THE GOOGLY: Simon Katich letter row shows what a tough job new county MD faces

HUW TURBERVILL: Gordon Hollins is leaving and his replacement will find it hard to assure counties and fans they are not being usurped

"It's time for all sides to pull together for the common good…"

No, I'm not talking about the aftermath of the general election, but trying to repair the schism between English and Welsh cricket's governors and its followers.

Gordon Hollins leaves the ECB as managing director of county cricket in January, and consultants SRI are searching for his replacement.

He'd not been in the job long – only taking the position in January this year, although he had worked for the governing body for almost 12 years beforehand.

The position was created after difficult talks between the ECB and the 18 first-class counties over The Hundred and the County Partnership Agreement in the autumn of 2018. The latter governs both the professional and recreational relationships between the ECB and counties from 2020 to 2024 (the same timeframe as the new television deal). 

The MD role was seen a conduit, giving counties a bit more clout and voice, and soothing some troubled brows.

I saw him as a bit like John Prescott to the ECB's Tony Blair, applying emollient to the concerns of the domestic foot-soldiers.

Who on earth is The Hundred for? We try to identify the ECB's mysterious 'new audience'

From the outside it looks a tough job. The counties are battling for their longevity and health against a worrying backdrop: many have serious debts and a shortage of members, and there's no hiding from the fact that eight new city-based, non-county teams have been created for The Hundred. Fears of usurpation abound.

One might wonder if Hollins walked away because he found it hard, but apparently that is not the case. 

Nevertheless, whoever succeeds him will face a backdrop of intrigue and suspicion.

You have all heard the conspiracy theories about the ECB wanting to abolish the counties – if not all of them, then at least some of them. 

However, ECB chairman Colin Graves and chief executive Tom Harrison strongly refuted this before the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee in October.

"We're lucky to have a national network of first-class and National Counties (formerly Minor Counties) that do an incredible job at developing players and massive interest across the country," said Harrison, while Graves added: "There is a role for all those counties to play – some big, some small... but all part of the cricketing family."

Take an event this week, though. 

^{The ECB insists there will be no conflict of interest between counties and teams in The Hundred}

Simon Katich, head coach of Manchester Originals, wrote an 'open letter' to Lancashire supporters on the county's website, encouraging them to attend Hundred fixtures at Old Trafford. It said that "the Originals are an extension of this great county" and that "the squad… is built around a core group of Red Rose players".

Critics of the ECB and The Hundred (some might say, mischievously, the usual suspects) leapt on this as proof of a conspiracy. Andy Nash is the ex-ECB-board-member-turned-renegade, the former chairman of Somerset who spoke out against the ECB's plans to the DCMS select committee.

On Twitter, he said it was "clear evidence [that the Hundred] elevates the eight hosts and leaves 10 counties as bystanders".

Fans whose loyalty will be to Lancashire in the Royal London Cup that runs alongside the new competition will already by aggrieved that they will not see Jos Buttler, Saqib Mahmood, Matt Parkinson and Dane Vilas in action, while the Originals have also seconded Lancashire head coach Glen Chapple.

ESPNcricinfo reported an ECB spokesperson as saying that there is no overlap in the two teams' governance, that Katich is not employed by the club, and that it has introduced safeguards to ensure that no conflict of interest arises. "The letter was taken down as it was inadvertently misleading," said the county.

Expect these battles to intensify before the new competition begins in July.

So what else will be in the inbox of Hollins' successor?

The job spec says the ECB is responsible for "growing and nurturing the core domestic game – including all county cricket across all formats… The county structure is the factory and production line for all England cricketers – it's where their careers begin and end."

^{Jos Buttler is unlikely to be seen much in Lancashire red next season}

The newcomer will have "gravity and credibility to lead and inspire a number of diverse teams" and "will broaden the reach and relevance of cricket through our County network". They will be "responsible for growing and nurturing the core domestic game, delivering the Inspiring Generations strategy and overseeing all engagement with the First Class Counties and County Boards". They will also "support [counties] to grow their business", and will liaise with the ECB cricket committee, now chaired by Andrew Strauss.

Apart from the odd obsession that all sports clubs/organisations seem to have with needlessly capping up words (the Club, the County etc), the job spec seems fairly clear.

No doubt they will also have input into that nebulous maze that is the fixture list, compiled by Alan Fordham. The 2020 edition, published in full in the January/Christmas edition of The Cricketer, has raised eyebrows.

Seven Championship matches out of 14 by the end of May, and another four in September. The Blast goes from the end of May until The Hundred starts in mid-July. The 50-over matches are alongside The Hundred (although Ashley Giles, managing director of England cricket, would prefer it to be the Championship). 

Who was responsible for the four-day games being shunted to the extremities of the season? It looks as if it's the counties, who want their lucrative Blast games played when the weather is best. At what cost to the Test game, one wonders?

Likewise, the £1.3m per year each county will receive as a result of agreeing to The Hundred will help in the short to medium terms, but how healthy are their futures in the long term?

Hollins' successor will find out soon enough.

^{Former Somerset chief Andy Nash is one of the biggest critics of The Hundred}

There were lots of interesting things that came out of the ECB/DCMS hearing.

One of the topics addressed by Nash was especially intriguing, though: a bespoke alternative to The Hundred, splitting the Blast into two divisions of nine teams each.

We'd heard before from the ECB that the BBC were not interested in county cricket, and Graves repeated this at the House of Commons: Auntie wanted something fresh to sit alongside The One Show, Pointless Celebrities and RuPaul's Drag Race UK.

So it got me wondering – could the ECB and counties have not just pretended it was something new? Do a Warwickshire, who have played in the Blast as Birmingham Bears since 2014.

Same squads, but you'd have Leicester v South London, North London v Newcastle, Brighton v Manchester, and so on… A trojan horse/smokescreen: a lot of the kool kat commissioning editors at the Beeb would never have known the difference.

There are a few problems with this idea.

I genuinely believe – controversial opinion warning – that the new Hundred teams have piqued the interest of some youngsters, as did the draft. I also take on board the view that they/it may also appeal to the South Asian community – one not renowned for embracing county cricket – in its resemblance to the IPL/PSL/BPL/CPL etc.

There's also no guarantee that the teams with the Test venues would be in the top flight (or Premier League) of this new Blast. Just look at last summer's competition: Glamorgan, Hampshire, Surrey and Warwickshire/Birmingham all struggled.

So bumper crowds in big venues would not be guaranteed... but then many believe that is hardly a given in The Hundred, eh?

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