Lancashire’s chief government has stated brokers are the primary menace to the way forward for the County Championship. Daniel Gidney, considered one of county cricket’s longest-serving chief executives, criticised brokers for not caring in regards to the championship and as a substitute turning gamers’ heads to the ever-burgeoning variety of franchise tournaments.
“We have to have extra of an open dialog,” Gidney stated as he watched Lancashire flip the tables on Somerset at Previous Trafford to enhance their survival possibilities and give Surrey the title. “Coaches get blamed, directors get blamed, however if you wish to blame anyone, blame brokers … I feel the sport as a complete wants to come back collectively to discover a method to help the championship.
“England gamers don’t must play within the championship, brokers don’t care in regards to the championship. Extra prize cash would assist and I feel we have to discover a approach of paying 4 or 5 gamers much more cash. As a substitute of £80,000-90,000 being the highest home wage, we have to discover a approach of paying £200k … and saying a part of that deal is that you simply don’t play franchise cricket.”
Lancashire go into Thursday’s ultimate spherical of the championship with the specter of relegation hanging heavy. They’re 15 factors behind third-bottom Nottinghamshire and favourites to affix already relegated Kent in Division Two subsequent 12 months. They’ve been hampered, Gidney hinted, by some gamers making themselves unavailable. Liam Livingstone, for instance, has not performed championship cricket for Lancashire since 2021, whereas Luke Wooden is with the Bangla Tigers within the Zim Afro T10.
Lancashire have fielded, on common, six gamers beneath the age of twenty-two within the championship this 12 months: not ultimate in Gidney’s eyes. “I feel a minimum of 4 or 5 gamers [at Lancashire] gained’t play championship cricket. There are some whose our bodies genuinely can’t deal with it and there are others who’re making a selection.”
He was crucial of non-objection certificates, which he stated have been “diluted” over the previous 5 years and have tied his palms as a chief government to refuse gamers permission to journey for franchise tournaments. He additionally praised the latest resolution by the Board of Management for Cricket in India to inform gamers to play within the Ranji Trophy or jeopardise their worldwide and Indian Premier League contracts.
“Think about a governing physique really saying that out loud … That was improbable prioritising.” Indian cricketers, it ought to be identified, don’t have a union.
He has some sympathy for gamers. “They’ve a profession – I’m not begrudging their potential to earn cash – however the steadiness has tipped … When the underside rung of the Hundred is what a rookie would earn within the championship – who amongst us would flip down incomes extra money for much less work?”
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It’s a query that the sport must grapple with, shortly.
