Ashley Giles: We need another look at county cricket schedule

England's director of cricket has suggested whether Championship matches could be played alongside The Hundred.

The county schedule requires a major overhaul to help properly support the England team, according to director of cricket Ashley Giles.

Just 21% of red-ball matches during this season's County Championship were played in June, July and August, allowing England's players no preparation time for the Ashes.

Many players looked rusty and it led to the tourists retaining the urn after a series which was drawn 2-2.

Outgoing coach Trevor Bayliss took a swing at the domestic structure this week, criticising the quality of pitches, the development of players and the platform given to overseas stars.

Bayliss also put forward the idea of the Championship being reduced from 18 teams to 10 in an effort to increase the quality of the competition.

And while Giles does not want such a radical alteration he insists the schedule - which gives the T20 Blast (and from 2020 The Hundred) priority during the fulcrum of the summer - needs assessing.

"Our job is to protect those 18 counties, not get rid of them," said the former Warwickshire director of cricket. "That is where I stand on that. All of those counties has a role to play in developing players. On pitches, on the red-ball format this country it needs another look at. 

^{ECB chief executive Tom Harrison is leading the charge of The Hundred}

"That is no disrespect to any of the counties, the chairman of the chief-executives. We need to get together again and look at how that is played when we play it. That falls back to quality of pitches and quick matches."

Next summer, England play three Tests against West Indies in June and then Pakistan in August. The Hundred will be played between July 17 and August 15, with the T20 Blast group phase scheduled before the new 100-ball competition.

With such an onus on the white-ball format, Giles is desperate to incorporate some Championship cricket in between. But balancing those requirements against the ECB's priorities will be tricky.

"There are commercial benefits of T20," he stated. "I personally think The Hundred is going to be great. But could we look at playing some form of Championship cricket behind The Hundred? I know you'll say that 96 players will be missing but it will be an opportunity for some of our best young players to play alongside senior players at the height of summer. 

"Whether that forms part of a Championship on a reduced points basis I don't know. Just playing some red-ball cricket would be good for us. If your best players playing in The Hundred are only playing in 10 first class matches a year, that is ok."