Strauss review backs fewer days of cricket and a smaller County Championship top division

Sir Andrew Strauss has announced that the English Cricket Board’s high-performance review is moving into its final stages, with initial recommendations suggesting that a reduction in playing days is a focal point in those plans. 

In a blog post uploaded to the ECB website on Thursday, Strauss outlined several initial proposals of the consultation, which also included suggestions to create a revamped 50-over competition in April and trial the use of different cricket balls in English domestic cricket.

The review hopes to implement changes to men’s cricket in England that would promote the sustained success of professional sides across all formats while also planning to ensure domestic cricket can stay profitable and successful for years to come. 

Strauss wrote: “I recognise that there will be a focus on potential changes to the men’s domestic structure, and as we consult the game over the coming days, we will discuss ways in which the issues we’ve identified could be addressed.

“Initial options for the game to discuss include a revamped 50-over competition and a smaller LV= Insurance County Championship top division to ensure higher standards and more intense best v best red-ball cricket.”

The initial findings of the review are outlined in a presentation that was sent to the 18 First Class Counties on Thursday night and states in the opening three pages: “This review has not looked at, and will not seek to change, the number of First Class Counties.” Strauss also confirmed that the fixture schedule for the 2023 County Championship would not be changed, with each County playing 14 games as normal.

Interestingly the findings show that the average county team (excluding The hundred teams) in England will play 79 days of cricket this summer, the highest of any country golbally. Meanwhile, English domestic players will also play the most days of cricket, compared to other players around the world.

England captain Ben Stokes recently retired from ODI cricket, signalling that some players in the English game may have to dial back their commitments to perform at the top of their game thanks to the already intense fixture schedule. 

Strauss said: “Cricket is at a critical point with a fast-changing landscape and we must be prepared to be open-minded and engage in considered debate if we are to move forward together and future-proof our game in the current climate.

“The evidence presented in the review will provide the opportunity to have those well-informed discussions.” 

But while some are questioning whether the 50-over format will survive, the Strauss review suggests that the tournament and other aspects of the game could be revamped to make them more successful.

A smaller County Championship Top Tier

One focal point of the consultation is how the ECB can reduce the gap in quality between the domestic game and top-level international cricket. 

While there are no plans to reduce the number of county teams, the ECB could reduce the number of teams playing in the top tier of the county championship to help promote what they call ‘best vs best’ red ball cricket. 

Strauss wrote: “The analysis tells us that English players struggle more than players from other countries to transition from domestic to international cricket.”

Reduce and improve the fixture schedule

Another proposal is to reduce the number of days teams that are playing throughout the season to ensure that both players and the pitches get the rest needed to perform at the highest level. 

While it is inevitably a bonus to see so much cricket played throughout the summer, it has the knock-on effect that English players have the least amount of rest time and training compared to any other country in the world, with teams playing on 45 per cent of the days of the season. 

But what about the pitches?

That also presents a challenge for grounds staff, who this year have had to battle with the summer drought as well as keep up with the heavy fixture schedule. 

But a reduced fixture schedule will help grounds staff produce more pitches that are conducive to good cricket. 

To further incentivise grounds staff to promote this and design fair, playable pitches, the consultation has also suggested implementing a bonus points scoring system to reward teams that deliver pitches that are better to play on for all parties. 

An ODI competition in April

While many have questioned whether the ODI is a dying format of the game, it seems the Strauss review has other ideas, suggesting that a shorter one-day tournament that focuses on knock-out cricket could take place in April. 

And red-ball cricket in August?

Interestingly, the findings also revealed that the majority of England’s best red ball batters and bowlers were not involved in this year’s edition of The Hundred, which takes place in August and finishes on September 3rd. 

While the analysis asks whether it would be feasible to play a red-ball form of the game in August, it does seem logical that such a competition could be played alongside The Hundred, with the County Championship then able to take advantage of the better weather conditions. 

The findings also suggest that spin bowlers have the least opportunities to develop in the domestic game and suggest that they bowl slightly more often from June onwards. That means playing in August would open up more pathways for spin bowlers to play in red ball matches and the potential for them to feature in the England test set-up. 

Trial of different balls

One of the big factors the review has discussed is developing new skills to improve how England perform overseas and one proposition is to start playing domestic cricket with different balls. 

While the Dukes ball is primarily used in England, India prefer to use the SG cricket ball and Australia and New Zealand use Kookaburra. 

Overseas programmes

The review has also suggested that playing overseas can help to assist players transition into the international side, with English players getting fewer opportunities than those in countries like Australia, New Zealand and India to play abroad. 

For that reason, the high-performance review has claimed that more opportunities should be made available to help players play abroad, suggesting that a pre-season North v South red-ball match in the UAE could be a possibility.