Andrew Strauss: Counties and ECB must be "respectful of traditions" when deciding domestic structure

GEORGE DOBELL: Fifteen of the 18 first-class counties are members' owned organisations, though many county members feel they were not adequately consulted before the launch of The Hundred

Andrew Strauss has insisted English cricket must be "very conscious" of the views of county members and "respectful of the traditions of the game" when drawing up recommendations as part of the high-performance review.

Strauss, who was asked to lead the review by the ECB several months ago, had originally said he would have no hesitation in making "radical" proposals. That led to suggestions there could be a cut in the number of Championship matches, or even a change in the number of first-class counties.

But with supporters' groups increasingly active in recent weeks and several of the first-class counties confirming they would need to consult with their members before voting on any proposals that would significantly alter the domestic game, Strauss has accepted that any changes will have to be agreed by them before implementation.

Fifteen of the 18 first-class counties are members' owned organisations, though many county members feel they were not adequately consulted before the launch of The Hundred.

"We are obviously very cognizant that the counties will vote on whatever schedule we actually have, so they have to be very conscious of their members' thoughts and make sure they are respectful of the traditions of the game," Strauss told the BBC. "I think our job running this high-performance review is to put options in front of them and say we think this moves cricket forward in this country and this will help us achieve our ambitions alongside all the other measures we put in place.

"Hopefully we get a new domestic structure which is a little bit cleaner and more simple that encourages better quality and more intense cricket all the way."

^{Sir Andrew Strauss is leading the ECB's high-performance review [Getty Images]}

While Strauss has yet to share the proposals, he remains convinced that some changes are required and aims to present some options within a month. And while there are few details as it stands, he has suggested England's best white-ball players "should play some 50-over cricket". At present the domestic 50-over competition takes place at the same time as The Hundred, meaning the best limited-overs players have no opportunity to participate.

"Over the last 40 years, we have been the No.1 team in Test cricket for 12 months," Strauss said. "Generally, we have been about the fifth best Test team in the world and we know in 2015 our white-ball cricket was very poor.

"Added to that, the world is changing incredibly quickly around us with the rise of T20 leagues.

"The current structure is sub-optimal and we will be recommending some changes to it. We haven't got firm proposals and we are talking to the game about it rather than doing so publicly. A lot of the white-ball skills are quite similar between Hundred, T20 and 50-over. It does feel our players should play some 50-over cricket, and hopefully we find some space.

"If someone does well in domestic cricket, we need to have a pretty good idea if they are doing well in international cricket as well. The evidence shows us at the moment there is quite a big gap and part of our job is to minimise the gap"

"What we've tried to do is say 'let's not get sucked into having an opinion'. Let's ask experts of our sports about how good high performance systems work and is there anything we can bring into English cricket. Also, let's do the analysis and research to see where we are relative to where we want to be.

"It is about connecting with the county game, the directors of cricket and coaches, to make sure we are all aligned and making sure we have the right incentives for players to play not just white-ball cricket, but red-ball cricket as well. It is also about making sure we put our resources in the game into the areas which make the biggest difference.

"Of course having a vibrant domestic game with high standards, high intensity which is great to view for spectators is going to be an important part of that process. It is the tricky part but only a small part of the whole thing.

"There is a lot of cricket; a lot of white-ball cricket. But that doesn't mean we can't move things forward, improve the standard and have the best players playing against the best players more often. It doesn't mean we can't look at things like pitches and balls to try and make sure the domestic cricket we play mirrors as closely as possible the international cricket we play.

^{Strauss has accepted members' views represent an important part of the discussion [Getty Images]}

"If someone does well in domestic cricket, we need to have a pretty good idea if they are doing well in international cricket as well. The evidence shows us at the moment there is quite a big gap and part of our job is to minimise the gap.

"I hope that it is not us selling this to the counties. I hope if we provide the right evidence the counties themselves see the advantages of firstly England playing well but also this domestic structure, which everyone understands is sub-optimal at the moment, so is there a route through for us to make it better for everyone. I know we are not going to please everyone and trying to do that is futile but you have to get people's hearts and minds. People need to want to do this rather than feel obligated.

"We are in this consultation phase for the next month or so and then hopefully after that we can give you some concrete proposals."

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