said Mitchell. “Nobody had heard of Pat Brown last year before the 2018 Blast…"

Mitchell sounded upbeat about the new tournament. "It’s going to happen," he said. "It is imperative everyone gets behind it. It needs to be a success for all stakeholders. Obviously I am looking at it from a players' point of view, but from a broadcaster and supporter point of view it needs to be a success. The ramifications if it fails over the next four or five years could have quite seriously damaging effects for the counties.

"The positive thing from the guys and girls who played in the trial games is that the format was thought of quite highly. People enjoyed it. The skillset is similar if not identical to T20. You have the Powerplay balls at the start and the death balls at the end, and a slightly condensed middle period if you like.

^{Pat Brown}

"I think there are some who have not been involved in the trials who have still to be convinced. It is not necessarily positive across the whole of the game, but once they have started playing a few games and getting the idea behind it I think they will get it."

An ECB spokesperson said: “We have worked closely with the whole game to create a big opportunity for the whole game.

“The Hundred has already helped cricket in England and Wales to secure powerful partnerships with Sky and BBC, get live cricket on terrestrial TV and attract fresh revenues that will benefit cricket at all levels.

“Players are core - it has been important to have the PCA involved, players’ feedback from the pilot days was invaluable and we welcome their ongoing insights.

“Within the game’s formal governance process, support for the new competition and playing conditions has been overwhelmingly positive and we look forward to developing the competition even further over the next few months.”

Julian Metherell was also confirmed as the new non-executive chairman of the PCA board.

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