Gatting: Give one-day game a place in sun

PERFECT PAIR: World Cup stars Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler should take joint charge of the one-day side, says Darren Gough MIKE GATTING has pleaded with the ECB not to shove 50-over cricket into the long grass after England’sWorld Cup win. One of only four men to captain England in aWorld Cup final – along with Mike Brearley, Graham Gooch and Eoin Morgan – Gatting wants the Royal London Cup to be spread across the domestic summer instead of confined to a short block at the front end of the season. With few big names available and a higher accent on developing youngsters, the ECB currently plan to downgrade the competition from next summer to accommodate their controversial new hundred-ball format.

But Ashes-winning skipper Gatting, below, said: “We need to go back and have another look at the schedule.

“It does seem very strange that England have finally become world champions, in a format of the game where we had been trying for half a century, and now that format is going to be pushed into the margins. “I understand that we’ve got to make The Hundred work when it becomes part of the calendar next year, and I want it to be a success. But I would like the guys at the ECB to have a look at it. “At face value, we appear to be placing less emphasis on 50-over cricket in our strategy but I don’t see [world governing body] ICC reducing it in their strategy. “I captained England in a World Cup final and, although we came up just short, I wouldn’t have missed the experience for anything.

“And I played in an era where we would often play three different forms of the game in a week – County Championship, one-day cups and Sunday league – and we found room for them all. “Now we have won the World Cup, I hope we will find room for the 50-over format in the county game. My preference would be to spread it over three or four months of the season if necessary, instead of confining it to a single block.”