Is the future of county cricket under threat?
July 10th sees the first Zone 6 City Cricket event
George Dobell
09-Jul-2001
July 10th sees the first Zone 6 City Cricket event. Teams of six players
selected from three counties in the area roughly around the cities involved
(for example Manchester will include players from Derbyshire,
Nottinghamshire and Lancashire) will play an abbreviated form of the game.
If the event is an attempt to reach out to a new audience then it is to be
applauded. If however, it is an attempt to sow the seeds of the demise of
county cricket under the respectable guise of missionary activity, then
perhaps it should be resisted.
The last line of a recent PCA media release quotes from David
Lloyd: "In the late 60s, Cedric Rhodes, ex-Lancashire stalwart who was a
bit of a visionary and who held some outspoken views on cricket, once
remarked that the future of cricket lies with city cricket...."
This phrase, together with earlier comments from the PCA, suggests that this initiative is more than an attempt to raise some money and the profile of cricket in the inner cities. It could be the first step towards undermining the counties and replacing them with amalgamated teams based around the big cities.
"The original aim was to raise money for the PCA benevolent fund," Steve
Marsh, the former Kent wicket-keeper and now a leading light within the PCA,
told CricInfo.
"We hope and expect the event to be a success and we'd love to extend it.
Perhaps it could cover two weeks and encompass 18 cities, or involve teams
from Sydney, London and Cape Town.
"I do think this is a sign of things to come," Marsh admits. "We want
to attract new supporters to cricket - while retaining the established
ones - and we think that many people will associate more with cities than
counties."
But is it, I ask, an experiment that gives us our first look at the future
of domestic cricket in England?
"It's not our aim to but if that happens then great," he replies. "There is
a feeling that we need to be more competitive. We can learn from the
Australian and South African examples. If we had reduced staffs then yes, it
could well become competitive.
"If we took players from Middlesex, Surrey and Essex and formed one London
team you'd have a Test-strength side, that would enjoy higher quality
cricket against other strong teams. That would prepare the players better
for Test cricket."
"I'm not sure if that is the view of the PCA, but it is the view of most
players," Marsh says.
Some may say that we selected the best players from the 18 counties in the
last Test and still didn't have a Test-strength side. The question follows: is it necessary for us to contemplate losing the counties in order to improve at Test level? Wouldn't we be better served by supporting the clubs (there are several in inner city areas) in their attempts to reach out to new spectators, and to talk up county cricket? Ask John Bracewell or Mark Alleyne how much respect they feel they've gained for their unprecedented success in one-day cricket.
It's an unusual union that recommends unemployment for its members (what
would Scargill say?), but it comes as no surprise to Somerset Chief
Executive, Peter Anderson.
"They are so elitist," he said. "David Graveney [the Chief Executive of
the PCA] couldn't give a toss about junior players in county cricket.
"If I was a junior player and I was paying my subs' into the PCA I'd be
going to their meetings and demanding to know why they continually run down
the profession they're supposed to be protecting. These people who failed to
get a job in the corporate world think they can run cricket."
"We're used to the PCA telling us that they play too much cricket, but now
they've arranged to play more!" he adds.
Anderson isn't impressed by the support of the ECB for the counties. He has
been given assurances that counties will not be merged, but fears that there
may be a hidden agenda.
"We make 47% of the income for our club ourselves, and we could do even
better if they let us. The ECB are moving in the direction of putting out
regional sides to play the tourists, which means another of our big days
will go. And then they say we survive on a hand-out!" he says in
exasperation.
"There has been a concerted effort by leading cricket writers to destabilize
county cricket. They've tinkered here and there and brought in two
divisions, and now we keep hearing that regional cricket is the way to go.
"There is an uneasy alliance with David Graveney and his committments to the
ECB and the PCA. The ECB tell me that they don't want to get rid of the
counties but I just don't know what their real long term plans may be."
ECB spokesman Andrew Walpole had this response: "The ECB is dedicated to
protecting the 18 first-class counties. We support the PCA's initiative to
reach out to new audiences within the inner cities. The fact that the event
is part of our fixture list illustrates that it can co-exist with county
cricket."
There is an oft-repeated myth that no-one is interested in county cricket or
that county grounds are always empty; that the standards are low and that
the games aren't competitive - all nonsense. The county members, who
support the clubs financially and in spirit, have not been consulted.
They do not want their clubs undermined, particularly if it is
done in disingenuous fashion.
"I expect we will become a plc in due course," Anderson reveals, encouraging
the view that the current status quo is endangered.
"Cricket will never be the same," the Zone 6 adverts tell us. Isn't it
better the way it is?