Cricinfo - Blogs - Different Strokes - What should the ECB do next summer?

This is the same ECB which arranged an England Performance Squad tour of India to coincide with the senior team’s tour before Christmas, a transparent way of making sure they would have a pool of reserves fit and acclimatised if they suddenly needed someone to step in (otherwise what was Michael Vaughan doing in the party?). It could not have been organised without the good offices of the BCCI, who did not turn the idea down on the grounds that it might help the visitors win a match or two – not that it did, but that is hardly the BCCI’s fault.

The Australians are double-dyed villains who won’t let Poms play in their precious Shield competition so why should we be nice to them, goes the line from some people. But Shield cricket isn’t the only game in Australia: when Ray Illingworth failed to pick him for the 1994-95 Ashes tour, Gus Fraser arranged himself a gig to play grade cricket with Western Suburbs – and was in the England Test team for the Third Test.

Fraser himself is on a subsidiary indictment now because Middlesex, where he is the new director of cricket, have signed Phil Hughes for the early part of the season. But Hughes has been signed to fill in for Owais Shah, whom the ECB have seen fit to allow to swan off to India to play in the IPL, an offer which Hughes turned down. Perhaps the ECB should have put their foot down about IPL stints rather than whingeing when counties respond by signing the best replacements they can.

It says little for the ECB’s confidence in its team if how the opposition prepare is an issue even worth commenting on, let alone vituperating about. It may be understandable, given that the only team to lose the First Test of a series to England in the last four years was Bangladesh, but the obvious fact that the ECB are incapable of preparing a side which is ready when a series starts is a poor excuse for trying to sabotage opponents.

Sure, winning the Ashes is the best thing that can happen to an England team. No other cricket contest reaches into the collective national unconscious the same way or stirs as many young players to redouble their efforts to get good enough to win an Ashes series themselves. But sticking artificial obstacles in the Aussies’ path is a pathetic way to try and engineer it.

So I wholeheartedly agreed when Gus said to Cricinfo, "What should the ECB do next summer? Abolish all comforts for the Australians ahead of the Ashes? Put them in dirty hotels and make them travel on a rickety, old school bus with springs coming out of the seats? No, you want a situation like in 2005, where you had two teams at the top of their games battling each other, and hopefully England coming out on top."

You tell ‘em, Gus!

I am a bit confused about the idea that English players cant play sheffield shield. I'm not aware why not. Andy Flower did, a pakistani (sorry cant remember who) did just this summer for south australia, and of course graham thorpe signed with NSW at the end of his career but didnt get a game. If their players arent good enough to get a game, or the shield doesnt pay well enough, or aussie teams won't pick a player who wants to play a couple of games, or because the "fringe" english players wouldnt actually get a game in the shield, thats a lesson to england.

Its not like our state teams are all about the national team - Victoria just won the shield with a team at least half of whom are over 30 - hardly in the long term interests of Australian test team.

Oh and Darren Pattinson, you know the english swing bowler, played one game for the vics this year.

Its not our fault that he doesnt get a game!

I wonder if anyone has asked Mr Morris and Mr Miller of the ECB just how many of their cricketers they think would actually be good enough to play in the Sheffield Shield competition? Then ask the chief selectors for the various states the same question and compare the answers?

The Shield selectors are not stupid people, if a player was good enough to be selected then they would be selected. Simple as that. Whilst Australia hasn't had a lot of imports over the years, there have been some memorable imports play in the Shield competition over the years. Some of those imports were: - Russ Surty, Ian Botham, Graeme Hick, Imran Khan and lately Younus Khan to name a few.

I think the ECB should take a collective valium and take a reality check.

Hi Mike
I agree that people including the ECB should stop fretting about Stuart Clark and Hughes playing some county cricket prior to the Ashes.

The ECB would be better advised to put it's energies and focus this summer into ensuring that England go into the Ashes with a) a world class coach and b) the best possible option for the captaincy. I believe this to be Pietersen because he is the only one that can psychologically intimidate the Australians and the only person in the England camp that the Asutralians genuinally fear.
I agree that

I think Glenn is right on the money here. I'm quite sure that English players would be picked in Shield teams if the players were there and the selectors thought they were appreciably better than the available local talent--surely these are fair criteria?

Who around the current England set-up would actually get a game for a state team? Flintoff and Pietersen for sure, Strauss and Vaughan (if he shows some form with Yorks) possibly. As heath said, thopse on the fringes--and some regulars too--simply wouldn't be picked, on the basis that they're not good enough.

As many players have found out, they'd be welcomed into Grade cricket though, which (definitely in Sydney and to a large extent Brisbane; I don't know about other cities) is of a comparable standard to 2nd XI (and possibly 2nd Division) County cricket. England were regularly picking Geraint Jones just before and after he was struggling to get a game in 1st grade in Brisbane.

And Strauss played for an NZ state last winter too.