Ideal Number of overseas players in County Cricket

[Greg Blewett]

Speaking of overseas players changing to play for England, does anyone know how Mark Harrity has gone since he decided to play in & for England?

 

[Rich2001]

Speaking of overseas players changing to play for England, does anyone know how Mark Harrity has gone since he decided to play in & for England?

Umm lets skip that question... Lets just say not all Australians can make it in England.

Last Season

County Championship: 5 Matches he took 9 wickets @ 47
National Cricket Leauge: 7 Matches he took 9 wickets @ 28.88

 

[Craig]

Same problem Rich - restraint of trade.

So how is that different to having a cap of non EU players?

 

[raju]

Speaking of overseas players changing to play for England, does anyone know how Mark Harrity has gone since he decided to play in & for England?

And those stats quoted above flatter him. Nothing short of hopeless last season but perhaps (like Matthew Mason) he needs a season to settle in. I'm not holding my breath though.

 

[raju]

So how is that different to having a cap of non EU players?

EU residents (and those holding EU passports) have the right to work anywhere in the EU. Denial of this is restraint of trade. It has taken a while for sporting authorities to grasp that they are not exempt from the laws that the rest of society use.
So its possible to have a team of eleven non-brits and thus illegal to outlaw under EU laws if 9 or more are holding an EU passport, regardless of where they were born or who they would choose to represent internationally.
It is possible to put a cap on non-EU players, which is the case at the moment. A maximum of 2 being allowed to play.

 

[Richard]

yes in its current form the county championship is slowly dying...thats why it needs a good old shake up...less teams possibly, scheduling to take into account when people work etc...stuff like that, then maybe it can be turned around. I think one day stuff is in ok-ish position in this country.

Scheduling to take account when people work sounds like trying to attract spectators to the domestic First-Class game.
Some people don't seem to realise that this is a thing of the past - possibly never to return.
Less First-Class teams will merely chuck 100 years of history down the drain.

 

[Richard]

Whats the problem with hussey? He's a great player, he should be playing for australia in reality.

Instead of...?

 

[Richard]

True, I see your point. What has happened to English cricket? My father is a yorkshireman as was my grandfather and all they ever talked about is how strong the old Yorkshire sides
were, is it football that is stealing all the potential English cricketers?

Possibly the problem lies in not anything to do with foreign players but rather in attracting
more youth to the game of cricket?

IMO the problem of players being lost to football is an overreaction - yes, some people choose footy instead, but that's inevitable.
The greatest problem is simply the fact that domestic cricketers don't have the attitude required for success.

 

[Richard]

indeed..it has been said in the past that a strong Yorkshire team means a strong England team..hasnt quite worked like that recently (Yorkshire winning the Championship a couple of years back)

The attracting younger people to the games bit, I feel, can be helped by bringing in top name players to the county game

The problem isn't yet in the audiences (next to nothing in domestic First-Class cricket doesn't matter) but in the possibility of young players coming through not being good enough.
Look at the current so-called A-squad.

 

[Richard]

EU residents (and those holding EU passports) have the right to work anywhere in the EU. Denial of this is restraint of trade. It has taken a while for sporting authorities to grasp that they are not exempt from the laws that the rest of society use.

No, it's just taken a while for people to realise they can take advantage of that to put themselves before the people who are employing them.
That delay was a good thing as it at least meant this problem took longer to come to pass than it might have.

 

[Swervy]

The problem isn't yet in the audiences (next to nothing in domestic First-Class cricket doesn't matter) but in the possibility of young players coming through not being good enough.
Look at the current so-called A-squad.

but more young players playing the game will result in more players of a high quality(just by probability).....if no-one young plays the game, there will be no quality.

Forget 'A' team results, these are players that are learning about playing in strange conditions etc. In the 90's the A squad went ages where they didn t lose....means squat diddly when it comes to full blown international stuff

 

[Richard]

The fact that they lost is irrelevant - the fact that they did as poorly as normal is what matters.
More young players, meanwhile, won't mean more quality automatically. The players, young or old, need to be good. Simple as.

 

[Swervy]

I think most people will agree that you either have the latent talent for the game or you dont...I am sure there are plenty of kids out there who dont play cricket, but if they did would find they were pretty good at it.By attracting more kids to the game you will naturally attract more kids with talent. Of course it is up to decent coaching to develop that talent

 

[Richard]

My point is that the domestic First-Class game is not the one to do the attracting.

 

[Swervy]

My point is that the domestic First-Class game is not the one to do the attracting.

dont underestimate its power..obviously its power is not as great as international cricket, butwhen I go to see county games, i quite often see a lot of kids in the ground. people want to see the big names play for their own county. I dont think county cricket is as dead as you make out Richard

Even club cricket can play its part in attracting younger players

 

[Greg Blewett]

Instead of...?

Michael Hussey could fill Steve Waugh's position?

 

[Greg Blewett]

IMO the problem of players being lost to football is an overreaction - yes, some people choose footy instead, but that's inevitable.
The greatest problem is simply the fact that domestic cricketers don't have the attitude required for success.

So it's not a problem with the players then but rather a problem in the coaching system.

Though speaking of coaching, that is another thing that annoys me, people who claim Rod Marsh will transform England in a matter of a few years...

 

[Richard]

Michael Hussey could fill Steve Waugh's position?

No, he's an opener, there are two of them already.
And Katich and Love by rights have the next two positions in line. Symonds has sneaked in there, too.

 

[Richard]

So it's not a problem with the players then but rather a problem in the coaching system.

Though speaking of coaching, that is another thing that annoys me, people who claim Rod Marsh will transform England in a matter of a few years...

No, it's a problem with the players - plenty of the coaches do their best.
The attitude of the typical county cricketer is selfish and don't-give-a-damn about the game.

 

[Richard]

dont underestimate its power..obviously its power is not as great as international cricket, butwhen I go to see county games, i quite often see a lot of kids in the ground. people want to see the big names play for their own county. I dont think county cricket is as dead as you make out Richard

Even club cricket can play its part in attracting younger players

Club cricket, obviously, is the most important part of all - because it's where the players simply have to start playing.
But it's no real use in terms of attracting people to watch. Nor is the domestic First-Class game.
That doesn't mean "county cricket is dead", though. It's a fact of cricket anywhere in The World - the domestic First-Class game isn't a spectator sport. England won't change that - but the game below Test level will always be imperative as far as playing standards are concerned.