Northants Cricket:
Big Interview with new Northants Cricket Chief, David Smith.
NORTHANTS chief executive David Smith has condemned the proposed changes to the domestic cricketing schedule recommended by the Morgan Report.
The English Cricket Board’s management committee ratified the report, which was composed by the former ECB and ICC chairman, at a meeting held at Lord’s this week with a view to introducing the changes in the 2014 season.
The new schedule would consist of a reduced County Championship programme of 14 games, a 14-match Twenty20 competition and an abolition of 40-over cricket in favour of a return to the 50-over format used in the international game.
This would constitute a significant overhaul of the current system and it is one that hasn’t found an ally in Smith.
He said: “I think the consultation period isn’t what it should be.
“I’m going to a meeting at Lord’s on January 23 and I’d hate to think we were going to be presented with fait accompli.
“There are some major changes in there in terms of a reduction in Championship cricket, an increase in 20-over cricket and 50-over cricket and it’s being pushed through with too much haste.
“We’ve had 16 four-day games for a while now, we’ve had two divisions with promotion and relegation and we’re now the number one Test team in the world. All of those players have been through that system so it’s doing the job it should be doing.
“There are some very good young cricketers on the fringes and just below the England team so it’s change for change’s sake. What I would question is the integrity of the competition if you don’t play everybody twice like every other sport does.
“That is a major concern. Only 18 months ago the players stated that they wanted 16 matches and that the system was working and yet they’re looking to change it already.
“I’d much rather start on April 5 like this year, and that is far from ideal, and be at risk from the weather than have two fewer games. I think that is worth the gamble.
“The Twenty20 will be spread over an eight-week period so you’re going to have a lot of white ball and red ball cricket together.
“Generally it’s been played in blocks all over the world and a lot of the changes will be driven by the broadcaster.
“It makes sense commercially but I worry about the fact it’s all being mixed. You can get away with it to a certain degree with 40-over cricket a bit more.
“I’m not sure about 50-over cricket – although I can understand the desire to mirror the ICC global events. There just isn’t the appetite for it.
“On a Sunday a game starting at 11 o’clock, it doesn’t work but a game starting at 1 o’clock or 1.30 gets more people to watch.
“In time, and no-one knows the time frame, I think we’ll only have the long and short formats, four-day and 20-over cricket.
“As long as there are ICC events of 50-overs then we’ve got to have something in between but I don’t think that will be the case in years to come.”
While the report has been formulated around the desire to reduce the volume of four-day and free up more time for rest and preparation, the switch to the 50-over game has been influenced by the England team’s desire to have a product that exactly mirrors the international game.
However, Smith feels that this is missing the point, adding: “It should be up to the (England) Lions to bridge that gap which they are doing to a certain extent.
“Our problem has always been the 50-over game on the sub-continent with the spinners and pace off the ball.
“If that is an area that needs to be improved on then that is when teams have to be taken away to get the necessary experience.
“The conditions that we traditionally struggle in can’t be replicated here and they never will be.
“I don’t buy into the idea that having 50-over cricket here will make us better at it internationally.”
Another reason for the report’s implementation is to enable counties to compete in the Twenty20 Champions League which has been given a mid-September slot in the ICC’s Future Tours programme.
But Smith believes that offering a concession to a tournament that doesn’t do the same for the English representatives isn’t the right way to go.
He added: “It is being done to satisfy the sides who want to play in the (Twenty20) Champions League which is staged in mid-September.
“But because we’re not one of the major stakeholders in the competition – they are India, Australia and South Africa – our teams have to qualify.
“Leicestershire last year played two games and were home inside a week. If you get through, like Somerset did, then there are a minimum of four games but that isn’t guaranteed.
“Is it worth changing our entire domestic structure for a competition where you could be back home in a week?”
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