More red-ball matches in June and July as County Championship schedule is unveiled

NICK FRIEND: The move to five rounds of County Championship fixtures through midsummer means that England's Test players will have greater opportunities to prepare themselves ahead of the second Test series of the summer, against South Africa

The LV=Insurance County Championship will feature five rounds of matches through June and July, a two-game increase on 2021, with the ECB's head of county cricket admitting work needs to be done on "getting the balance right" between red and white-ball cricket.

The first seven rounds of the four-day season will take place in consecutive weeks through April and May, with games beginning on Thursdays.

Warwickshire, the reigning champions, begin with a home clash with Surrey in Division One as the competition reverts back to a two-tier structure after two seasons – somewhat enforced by the pandemic – in a three-division conference system.

The county game has been widely debated in light of England's heavy Ashes defeat, with plenty of voices within the sport, including Test captain Joe Root, arguing that the current setup does little to ready players for the rigours of international cricket, with matches consigned to the margins of the summer on surfaces rarely comparable to those experienced in the international arena.

"Maybe this is a point in time where we really can focus the mind and really introduce some of the changes that are needed to reset red-ball cricket and balance things up a bit," said Neil Snowball, the ECB's managing director for county cricket.

"There's no doubt that there was a lot of time and effort invested in our one-day team after 2015 that went on to win the World Cup. But there also continues to be a big focus and investment in red-ball and Test cricket.

^{Five rounds of County Championship cricket will take place during June and July (Christopher Lee/Getty Images)}

"I think there's a feeling that we haven't got the balance right at the moment, and that's what we need to look at."

As well as calling on the first-class counties, the ECB and the PCA to discuss the situation, Snowball added that he would be keen to hear input from other sources. "Whether it's media, commentators or other people as well, we need to have a proper look at it," he said. He also called for "a comprehensive review" that would make its recommendations in time to "start making some changes from 2023", adding that "there is absolute commitment to do that".

He explained: "We don't think that county cricket has all of the answers, but it certainly has some of the answers. There is no way that this fixture schedule is going to be the answer to all of those problems. It is a step forward from last year, but don't expect this schedule to be everything that we need it to be to address some of those challenges with red-ball cricket.

"We know there's no silver bullet. All of the things that we need to consider have been talked about a lot: whether it's what type of ball we use, what pitches we play on, the format of competitions, the quality of coaching. All of the stuff that we talk about every year needs to be built into any kind of review or reset. We'll make sure that happens."

The move to five rounds of County Championship fixtures through midsummer means that England's Test players will have greater opportunities to prepare themselves ahead of the second Test series of the summer, against South Africa. The Test series against New Zealand follows the first seven rounds of matches, similarly to last year against the same opponents.

"I think we probably need to play less and focus on high intensity. A lot of this is about quality - it's the quality of cricket that we're playing in the right conditions"

Warmup games for both tourists have been scheduled against a First-Class Counties Select XI – not quite an England Lions side, but a team that could well feature some of England's Test players, should it be deemed appropriate and beneficial for certain individuals. Haseeb Hameed featured against India in a similar arrangement in 2021, making a century before being picked shortly afterwards for Joe Root's side.

"There is a view from Ash (Ashley Giles, director of England men's cricket) and others that that might not be a bad idea," added Snowball.

"One of the key takeaways and one of the key discussion points was: 'How do we make sure that the Test players can go back and play county cricket and prepare for the two major Test series?' We feel that with that schedule, that is a step in the right direction."

He insisted that changes to the red-ball line-up for 2022 had already been drawn up ahead of the Ashes debacle and that they had instead come out of last year's post-season review, where there was particular discussion around the lack of preparation time for England's players ahead of the Test series against India.

"In the early discussions that we had with the counties, we made that commitment anyway to try to get more Championship cricket into July," he said, as The Cricketer reported last year.

^{Neil Snowball hopes that the increased amount of red-ball cricket through midsummer helps the country's spinners (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)}

It is hoped that an improvement in the quality of pitches will emerge as a by-product of that tweak, with Snowball sympathetic to the plight of groundstaff who have been overworked by the relentless diet of matches.

Trent Bridge, for example, went through one period in 2021 where marquee matches were thrust upon them on an almost daily basis: one T20 Blast fixture, four Hundred doubleheaders, a T20I between England and Pakistan, the first Test of the India series and the Royal London Cup final all took place within the space of a single month.

"They're always the ones who get the finger pointed at," said Snowball. "They work unbelievably hard all year round and all through the season. I think it's unfortunate – whether it's comments from players or commentators – that they're often the first people to get the blame. We do play a lot of cricket; there's a lot of pressure on the squares, there's a lot of pressure on the TV pitches and we saw that last year.

"I would hope that playing more cricket in June and July will help in terms of the quality of pitches and getting more spinners involved in the game."

Snowball also admitted that "fewer matches might help". It has long been a bone of contention that players are so often on the road, travelling from one game – and one format – to the next, that improvement and practice are almost impossible at certain stages of the season. The addition of The Hundred, a fourth major domestic tournament, has not made that equation any simpler.

"I think there's a feeling that we haven't got the balance right at the moment, and that's what we need to look at"

"We talk a lot to the players, we talk a lot to the PCA, who focus on play-travel-play-travel-play-travel and not an awful lot of rest and practice," he said. "I think we probably need to play less and focus on high intensity. A lot of this is about quality – it's the quality of the cricket that we're playing in the right conditions. I think that's what we need to try to focus on."

He reiterated, though, that the County Championship remains "the blue-riband event" and "the primary first-class, red-ball competition".

"I don't see that changing," said Snowball, answering to the speculation in recent weeks about the ways of formatting four-day cricket in future. Writing for the BBC, Jonathan Agnew suggested that it was "time to replace the County Championship". Kevin Pietersen, meanwhile, has proposed a franchise-like competition – not dissimilar to The Hundred – "whereby the best play against the best every single week" in an eight-team, midsummer league, with the County Championship continuing to operate as now, though as a "feeder system".

While Snowball did not endorse either, he suggested that playing red-ball cricket through the window designated for The Hundred is "maybe something we need to look at" as "a way of playing red-ball cricket throughout the year".

He said: "There has been some interesting speculation about having some other red-ball cricket – having some championship cricket – played during The Hundred maybe with a different points structure. Other people have talked about having a Best v Best during The Hundred. I think we need to look at all of the options."

RELATED LINKS (open in external window in app)

County Championship fixtures 2022

T20 Blast fixtures 2022

Royal London Cup fixtures 2022