THE SECRET CRICKETER: County 2nd XI cricket is a waste of resource and is in desperate need of reform

The Secret Cricketer has played county cricket for nearly 20 years and represented England. This week, he looks at the role the 2nd XI fixture list can play in the development of county pros

It’s very rare 2nd XI cricket gets any attention these days so well done to Hampshire’s Academy batsman Tom Prest, who made a triple hundred against Sussex last week. Not bad considering he started the day sitting a three-hour geography A Level exam.

To score a triple hundred in any level of cricket is some feat so good luck to Tom, especially if it helps him on his path towards becoming a full-time pro. He clearly loves batting, although I don’t think you should read too much into achievements in second-team cricket.

As someone who played it at the start of my career and then again more recently when I was coming back from an injury, I have little positive to say about that environment. To be frank, it’s been a waste of resources for a long time and needs reforming.

Second-team cricket has some merits as there needs to be a tier below the first team but it needs to be fit for purpose. Smaller clubs with smaller squads should pair up with another club to provide six players for each game. Second-team cricket should be a bun fight to get in the first team but I think in the last five years at some clubs it has become a waiting room where if you sit there long enough you will get a call up.

For me, first-team spots are something to aspire to and be earned. A lot of players now get called up due to shortages or badly planned squads which shouldn’t be the case with county cricket, which after all is professional and well funded.

I think trialists are important because there needs to be a route back into the game if you don’t cut it to begin with, but the minute a second-team coach is scrambling to put together a team it becomes amateurish and unfit for purpose. I remember getting the call for my second-team debut and seeing it as a reward for years of hard work, not because they were short of players. That is how it needs to be going forward.

One of the reasons for the poor standard is pitches. Few games are played on headquarters grounds now. At the start of my career my local club considered it a feather in their cap to stage county 2nd XI matches. Nowadays they are not fussed. Their argument is why put in all that effort to provide good facilities when you could hold a junior festival instead and make loads of money over the bar from the parents watching?

^{County 2nd XI matches rarely take place at HQ venues}

For batsmen, second-team cricket should prepare you to bat in your county’s top four. Who cares if the No.6 or No.7 comes in and gets a shed-load of runs? Your opening bowlers ought to be able to bowl two or three more six-over spells at the same pace as his first and your spinner should have a chance of bowling out the opposition on the last day. Create scenarios that are going to challenge the skill sets of those involved.

Why not prepare wickets that, say, turn on day one or play successive games on the same pitch so it spins in the second game? In my experience, second-team spinners might as well stay at home or go to the gym. They are usually asked to bowl on flat surfaces with small boundaries or on a damp, underprepared shit-heap in a game that barely lasts two days.

Once you are sitting in the second team at the age of say 25 it is time to prepare for life outside of the game. The game does not need older players taking away opportunities for young players with careers ahead of them. I would be a fan of having maximum age limits, it is a game for development, not taking a pay cheque.

Second-team coaches really earn their money, getting the scorer to the ground and even arranging food being among their roles. It is a tough job and add in the mix bitter senior pros, maybe an arrogant youngster with a sense of entitlement because has had played a Blast game and your man-management skills are being tested on a daily basis. It is a great grounding for any coach but it is a thankless job.

Tom Prest got some headlines last week but, assuming that you’re reading this because you know about county cricket, could you tell me who won the Second XI Championship last year or either of the one-day competitions? It should be used by the ECB and counties to prepare and test players. Results may mean something at the time but they are really irrelevant, it is what happens in the first team that makes careers and contracts.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: No contest. Chris Rushworth broke Graham Onions’ record when he took his 527th first-class wicket for Durham last week, an achievement that reduced him to tears. It was a nice moment for Rushy, who is a lovely bloke… when he’s not charging in on a green-top at the Riverside with a nice breeze to assist his outswinger. There are some grounds where you always feel like you’ve earned your runs and Durham is definitely one of them.

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