Surrey coach: ‘Rest England stars but let the others play more county cricket’
Surrey County Cricket Club head coach Gareth Batty has insisted that a packed schedule is pivotal for the development of future England stars despite a review conducted by Andrew Strauss recommending fewer games in the County Championship.
Batty now heads up the defending champions in Division One and while he’s happy for the club’s England stars to have their cricket restricted, he has encouraged the game’s chiefs to let others play as often as possible.
“Take [cricket] away from the best and the big boys but let everybody else play because we need to keep providing players [to international cricket],” Batty said on Monday.
“I think there was a huge amount right with the Strauss review.
“If they [the big players] don’t play county cricket, that’s cool, there’s no dramas with that – we’re not asking those guys to have a workload that’s unprecedented around the world, we want them to be fit and ready for England.
“But I think to upskill our young players, and I use [Harry, a player who has taken the Test world by storm in the last six months] Brook as an example, having those 10 or 11 games to get the runs to finish his skills [is helpful].
“There’s a reason why so many Indian players want to come and play in county cricket, because they want the volume that they’re not getting everywhere else.”
The County Championship begins on Thursday amid a turbulent time for English cricket.
The international Test team are flying, having won 10 out of their 12 matches under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, but the England and Wales Cricket Board are facing widespread criticism surrounding their reaction to allegations of racism and discrimination.
The Strauss review called for a reduced championship and reforms to the 50-over competition.