Counties and franchises can’t coexist for ever. The game will have to make its mind up
It may be a little early to be thinking about spring, but the publication of the first-class cricket fixtures hints that it is not too far away. They have been more eagerly awaited than usual this year because the implosion of the England men’s team in the Ashes suggested there was something rotten in the state of the domestic game. Publication was delayed while different interest groups argued over what structure the sport should have. Do we like our cricket in two-and-a-half-hour, made-for-TV dollops, or played out slowly over four or five days?
Naturally, that question was not resolved. The result, when the fixtures were finally announced this week, was the usual dog’s dinner. In deference to the new orthodoxy that long-form cricket has been marginalised, two four-day championship matches have shifted to June and July, but half the games will be played in April and May when conditions tend to favour the sort of county “trundler” who is unlikely to turn an Ashes match on its head on an easy-paced pitch in Melbourne. Neil Snowball, of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said further rebalancing was possible in 2023 if all “stakeholders” could agree. No jokes please about the chances of Mr Snowball making that happen.
