Cricket is a sport that often seems to be dominated by what's going on at the international level. This is seen as being the pinnacle of the game and big crowds are often attracted to the big international matches. None come bigger than The Ashes, competed for between Australia and England.
While The Ashes series is in full swing, it can often appear that all is well within the cricketing world. But when we scratch beneath the surface, it soon becomes clear that things aren't quite so simple. While international matches may be drawing in the crowds, how do things look at lower levels?
In this article we're taking a closer look at domestic cricket in England. With 18 professional teams, the home of cricket has a large domestic scene, but what sort of shape is it in?
Some would suggest that it's hard for domestic cricket competitions to make any sort of impact but the Indian Premier League (IPL) has shown that it is perfectly possible. Twenty-20, the form of the game first played in England, is helping to change the face of cricket.
These shorter games attract bigger crowds and a younger audience. They've been more of a success than many expected and it's understandable that cricket executives have been looking to cash-in. The problem is that it's not easy to get the balance right and the rush for cash may not benefit the game as a whole.
Is there a danger here that cricket in England could be dominated by this new shorter version of the game? There must surely be a risk that administrators will follow the cash and that they could end up killing the goose that laid the golden egg.
While people may be attracted to the glamour of the Twenty-20 competition at present, there are suggestions that crowds may not attend in such large numbers if the number of competitions were to be increased.
Looking at future schedules, it looks like administrators are struggling to get to grips with what has been going on. They've been surprised by the speed of change and seem to be indecisive about working out what competitions should be taking place in future years.
There's no doubt that a schedule needs to be put in place and stuck to. This is for the good of domestic cricket and also for the England team.
Keith Barrett has written about cricket and
cricket gloves for a number of publications. This article may be used by any website publisher, though this resource box must always be included in full.
