Marcus Hook’s Surrey CCC column: Lack of internationals – not talent – in the domestic game

Alec Stewart has defended the County Championship, in terms of it being a finishing school for future England Test players. Surrey’s director of cricket was also quick to point out that its critics only seem to pipe up when England are struggling, rather than when everything’s rosy.

“We’ve seen that whenever we’ve lost in Australia, which has been on numerous occasions, for a long, long time, there’s always an inquest,” said Stewart, pictured right. “We’re now seeing yet another inquest. When we win here, when we beat Australia, nothing’s ever said. When Australia lose here they have an inquest about their Sheffield Shield.

“Will changes happen? There seems a strong chance there will be, but county cricket is a breeding ground for Test cricket. It has produced good players and it will continue to produce good players.”

There isn’t a lack of talent in the county game, but, as Stewart says, there’s a lack of internationals, which means the gulf between county and Test cricket is bigger now than it has been for some time.

Not only have Kolpak signings been outlawed, but, also, how often do England’s Test players turn out for the counties these days? There’s a strong argument that the problem actually stems from up and coming county cricketers no longer being tested against the cream, week in week out.

There are just eight England players yet to retire from Test cricket who have played more than 26 Tests and before long that list will be down to just six when Anderson and Broad bow to the inevitable. That just leaves Bairstow, Burns, Buttler, Root, Stokes and Woakes.

“We’ve still got good players,” said Stewart. “County cricket will produce good players. You’ve got excellent coaches. But when the players go up a level it is a massive jump,” said Stewart.

“If you go back in time – and I’m not saying it was right – you used to finish your Test match and then play a county game the next day. So, the players coming through would be bowling at Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting, or they’d be facing high quality overseas bowlers.

“In the 80s and 90s, there wasn’t franchise cricket, there was no international cricket played outside of England in our summer, so you had all those great bowlers coming over to our breeding ground.

“Now the quality of the overseas-player availability has diminished and the best England Test players, because of the amount of Test cricket they play, are either playing for England or resting.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD