'Don’t underestimate how many people like Championship cricket': Gillespie issues red-ball reminder

Sussex head coach Jason Gillespie has sympathy with those fee-paying regulars who might not be happy about the decrease in gametime after Division Two switched to 14 matches for 10 teams

^{New Sussex head coach Jason Gillespie}

Sussex coach Jason Gillespie says members of Second Division counties may feel rightly aggrieved by the existing 14-match County Championship schedule.

Gillespie takes over at Hove this season with a mandate to help his side out of the bottom tier, which last year switched to a 10-team format, causing an imbalance in the fixture list.

While Gillespie appreciates the reasons behind the ECB’s decision to tweak the competition - the sheer weight of matches being the primary consideration - the Australian would rather his team had the chance to play against each of their first-class opponents both home and away.

And he has sympathy with those fee-paying regulars who might not be happy about the decrease in gametime.

“Clubs sell membership on the back of a certain number of days of cricket in a season,” he told The Cricketer.

“Quite rightly, members will go ‘well hang on a minute, it’s down to 14 Championship games’. That’s eight days less of Championship cricket, in theory.

^{Gillespie has sympathy for those who are unhappy with the summer schedule}

“Don’t underestimate how many people like Championship cricket. That’s something that’s got to be balanced out.

“I still like 16 games. It’s back to 14 last year and this year. Personally I thought 16 games was fine. I understand why the ECB wanted to lose a couple of games, I get that.

“Everyone talks about wanting to make sure there’s not too much cricket, managing workloads and all that sort of stuff. I understand the principle of why the ECB have gone down that path but, my personal opinion, in Division Two I don’t like the fact that you play some teams once and other teams twice.

“I understand that there may not be another way to do that. They will be doing the best they can to find the best solution to managing the schedule.”

"I see what the ECB is trying to do - have the T20s in that block to take advantage of school holidays and the like. I get that. At the end of the day, not everyone is going to be happy with the schedule."

Purists have also lamented the timetabling of four-day cricket in England, with the majority of the County Championship taking place at either end of the summer.

Gillespie - like many in the game - is happy with taking red-ball, one-day and T20 disciplines in order, rather than trying to prepare for several formats at once.

“I don’t mind it in blocks. I think it’s tough for administrators to get it right. Not everyone is going to be happy,” he said.

“While we want it in blocks, we would also like to see a slightly more even spread of Championship cricket throughout the summer.

“I see what the ECB is trying to do - have the T20s in that block to take advantage of school holidays and the like. I get that. At the end of the day, not everyone is going to be happy with the schedule.

“It’s a tough thing to get the schedule right. Everyone knows what the schedule is so you can’t moan about, you have to crack on.”