English Cricket’s Diet; Sussex Sharks Undercooked
As Somerset Sabres and Sussex Sharks exit the inaugural Champions League (CLT20) this week, The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have another reason to reconsider a saturated domestic schedule.
Of the two English challengers, Sussex County Cricket Club are domestic cricket’s form team this season, winning both the Pro40 and Twenty20 Cup and losing finalists in the Friends Provident Trophy at Lord’s.
Each format requires different skills and specialised practices and Sussex Coach Mark Robinson is a meticulous planner. Robinson notes the key to success in one-day cricket is ‘to plan, dissect, re-plan and play’. The ECB are so impressed with his approach, he has been named as the man to lead England U19’s 2010 World Cup bid.
Having seen the planning required for consistent one-day success though, how can the ECB hope for English victory, when neither the Sharks nor Sabres have played a Twenty20 fixture since August?
The Indian Premier League, English Twenty20 Cup and CLT20 all share this in common: matches are played back-to-back with few interjections from longer cricketing formats.
The ECB, keen to milk the Twenty20 cash cow, even schedule their tournament through June and July. The sunny weather produces drier wickets where the ball comes onto the bat, and the white ball swings less so big-hitting is easier.
Keen as they were to jump on CLT20 Chairman Lalit Modi’s bandwagon, having missed Modi’s IPL boat, greedy ECB scheduling has however hindered Sussex’s title challenge.
While Trinidad and Tobago have apparently had a month-long T20 Training camp the Sharks have been up to their gills with domestic games.
They were relegated in the four-day Championship September 24 while pushing for the Pro40 tournament win, secured just three days later.
Watching Kieron Pollard batter 54 not out from 18 balls against New South Wales Blues, it is no coincidence Trinidad and Tobago are in today’s semi final against Cape Cobras.
With $2.5 million at stake, not to mention the prestige for the winners, to see two English sides so under-cooked is embarrassing. The ECB do not need to chew the fat; they need to trim the schedule.
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