iamdavid said:
Im of the belief that playing against the best makes you better, in the long run a developing English batsman will gain more from facing someone like Michael Kasprowics in the early stages of his carear than some county trundler like Neil Gunter.
Likewise the young bowler will learn more from bowling to Hussey or Hooper than he would charging in at the likes of Michael Gough.
Michael Gough is a far better player than he gave himself credit for last season. Sadly I think his career is likely to be over.
Personally I believe you rarely learn much in the middle. No young English batsman is going to learn anything by getting a jaffer from Kapsrowicz.
However, the young Glam batsmen IMO certainly benefit more from facing Kapsrowicz in the nets than they do facing Andrew Davies or David Harrison. Similarly, a young bowler, if he wants to, can learn far more from Kasprowicz than anyone else, especially with Watkin retired. Kasprowicz has been great in this respect.
Basically, if the overseas player has the right attitude (they're giving me something, only fair if I give them something in return) and the English players have the right attitude (he can do things I can't - let's see if I can learn them with his help) then one good overseas player is a very worthwhile part of the English game. These days, two is almost impossible to find with the amount of international cricket played.
Then there is the revenue factor , having draw card overseas players like Carl Hooper , Murali , Shoaib , etc will surely encourage more of a crowd following than the average county mugs would , thus more profits & raising the profile of the game.
I don't, however, think this will have any real impact. The domestic First-Class game isn't a spectator sport anywhere in The World and anyone who thinks England can change that is a fool.
It also helps raise the general standard of play , helps narrow the gap between county & test cricket.
But on the other hand one must realise that every overseas player who comes in means a young Englishman will spend a year playing 2nd XI's , the clearest example being Rikki Clarke / Azhar Mahmood.
I really think that all things considered 2 overseas players per county should be fine , but that means 2 players who arent eligable to play for England.
I believe that EU regulations prevent the ECB from doing it so perhaps the counties could get together & form a bit of a gentlemans agreement , players like Spearman & Jaques who cheat the system will be the downfall of English cricket unless they take action.
Personally I think the like of Spearman and Jacques are the sort I don't mind cheating the system. These two are both good batsmen and others can learn from playing and training with them.
Anyone who is good enough for international cricket will break through anyway, that's not a worry for me. The worry is the amount of money spent on overseas players (and obviously with three and four different players per season, flights in and out and all, this exacerbates basic contractual fees) that could be invested in more worthwhile aspects. English players cost far less and IMO you can only risk so much money to raise the standard at the club. It doesn't help unless everyone has the right attitude to learning and improving, anyway, so that needs to be sorted before worrying about who's going to raise the standard and who isn't.
