Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
There's no doubt that "emergence" happens less these days than it used to. The amount of talent required is the same, but the amount you need to do to harness it is more now than ever.
You can't just turn-up from The Bush the way Thomson did, and return from injury when everyone thought you were finished the way Lillee did, in 1974/75, any more. Cricket just doesn't work that way.
Strong domestic and grass-roots competitions are of course getting more and more important than ever these days. They were always essential, but they're simply exclusively essential now - ie, you won't get by without.
Unless you're Pakistan, obviously. But they've got other problems apart from how to produce players currently.
You can't just turn-up from The Bush the way Thomson did, and return from injury when everyone thought you were finished the way Lillee did, in 1974/75, any more. Cricket just doesn't work that way.
Strong domestic and grass-roots competitions are of course getting more and more important than ever these days. They were always essential, but they're simply exclusively essential now - ie, you won't get by without.
Unless you're Pakistan, obviously. But they've got other problems apart from how to produce players currently.