SIMON HUGHES: We at The Cricketer have drawn up our own draft schedule for the year 2020. It, and the explanation behind it, is published later this week
The Cricketer will present a blueprint for English cricket this week
It conjures up images of the old gentlemen and players era more than 60 years ago.
While the bulk of county professionals are caught up in the grip of white-ball fever - playing in the Royal London ODI series or the Vitality Blast - England’s two greatest Test players are having a private net practice at Lord’s (with a red ball.) It is a powerful statement.
With a tough five Test series against india on the horizon, Jimmy Anderson (540 Test wickets) and Alastair Cook (12,145 Test runs) have had no cricket for several weeks. Neither is part of their county’s T20 teams. With only one round of Championship matches in July, Cook hasn’t batted in a match since 27 June and Anderson’s last competitive bowl was in the Test against Pakistan six weeks ago (though part of that lay-off was deliberate to rehabilitate his long-term shoulder injury).
They have been obliged to cast around for some cricket to play to prepare for the Tests. They have finally found some. Anderson is turning out for Lancashire 2nd XI at Old Trafford and Cook requested to play in the England Lions' match against India A starting at Worcester on Monday.
National Selector Ed Smith and England Selector James Taylor at New Road
Meanwhile Dawid Malan, who does play white-ball cricket, was privately hoping he would not have to be on standby for England’s final ODI on Tuesday so he could also play in the Lions match and get some red-ball practice.
The lopsided nature of the domestic schedule is seriously damaging England’s health as a Test nation.
Since the County Championship was moved to the margins of the season, England’s Test performances have deteriorated. In the last two years their Test record is P27 W9 L15. Away from home it is a shocking P14 W1 L10.
Although interest in the Vitality Blast is continually growing, the clamour for a more even spread of Championship games is becoming defeaning - from players, coaches, observers and the public in general. You could feel it around Lord’s on Saturday as the monopoly of white-ball cricket increases.
The ECB claim that the domestic structure is based around the cricket that is ‘most popular’ (ie internationals and the T20 Blast).
But The Cricketer had almost 1,000 replies to a survey we conducted about the future of the domestic game, many including detailed and thoughtful suggestions for the way forward and most suggesting a much better spread of Championship matches throughout the season - for the health of the game overall as much as for their own benefit.
Alastair Cook has had to play for England Lions to get gametime with the red ball
They know that the popularity of the game reached a peak in 2005 when England won that great Ashes series and the country could celebrate a wining team. Look at the public momentum behind English football following England’s excellent World Cup campaign.
So we at the magazine have drawn up our own draft schedule for the year 2020. It, and the explanation behind it, is published later this week. The key elements are at least two and mostly three Championship rounds per month - even during the new city-based tournament in August, retention of Thursdays and Fridays for the T20 Vitality Blast in late May, June and July, and a shorter, sharper 50-over tournament - based on the regional Benson & Hedges Cup of the 1980s - in mid May.
There is also the option to play the first round of Championship matches abroad in early April. Playing those matches in West Indies or Dubai - where a lot of counties spend pre-season anyway - avoids the lottery of seamer friendly pitches in England and might get a few spinners bowling early season instead of sitting on the sidelines in April. The cost may be a little high, but the benefits - to there world game as much as the English one - could be considerable.
We hope we can gain some momentum for our ideas - based loosely around the thoughts of real cricket fans (which are rarely heard) - provide summer-round cricket for players in all formats - and help England back to the pinnacle of Test match cricket again, as well as winning the World Cup.
You can read our blueprint and much more in the August edition of The Cricketer, available from all good newsagents for £5.50 from Friday