ECB Mulling Schofield Recommendations

The ECB has announced that it will endorse 17 of the 19 recommendations made in
the Schofield report, the results of a review of the state of English cricket
following the disastrous Ashes tour to Australia.

While the ECB approved the bulk of the recommendations from the report,
chaired by former PGA chief Ken Schofield, it stated that it needed more time to
consider the remaining two – namely the appointment of a managing director to
over the running of the national side and the scrapping of a Test match every
year and the county Pro40 League.

‘It is not unreasonable that any board would have a considerable period of
time to review such recommendations,’ said Schofield, whose seven-man panel was
made up of former Test players including Nasser Hussain, Angus Fraser and Nick
Knight.

Among the 17 ideas immediately backed by the ECB were making central
contracts more heavily performance-weighted, rebranding the academy as a
performance centre and an annual training programme for players close to but not
in the senior England squad.

In addition, there are plans to realign the Ashes series to avoid World Cup
winters.

The review, which looked into English cricket during the four-year cycle from
the 2002-03 Ashes to the end of the 2006-07 Ashes whitewash, could make the
managing director the most influential person in the English game.

That person would oversee the appointment of coaches and captains and plan
England’s overseas itineraries.

The ECB management board said it would undertake a further period of
consultation to discuss the implications of the proposed management changes.

The ECB wants the Domestic Structure Review Group to address Schofield’s
recommendations to reduce the amount of cricket being played.

The belief is that playing fewer matches will enable players to prepare
better and also cut down on the number of injuries while scrapping the 40-over
one-day tournament would bring the county game into line with the international
scene.

‘Under the strict terms of reference we were given in January we were asked
to look to improve England’s ranking and more especially win a 50-over
tournament,’ said Schofield.

‘There isn’t any 40-over format in international cricket and we would like to
think that domestic limited-overs cricket could reflect the international 50 and
20-over programmes so that the players can improve their skills.’