30-09-2018, 13:25
Yeah, it's been clear for some time that Division Two isn't fit for purpose, and all the more so since it expanded to ten teams. There's just no reason for smaller counties to strive in the first-class game, and that makes their talented players all the more likely to leave (and dissuades them from cultivating young talent).
Among the suggestions I've seen floating about, there's the idea nicked from baseball that homegrown players should be tied to the county that developed them for a full five years from the day of their debut, unless the club chooses to release them or voluntarily trades them for another player. At the end of the five years, they're free to go wherever they want. Alternatively, at the start of each season simply hit counties who play at Test grounds with a deduction of 10 points for every player they've acquired from a non-Test county in the last twelve months, and a further 10 for every Kolpak they have on the books. Sorted.
Neither will happen, but it's nice to dream.
Among the suggestions I've seen floating about, there's the idea nicked from baseball that homegrown players should be tied to the county that developed them for a full five years from the day of their debut, unless the club chooses to release them or voluntarily trades them for another player. At the end of the five years, they're free to go wherever they want. Alternatively, at the start of each season simply hit counties who play at Test grounds with a deduction of 10 points for every player they've acquired from a non-Test county in the last twelve months, and a further 10 for every Kolpak they have on the books. Sorted.
Neither will happen, but it's nice to dream.
"I would rather spend a holiday in Tuscany than in the Black Country, but if I were compelled to choose between living in West Bromwich or Florence, I should make straight for West Bromwich." - J.B. Priestley