Mason Crane: "Comedy boundaries" in County Championship games not helping selection of spinners

The one-time England leg-spinner, who is on loan at Glamorgan from Hampshire, was the special guest on episode four of The Cricketer's County Conversation podcast

Mason Crane has pointed to the need to play domestic matches often with tiny boundaries on one side as a lingering issue facing the selection of spinners on the circuit.

Speaking to The Cricketer's County Conversation podcast, Crane – on loan at Glamorgan from Hampshire for this season – highlighted the need to play some county games right on the edge of the square, with the schedule so jampacked, as one of the reasons for spinners to be left out.

Crane was omitted from Glamorgan's side for the high-scoring draw with Middlesex in the opening week, with a vast hit out towards the Grand Stand offset by an exceedingly short boundary towards the Mound Stand at Lord's.

^{Mason Crane is on loan at Glamorgan for 2024 (Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)}

Glamorgan racked up 620 for 3 before declaring but, with five seamers in their ranks, struggled to make inroads. Their part-time spinners ended up bowling more than 60 overs between them.

"Had we been in the middle at Lord's, I think I'd have played, definitely," said Crane.

"But you turn up to these grounds and it becomes a bit of that – especially nowadays when people come out and have a bit of a hack sometimes. You look at it and go, 'Well, he could bowl the best spell of his life, but if people step across and top-edge it for six, then what's the point?

^{Glamorgan faced Middlesex with a particularly short boundary towards the Mound Stand (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)}

"There was a comedy boundary at Edgbaston last week. Playing at these grounds is great, but if people are going to start turning down singles to the boundary because they're not going to get there, we're in a territory where it's not proper cricket anymore. That needs to be looked at."

He added: "Championship cricket isn't on TV and doesn't need to be right in the middle, but you turn up to an outground and you're the main game – you play right in the middle; yes, it's small, but at least it's even, so you always tend to play there. But it's a point that no one tends to think about."

Available to download via Spotify, Acast, Apple and Google Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts), County Conversation is also viewable via The Cricketer's YouTube channel.

Alternatively, listen to episode four in its entirety below:

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