Central Contracts

[bobw]

Are central contracts still a good idea?

Or do they just build a bunker around the players?

Is Ali Cook an Essex player or is this just a flag of convenience?

I ask these questions as it seems to me that the England squad has now become segregated from the rest of english cricket and also a closed shop. The England management have to play the central contract players as they have invested in them. They then have to provide more and more England games for them to play and provide ticket income to pay the wages. This then keeps the players from the county game.

Once in the England squad then players become estranged from their counties and county players. Hence the England squad fall back on their own coaches and experiences. I do not have a problem with the England management controlling when and where England players play. But it should be that the England squad should be available for their counties unless with drawn rather than being released as and when it suits England.

There are three problems with the current system. The County players are not exposed to the best England players and so do not know what they need to achieve to get into the England setup. Also the England players are not exposed to new ideas and challenges.  But the biggest problem is that no member of the England squad can gain captaincy experience no other team will have them as captains. Any young batsman that breaks into the England set up and makers it in to the test team becomes FEC (Root being the latest victim).

The answer may be having an England U21 team in the CC with an U25 captain. I know the counties would have to release younger players but this happens already with the u19 squad.

Something needs to be done to create England captains with new ideas and a grounding in captaincy and also expanding the exposure of current central contact players to the wider world.

[Andy]

I watched an England side that had (generally) much better players than in the recent decade or so getting increasingly hammered by all and sundry. Consequently, central contracts had to come in because we were expecting our best players to fly around the world playing endless series and also play county cricket in between.

We had the likes of Botham and Gower wasting their energies on meaningless county matches whilst their international opponents had the opportunity of honing their skills and bank balances whilst not being expected to turn out for another side in between Tests. If Michael Holding had to jump in his car after a Windies match to head back to Derby maybe this would've evened things out.

If you want to go back to the 1990s, then don't expect any improvement from the national team, it'll only get worse. England players will simply head off to the IPL/BBL etc where the money is more and the workload is less.

Problem is, the selectors have become so enamoured of certain players, and so dismissive of the county game, that they have squandered the benefits of Central Contracting.

[nat]

Money corrupts ... nothing new here.

Meaningless county matches? What are these then?

[Andy]

Money corrupts ... nothing new here.

Meaningless county matches? What are these then?

The ones we win at the end of the season against Leics: you know, when we've got not chance of getting promotion but gives an opportunity for the coach to indicate that we've turned a corner

I wouldn't say money corrupts - at least not always. The problem is that those with responsibility for using that extra money haven't.