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"Cash-fuelled T20 obsession is killing England's Test chances" : Geoffrey Boycott

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By GEOFFREY BOYCOTT

Money and self interest are the guiding principles of those who run our wonderful game not what is best for English cricket.

Many counties are on the breadline or in serious debt like Yorkshire. They are trying to survive hand to mouth every year so whenever the 18 county chairmen meet to discuss English cricket and its future they are only interested in what is good for them. It is why Twenty20 has dominated over the last few years.

Counties want as much international cricket of all types on television because that pays the huge money. All 18 counties get a share out of the TV deals for providing the players.

But they have now realised they can make even more from big crowds and television by introducing a new Twenty20 competition in 2020 which will guarantee each county an extra 1.3m for five years. It is a life saver for them.

So no wonder the 18 chairmen, who are nearly all businessmen, put money before cricket even if that competition will marginalise the four day game even more, squeezing it to the margins of the season.

Most people have a mortgage. If you can’t pay it and the only people offering you cash are loan sharks then you take it because you are drowning. That is what has been happening to our game for years. We are not planning and preparing for the cricketing future. It is all about the here and now and money.

When the county season is shoved into early April and late summer, and the prime time weeks are given over to one-day cricket, is it any wonder we do not have quality Test players coming through and keep losing in tough places like Australia and India.

We are not very good abroad and the reason we play well in England is because the Duke ball moves all over the place. We have also had one of the truly great fast medium swing bowlers in James Anderson with a good back up in Stuart Broad who bowls matchwinning spells so we beat most people at home and everybody thinks that’s alright.

But when you marginalise the championship season you are telling a county cricketer the four-day game is secondary to one-day. You are telling him he will earn more money if he plays and concentrates on one-day cricket. His club will value him more as a specialist hit and giggle merchant.

We have an increasing number of second rate overseas players in county cricket as well. It is wasted money that could be better spent on having 18 academies. The counties should have a better breeding ground for youngsters rather than the millions wasted at Loughborough. It costs a fortune and is not producing the quality cricketers England need to win in places like Australia.

County pitches are a problem. They are too similar. They have to be flat and dry to start. You can tell how worried the ECB have been because they have abandoned the toss to stop home sides from producing green tops. What you really want is pitches so good and dry that they turn by the third day so you force teams to play spinners.

But when one county produces turning pitches, Somerset, plays two spinners and wins at home other counties moan and complain. Some of the pitches are so flat and good, they are too easy to bat on.

The technique of batting is poor because from an early age counties are teaching batsmen Twenty20 shots. Reverse sweeps, ramp shots and hitting it inside out. It is about how many sixes you can hit but that does not work in Test match cricket.

Australia have shown us the way. Their batsmen have ground out big hundreds. None of them scored quickly with flashy shots. They took a long time over their innings and absolutely killed us because whenever anyone got in they went on and scored big centuries.

James Vince is a typical example playing nice little cameos before a horrible shot. He has had ten innings, once run out, one magic ball at Perth nobody could play and eight unbelievable sloppy shots to get himself out. I do not mean to be nasty to the lad but he has flattered and failed. You have to grow up in county cricket, building an innings day after day.

Steve Smith, the iconic player of the series, has not scored quickly. He scored very steady, cautious and in control. He has not made mistakes. That is the key.

In county cricket there is too much emphasis on scoring rates and balls faced. It does not win Test matches. Batting for long periods wins Test matches. If England score 400 they think they have done brilliantly. But Smith tells Australia to make 600. They only want to bat once. India did exactly the same last winter. It is a different mindset and one you only learn by playing good county cricket.

We need to find youngsters who can bowl fast. There are people out there. It does not matter if they are wild and do not bowl line and length. You can learn that later on. Steven Finn said when he was a kid he could bowl 90mph but the coaches got to him at Loughborough and told him to bowl off stump, line and length. In Test cricket pace is the key. It is everything. At times all three Australians in this series have bowled 90mph and their stock ball is just under. It is a different game then.

Fred Trueman came to the Yorkshire nets as a wild young kid. He bowled all over the place. When Arthur MItchell, the coach, asked the players what they thought they said he is fast but wayward. Mitchell said ‘just think how good he will be when we teach him to bowl straight.’ Accuracy can be taught, pace is natural and needs encouraging.

The best thing I heard on this tour was Brett Lee talking about Tom Curran. He said he could bowl much quicker. He said he needs to raise his front arm and really pull through hard in his action. You listen to Brett talking and Australians think pace is everything.

Anderson has stayed fit, bowled well, and sent down more overs in this series than any he has played in before. Nobody has clattered him around. He has been able to keep control but he has made no impact on winning a Test match. He needed English conditions in the day-nighter at Adelaide to look dangerous. Fast medium does not win Test matches on flat pitches abroad. It is pace, pace and more pace that does it.

It is about planning and preparation for spinners and pace bowlers in county cricket. You have to be actively looking for them. But what happens? The chairmen come here, watch international cricket from plush seats eating the best food and drinking nice gin and tonics. Hardly any have played first-class cricket, let alone Test cricket, so why the hell are they the people we trust to think ahead, prepare and plan for England to play better. There is no chance of anything changing.

They don’t listen to ex-players because they don’t want to hear what we have to say. They are too seduced by money but when England lose badly, like they have here, it makes us all feel down. As cricket lovers were all feel so disheartened.

I know what will happen. We will play at home, with the Duke ball, Anderson will wobble it around and we will win again. Everything in the garden will be rosy once more until we go on the road again. Nothing changes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/...mping-no-surprise-cash-fuelled-t20-obsession/
 
He’s right. The problem is the County system. It is not fit for the purpose of producing international cricketers.
 
