Davidson Report on Developing Test Cricketers

[Rachael]

The Davidson report, which is being circulated throughout the English game, sets out seven outline proposals:

1. The best available England qualified talent is identified and in the First Class system preferably no older than 17.
2. There is a meaningful Second XI Championship as an effective bridge into the First Class game.
3. Talented young cricketers have the opportunity to play a significant amount of First Class Cricket aged 23 or under.
4. We achieve the highest standard of First Class cricket anywhere in the world.
5. A level financial playing field for all 18 counties, similar to Premier Rugby, to ensure that financial disparities do not distort such a development system.
6. Such a pathway is well understood by all stakeholders.
7. Appropriate phasing in.

Under the proposed system, a total of 72 England qualified development places would be introduced in the County Championship per each round of matches compared to the number of 56 England qualified players achieved voluntarily by counties in Mr Davidson’s analysis of the 2006 Championship season.

As part of the changes, he would like to see the creation of an Academy Showcase to funnel under-17 talented cricketers into the First Class system and a Senior Academy Showcase to bridge the gap into First Class cricket.

Mr Davidson has also proposed a combination of regulation and incentive to ensure young England qualified cricketers get proper opportunity across the 18 First Class Counties and a salary cap to deliver a level financial playing field.

See An Evidence based approach to the identification and development of England Test cricketers in the County Championship

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by Atherton

the 69 pages released last week by Neil Davidson, the chairman of Leicestershire, is the best-reasoned analysis of the issues facing the first-class game that I have seen. It argues that the championship is serving the England team (and, by extension, English cricket) badly and suggests a range of remedies.

Broadly, his analysis says this: that the route into first-class cricket for the brightest and best is inefficient and muddled; that counties play far too few English-qualified players in the crucial pre-23-year-old age bracket; that there are too many older English-qualified players blocking the path of potential Test cricketers; that overseas and Kolpak players improve the standard of county cricket and need be no impediment to producing young English talent, and that the performance-related fee payment system, by which the England and Wales Cricket Board impose financial penalties on counties who do not play nine English-qualified players, encourages counties to employ older English-qualified cricketers rather than produce young, aspiring Test cricketers.

Yet Davidson's analysis shows that in 2006 only 15 English-qualified players under the age of 19 played in the championship, and that eight counties played none at all. Counties played on average only 1.9 English-qualified players aged 23 or under, giving the selectors a tiny pool to choose from in the age bracket from which the best Test players are produced. Counties used, on average, only 3.1 English-qualified players aged 25 or under. "As a development pipeline this is insufficient to serve the needs of the England team," he concludes.

He argues that this is because the counties are driven primarily by the need to achieve financial viability and on-field success. To achieve that, older English-qualified players are the most valuable commodity.

A player like Dominic Cork, to use a random example, fits a county's needs perfectly because he is good and he is unlikely to be selected by England again (so helping the county achieve success), and because he fulfils one of the criteria (English-qualified) by which the county will receive their performance-related fee payment in full. Self-interest dictates that it is much easier to buy such a player rather than invest that money in trying to produce a young cricketer, who might then go off and play for England and rarely be seen by the county again.

To remedy this lack of young English-qualified talent, Davidson suggests four things: showcase academies to take place throughout the summer holidays to identify school age (under-17) talent; a senior showcase academy to run concurrently (effectively a summer second XI championship) as a bridge into first-class cricket; regulation that forces counties to play a minimum of four English-qualified players under the age of 25 in every game, and a salary cap be imposed to prevent the richer clubs from distorting the development process (which I have long been in favour of).

See Davidson delivers best analysis of county game | England | International Cricket | Cricket | Sport | Telegraph

[adamberry]

Originally Posted by Davidson

4. We achieve the highest standard of First Class cricket anywhere in the world.

Originally Posted by Atherton

To remedy this lack of young English-qualified talent, Davidson suggests four things: [...] regulation that forces counties to play a minimum of four English-qualified players under the age of 25 in every game,

Is it just me, or do those two points work against each other a little? We have to get the best quality cricket in the world, fine, but we have to play four under-25's, who might not be good enough but end up having to play to earn their counties financial gain. Great in theory, but I can't see it working entirely. (If I remember rightly, there is a similar system in the Minor Counties; where the counties either play for success or financial gain; not both).