As much as I hold the County

[darren cook]

Always thought that Each County should be affiliated to 2 or 3 Minor Counties so that Talented Juniors from all Counties have the same chance of being spotted .Yes it does seem to be who you know not what you know. That goes for most things in life.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

I've know one or two great club cricketers who bloomed in their late teens and didnt go to uni so were never in the county system. If you dont play for your county by 14 you never will, and if you dont go to uni you're really stuffed. Apart from that benjimen bloke who played for surrey and inexplicably, england.

[darren cook]

Joey ?. Yes that's part of the problem it's to hit and miss whether players get picked up . Lots of players Mature latter and as you say get missed . With such a hugh player base as in England we easily should have enough players to fill 18 1st class Counties .

[high_on_linseed]

Hi. Personally, I think the county system is much maligned. There are a plethora of world class cricketers, admittedly most of them not English (!), plying their trades in a variety of conditions. This can only mean the standard of play is high, if not very high. The promotion/relegation system is also working to make the games more competitive. Oftimes the great British weather intervenes to make the games less than authentic, but how can we control that? Postponed fixtures? Domed stadiums?? ( ;

Firstly, the system does and has produced a lot of fine English talent. Even players who were late bloomers, like Aftab Habib, Martin Saggers, Neil Mallender, are not always overlooked. On the other hand, they havent always been given a fair trot either....

But, I dont think there needs to be the radical overhaul of the county system that people like the reform group suggest. Some talk about "the grind" of the county circuit. But, hey, thats life! I sometimes find my job a grind. Im sure you do too. But you put your head down, take it for granted, and do your best. IMHO, if a player is not determined enough to succeed on the county circuit, he will not be determined enough to succeed in tests either. Also, we might like to compare county cricket to sports like American baseball (over 100 games a season) or Basketball (again I think a hundred plus games a season, sometimes back to back). Theoretically, that should render the games meaningless and uncompetitive, but somehow outstanding athletes like Michael Jordan, Shaquille O Neal, Vince Carter, Randy Johnson, and Barry Bonds largely stay fit and motivated to excel. Its all about attitude and how the sporting culture instills and channels that attitude. American sporting culture has that "winning is the only thing/losers are nobodies attitude" that this countries cricket culture is still lacking a litttle.

So, I think the main problem in the past has been how the talent coming through the counties has been managed, and the attitudes that have prevailed at the highest level (ie the England set-up). In the "bad old days", you had no central contracts, no A tours, and a clueless, revolving door selection policy compounded by problems like rebel tours and a laissez faire approach to team building.

Now, you have the best talent nurtured with central contracts, the Academy, specialist training courses (like the one in India with Lillee that Kabir and Kirby were on)....And yet, there is still the opportunity for players who perform outstandingly for their county to be brought into the system (re: Ed Smith).

Also, regarding what I wrote above, the "jolly hockey-sticks"/ "gentleman-amateur" culture of the English game, which was fine and charming while it lasted in the past, is now being given a rude but necessary shake-up by hard-nosed foreigners like Fletcher, Marsh, and Lillee who seem determined to nurture only players who have a "succeed at all costs" attitude.

One guy who has impressed me so far this year is Usman Afzaal. He was dropped by England, but his passion to play for them again is so intense, that hes done the fitness work, changed his county, set his target on getting back in the England side, and bravely trumpeted it through the media. I heard (but didnt see) that his 167 n/o against Sussex was an excellent knock, and it bodes well for his future. Of course, one swallow does not a summer make, and he will have to consistently post big scores in order for England to consider him again. But reports suggest a "new found maturity" in his approach. And he seems determined to make his mark. So, good luck to him.

Another guy, who is proving good testament to the county system is Andy Strauss. He has used the responsibility of captaincy of his county, to move his approach and game to a higher level, and so he seems to be starting to prosper in the England set up now too. Its too early to say whether he will be the next Grahame Thorpe, but again, all the best to the guy.

As regards guys like Pieterson, Caddick, G Jones, coming into the English side, I agree with an above poster, who says this is merely benefitting from past Empire. Im not saying colonialism in itself was good (or bad), but the fact remains that England invented the game, taught the game to the rest of the world, built the very grounds and training facilities many other countries now play on, and took it on the chin when some of those countries (eg West Indies in the 80s, Aus in the 90s) came back and gave us good wallopings. If we now start to benefit from all that, I say, great! Its good cricketing Karma! Ive said it before, but Ill say it again, I wonder how many of the Aussies, Kiwis, (rebel) Zims, South Africans, even West Indians have some English parentage, or grandparents at least. No-one seems to mention that or even look into it. But a few get on their high horses when guys like the Hollioakes, Allan Lamb, Hick etc turn out for England. Also, look at the way these players from other countries have benefitted from the county system you now malign.

So, in short, the county system, is not perfect, but is overly criticized. IMVHO, it is in need of a bit more tweaking, but not the radical reforms suggested by gus like Willis and Atherton.

[Goatman]

I'd like to echo HOL's support of Strauss and Afzaal. Both should be in in the sights of the selectors for future test berths. Thier game contrasts nicely with the other players - Strauss is a Thorpe-like accumulator - and should already be directly in line as a replacement should he retire/get injured in the near future. Afzaal comes in for a bit of stick, but rightly is considered one of the most adhesive layers in the championship. Along with Collingwood, he should certainly be considered as a repalcement for Hussain in the sheet anchor role. Afzaals 167* against the champions when the rest of the top order largely failed recently is testament to his ability to score hard runs.

[Notts Exile]

Usman should do well under the right management. Kepler Wessels may well be the man to resurrect his career for him. I hope he does, as I've stated before there cannot be many players who scored a fifty against Australia and haven't played a Test since! He has the talent. As well as being one of the most "adhesive players" (as Goatman put it) he also has the ability to score quickly when needed. A useful slow left arm bowler, he just needs to work on his fitness to convince all that he is ready for reselection.

[Glamorgan Wanderer]

Notts, was it a case of him resting on his laurels and thinking he was the business before this was actually the case?

[Statto]

HOL,
I take your point about the county system benefitting the players from other countries and making the championship stronger and i agree with your support of the players you mentioned but my point was that instead of finding the best club players at junior levels and investing in these players in order to improve the standards, many counties would rather find someone (nearly always overseas) who they dont need to coach and just give these players games instead of looking to the future and letting promising juniors fill the roles. Personally, i wouldnt mind so much if we had young overseas talent and coached them because we would at least improve world cricket for someone if not ourselves. If you look at the aussie system for example, where the best grade cricketers can get games for the state teams when they play well enough, compared to ours where the counties only play a player if he is on their staff and will not look to local premier leagues. The only exception to this that i can think of was a club player who played for Northants (i think) as a 20:20 specialist last year but other than that the counties are a closed shop so we miss many god young players for every find like Anderson and are never going to strengthen the championship purely relying on forgien imports who are not selected for their national sides.

[high_on_linseed]

Well. you make a very fair point. There are certain counties, and i dont want to get into a name calling war, who take it to extremes. They know who they are!

[Notts Exile]

Originally Posted by Glamorgan Wanderer

Notts, was it a case of him resting on his laurels and thinking he was the business before this was actually the case?

Usman certainly had a reputation for being arrogant around the counties but the reports from within the England dressing room were the opposite.

Whatever the reasons, something went wrong last summer. He averaged 45 in 2002 and just didn't turn up last year (literally a few times!). He suffered more than anyone from the infighting at Trent Bridge. Thankfully that seems to have ceased (from my mole!) and Usman is doing well, albeit elsewhere. Got another fifty today, I notice.