His personal preference for Tests doesn't equate to the 'good of the game' as a whole. More people want to watch T20 which is why money is there.

Good that England has stopped treating test match as the be all and end all. White-ball cricket deserves more respect.
 
His personal preference for Tests doesn't equate to the 'good of the game' as a whole. More people want to watch T20 which is why money is there.

Fair enough, but they will have to accept that England will never again produce a test match winning spinner.
 
He is right, T20 may be an enjoyable commodity for many but it is killing the longer version as a whole. People looking for a quick buck.
 
People in India and increasingly Pakistan underestimate the fact that there are very few casual cricket fans in England, whereas most serious fans treat pyjama cricket with the detached persiflage that it deserves. Without those dedicated fans, cricket in England would die, however, the ECB have always been fans of turkeys that vote for Christmas. Boycott is absolutely right, if the level of county cricket is not brushed up soon then England would struggle to field a competitive test team.
 
I don't think it's just England where this is an issue.

I fear for the future of the Pakistan Test team also.
 
People in India and increasingly Pakistan underestimate the fact that there are very few casual cricket fans in England, whereas most serious fans treat pyjama cricket with the detached persiflage that it deserves. Without those dedicated fans, cricket in England would die, however, the ECB have always been fans of turkeys that vote for Christmas. Boycott is absolutely right, if the level of county cricket is not brushed up soon then England would struggle to field a competitive test team.

Well firstly, do you ever watch an entire test match? I'm not talking about following commentary, I'm talking about actually watching it on tv ball by ball for 5 days. Except for retired people, no one has time to watch tests.

And England is a country known for it's elitist attitude. It's a football nation and when it comes to cricket only a handful watch them and Ashes is everything. Looking down on limited overs cricket is nothing but pure snobbery.
 
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Completely agree with Boycott.

There is no motive for England players to perform for their country when lucrative T20 leagues act as a career safety net. Jos Butler is an example. ECB questioned his inclusion in the English team and before one could say T20 – Butler was off to the IPL. No fear in the England camp.

ECB should ban contracted players from playing in mercenary T20 leagues.
 
I agree with him. T20 Cricket is a great way for teams to bring cash. With money available all around the world players have declared there interest to play T20 Cricket League
 
Completely agree with Boycott.

There is no motive for England players to perform for their country when lucrative T20 leagues act as a career safety net. Jos Butler is an example. ECB questioned his inclusion in the English team and before one could say T20 – Butler was off to the IPL. No fear in the England camp.

ECB should ban contracted players from playing in mercenary T20 leagues.

Their best players won't sign contracts then.
 
Well firstly, do you ever watch an entire test match? I'm not talking about following commentary, I'm talking about actually watching it on tv ball by ball for 5 days. Except for retired people, no one has time to watch tests.

And England is a country known for it's elitist attitude. It's a football nation and when it comes to cricket only a handful watch them and Ashes is everything. Looking down on limited overs cricket is nothing but pure snobbery.

The recently concluded India vs South Africa test at Newlands. Granted I was on leave from work. Nonetheless, if there's a test on a weekend I'd more often than not be watching it. The last T20 match that I watched in full was the World T20 final between England and the West Indies almost two years ago, while I don't even remember the last time I sat through to watch a full one day international, probably a decade or so ago. I don't think it's snobbery or elitism, but just personal interest and choice. I'd rather watch a baseball match than a limited overs cricket match.
 
Sorry but this is ignorant and rubbish from Boycott, Australians play just as much T-20 Cricket if not more vis a vis England. The problems are more deep rooted in England, England came unprepared to Australia and came with a team which would work in English conditions but not in Australian conditions.

You need 90 mph pace and a quality spinner to be competitive as a bowling attack in Australia for one, Graeme Swann has left a huge void to fill.
 
Australia lost to BD in BD, India in I ndia, SL in SL. Nothing to do with T20. All teams have become HTBs.
 
England's problem is form. Similar unit has beaten Aus. Remember Cook's epic series in OZ. Players are aging. NOne of them are at their peak . May be they would still do well in helpful conditions. Australian bowlers are better bowlers on flat roads. Smith is in beastly form. It is just the conditions dictate fortunes of teams.
 
England's problem is form. Similar unit has beaten Aus. Remember Cook's epic series in OZ. Players are aging. NOne of them are at their peak . May be they would still do well in helpful conditions. Australian bowlers are better bowlers on flat roads. Smith is in beastly form. It is just the conditions dictate fortunes of teams.

It’s not form. None of these guys except Cook, Anderson, Broad and Root would get into Strauss’s team, and I am not sure who would make way for Root.
 
England does not have the bowlers to take wickets on Aus tracks. Their main weapon Jimmy is useless in Australia. Broad blows hot and cold. Ali as well as any spinner in the world is useless in Australia again. Woakes simply does not have the pace to threaten any Aus batsman.

If the same English team played this Ashes series in England, result would be different. In fact everyone will be calling Aus as home track bullies and hacks.
 
every former cricketer who retired before 2000 is bitter and all they can do is complain how T20 cricket is destroying the players from his country..

blah blah blah
 
G Boycott living in his mansion which cost him maybe a years hard work and is probably worth 100 times the amount he paid for it back in his days. Probably does not realised how things and living have become extremely inflated in prices. It's easy to talk against the money chasers when everything in your time and now is all paid for and settled.

Cricketers have a short span of time to accumulate as much as they can in earnings that are good. After that, these players struggle harder in real life than the average bob because they don't have any real qualification besides maybe an ECB level 2. Trust me, these cricketers are smart by chasing the money they can get whilst they themselves are valuable as athletes
 
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