England Cricket: An Unforgiving Calendar Burdening Young Talents

What a palaver. Even when one subtracts the shiny new disputed Hundred format from this year’s calendar and the domestic schedule remains a clumsy mess . The red ball was replaced by its white counterpart, before that same shade was used for the 50 over format until yep, back once again: the return of the red. It was as if it were devised by a gang of impish school children, eagerly exploring their most effective way of bruising the very foundations of England cricket.

Such problems — evident through an increasingly fragile Test side — allude for a tumultuous future for the sport at county and national level. England have been shunted down the tracks, left to decay amongst the other Test playing nations who appear to prioritise the short-game above all else. West Indies, South Africa; perhaps not quite as anaemic just yet, but the trend is an ominous one. How can we heap horrific chunks of pressure on our Test batsman when half of whom were attempting to clear the rope every other ball a few days prior? Transitions take weeks, not minutes.

But how can we deliberate over this summer’s schedule without touching upon The Hundred. In the beginning there shone a glimmer of life. Maybe the higher powers really were attempting to save the sport from total darkness by offering both affordable tickets and captivating spectacles. But no, not really. That may have been at the rear of their minds, locked away securely with the key disposed of. Prize open that garish exterior and here lies the harsh but expected priority: money.

Ah, yes. The familiar tale of wealth and greed. Exploiting an audience by slashing the number of balls in order to speed up a format that was in no dire need of being jazzed-up. T20 cricket has always been fun but, when there is a way to make a little more dosh, the decision is an easy one. On the contrary, this glossy competition was an imperative piece in an otherwise arduous jigsaw for the women’s game, something that has never been in close competition with its male counterpart, finally sharing the same day, the same wicket, the same crowd.

Of course, reducing an already electrifying format by twenty balls was always going to be a success. After all, it’s the soaring leather and cartwheeling stumps that form the queues around The Oval on a Friday afternoon. But what has it done to county cricket? Well, you can wave a fond farewell to the One-Day Cup, in turn weakening England’s chances further in yet another international competition (one that we are indeed the current holders of). Sparse crowds and second-string sides was the order of business for Royal London’s once prestigious trophy and — if anyone knew (or gave an ounce of care) — it was lifted by Glamorgan, their first honour in 17 years. Think that says all there is to know.

But return to the sport in its purest, most gruelling form and there you will see: a frail England. A sumptuous sweep of Sri Lanka raised premature celebrations with India’s devastating 3-1 series defeat of Joe Root’s not so barmy army. Back to reality and back to the drawing board, maybe they’ll fair better against New Zealand on home soil? Yeah, good one. Rain can only save the day once as the eight wicket, second test defeat raised further question marks over the opening batsmen and bowling attack

Flip the calendar a few times to the month of August and England’s number two and number three were in jeopardy. Sandwiched in between Kent’s T20 Quarter-final with Birmingham and a London Spirit affair at Lord’s was to be the farewell Test for Zak Crawley (for the meantime at least). An auspicious talent who has shown celestial abilities with bat in his grasp, banished to his county to play in the third division of the County Championship (if you happened to glance over this for the past year then yes, that is now a thing).

It’s not that Crawley’s abject performances of late in red ball cricket are unjust to him being omitted from the Test side, it’s the reason behind it. The cricket calendar does not suit Test cricket. A rare shining light from this Summer has been the irrepressible Joe Root. Yet the skipper hardly touches T20 cricket. Dom Sibley has averaged 22.86 on home soil this year (not great, but not the worst), unlocking the rustic door for Dawid Malan to enter the fray. Far from future planning, it merely places an aged plaster over the ever-deepening wound.

And then there is Dan Lawrence. Another young bat who scores runs when given a real chance. What had he been doing for an entire month before the 1st Test with India? Playing T20, and well at that. One chance he was given, one chance batting six - not the familiar fourth he is used to. No one is suggesting he should replace Root, but these are the players who should be cared for, not thrown out of the camp with their confidence crushed. It’s not as if Crawley bats three for Kent either…

What we have then is a distinct deficiency of direction amongst England’s selectors. Sibley, Crawley and Lawrence were forecast to radiate the top-order twelve months ago, now they’re all back at their respective counties, all dropped from the same series.

There is no sheltering from this shambolic scheduling: the very core of these arising issues. Don’t be at all surprised when the fifty-over competition is shelved for the Hundred, aligning the arrows of England’s cricketing future priorities in one direction only: to the shortest format possible.