‘Old and crusty’ does not mean you can’t do the job
Rob Key has been appointed as director of cricket, Ben Stokes Test captain and now Brendon Mccullum as coach. Good. The power vacuum is being filled but the biggest job at the top of English cricket remains vacant.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has been without a chairman for seven months. It launched an expensive recruitment drive, cancelled it and started again when it decided it wanted Ron Kalifa, the man in charge of the nominations process, to be chairman.
Now Ron has decided not to stand, it is back to square one again. It is a joke. The game needs direction quickly.
The chairman of the ECB has to lead the entire game and persuade the 18 counties to put cricket ahead of money.
We have to face the facts that our proper cricket – Test cricket – is at rock bottom. State schools are not playing cricket and clubs have been folding for years.
Too many county committee men talk a good game, say “woe is me” about the structure of our season, but do nothing about making it better. They are too narrow minded, again thinking only about money.
The ECB wants a new chairman who will not rock the boat. Someone known to everyone in the ECB. But the chairman should look at the whole game, not just county cricket, and challenge the counties to think outside of themselves. It needs to be someone prepared to talk to ex-players and those outside the cosy club to get new ideas.
Stop messing about and trying to get someone from within the ECB. Gerald Corbett was chairman of MCC for six years, built new stands, introduced better governance and management, and the club has no debt even after the pandemic.
MCC has continued to lead coaching and cricket initiatives around the world and put its money into helping cricket development in places such as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
But Gerald, despite being recommended by the recruitment company in charge of the chairman’s process, did not make the shortlist because the ECB board did not want someone from the cricket establishment. They probably see him as old, crusty and giving out the wrong image. Rubbish. Forget age or diversity. It is about the best person for the job.
If that is a man or woman, and they live on Mars, then so what. Just go and get them. Appearances do not matter. Cricket is a game for all. Competence and experience should be the criteria and it is cricket that should be the priority for the ECB, not money.
Gerald is right in front of them, someone with experience and knowledge who could do a good job for three years. He could start the ball rolling. Stop this farce of a process and go get him.
He knows if our Test team are to do better we need to improve county pitches, reinvigorate state schools cricket and club cricket. Make those foundations strong and eventually the Test team will improve as more and more quality cricketers come through.
All the ECB has done is invent a Hundred competition to make more money out of TV companies to give to the counties.
The ECB should be thinking outside and beyond the 18 counties. Giving them more money all the time the money just disappears down one big black hole, meanwhile schools and clubs are struggling. Counties are like sponges ,the more you give them the more they want.
Schools and club cricket are the lifeblood of our cricket and that has been going downhill for 20 years.
I am not talking about private schools. They have great facilities and ex-pros as coaches. They are so well off they can offer free scholarships and entice the best youngsters to go to their school.
But not all our great players have come from state schools. Ben Stokes and James Anderson went to state schools.
The ECB should be spending money on encouraging schoolkids. Let them in free to watch county cricket. A national competition for state primary and secondary schools would be a good start and paying some ex-professionals to go and coach.
Club cricket was the lifeblood of communities. It is where counties such as Yorkshire found their best players. It needs reinvigorating with proper funding and structure that links them to state schools. It
It is about the best person for the job. If that is a man or woman, and they live on Mars, then so what
The more you give the counties, the more they want. Schools and club cricket are the lifeblood
is not enough for the ECB to hand out a cheque when a cricket club need a new scoreboard or showers. It is not about fobbing them off with money.
It is about having vision and leadership, putting grass roots first ahead of the counties and having a proper review of our game that puts getting people playing cricket back at the heart of every decision.
We have had six months of no leadership because they appear to be trying to bring someone in from inside the ECB they are comfortable with.
Do not just pick the new chair with political correctness in mind. Age should not be a barrier. Pick someone who has got vision, ideas, experience and is prepared to listen to cricketers.