Andrew Strauss, who left his position as strategic adviser to the ECB last year after his suggested recommendations to the domestic calendar failed to get the support of the counties, has said it is “pointless” to talk again about a possible revamp to the domestic schedule.
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A player survey by the Professional Cricketers’ Association [PCA] revealed concern about the volume of cricket that is being played, leading to discussions about a more evenly spread schedule. The research showed that almost 80 percent of county cricketers are fearful of their physical health due to the workloads, prompting the PCA to say the current schedule is “not fit for purpose.”
Among the many proposed changes is a mandatory rest day between T20 Blast matches.
Strauss, however, feels it’s a pointless conversation to have, just a year after county loyalists unanimously rejected his reform plans. Asked to conduct a high-performance review following England’s defeat in the 2021/22 Ashes, some of the measures Strauss suggested were reducing the number of first-class matches from 14 to 10 and playing 50-over games at the start of the summer, which did not get a positive response from counties.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Strauss said: “It’s just pointless to have that conversation [about the domestic structure]. There was an opportunity last year and the game chose not to take it. No one is going to touch it with a bargepole anytime soon. You reap what you sow. It is the counties’ choice as to what they do, but I do hope that they listen to their players going forward. Sometimes, I feel like there’s more focus on the members than the players.”
“We’d just lost an Ashes series, and all the conversation was: how do we make sure that we have a structure that produces genuine high performance? That was the remit,” he says. “When you’re looking through that lens, you have to say, how closely does domestic cricket match the needs that are required in international cricket?
“The answer is, it doesn’t – especially when you’re playing most of your games in April, May and September. None of those issues have been resolved.”
The former England captain added that the conversation around the schedule is never-ending. “This conversation is just going to go on and on. Everything is a trade-off.”
