
While I am well aware that I am opening myself up to acquisitions of bias, if we’re honest there are only a limited number of grounds in this country which can actually accommodate high profile international cricket and it is high time we began to structure the international cricket setup around those counties which have the facilities to support it.

The most important point to consider in the call to arms for change is; who does the current system actually benefit?
Is it the fans who are subjected to ludicrous prices as a direct result of counties being forced to turn a profit on their bids? No. Is it the counties who are forced to make highly speculative bids and engage in highly speculative redevelopments to ensure they have the capacity for non-guaranteed cricket? No. So what mysterious part benefits from this? The ECB through generating revenue from a service they are obligated to provide anyway – the phrase shitting on one’s doorstep springs to mind!

Irritatingly the ECB already use a far superior model for dealing with international cricket in a different area: Centrally contracting players. There should be a set of Counties who are designate as international venues and provided centralised funding for redevelopment as and when needed; this would reduce the uncertainty on counties as to the future of their funding and in turn reduce the impact on the paying punter’s wallet. Profits from international cricket could be equally distributed amongst the counties reducing the wealth imbalance across county cricket and allow for an increasingly competitive league.
A small rant, that is all.