Mark Butcher and Andrew Miller join Alan Gardner to discuss the ECB’s proposed 100-ball tournament and Ed Smith’s appointment as National Selector (45:14)
The Professional Cricketers’ Association has warned that “a huge amount of detail remains undecided and unclear” in the wake of the ECB’s unveiling of their new 100-ball format.
However, the players’ union insists that its members “remain open-minded” about the viability of the competition, in the wake of a meeting with Tom Harrison, the ECB’s CEO, and Sanjay Patel, the managing director of the new tournament.
The two-hour open session, at Edgbaston, featured views from all 18 first-class counties as well as the England men’s and women’s squads, and came in the wake of a shocked initial reaction to the ECB’s plans, to which only three active cricketers – Eoin Morgan, Heather Knight and Daryl Mitchell, the chief executive of the PCA – had been privy.
According to a PCA press release, Harrison and Patel explained the rationale behind the proposed new format, which they were keen to stress remains a “concept which they are exploring with us and other stakeholders”, and the players’ concerns were aired in return.
“There is a huge amount of detail which remains undecided and unclear,” read the statement. “There is concern in the county dressing rooms with the 100-ball format but the players remain open-minded to the competition and are prepared to work with the ECB through these issues.”
One of the most significant concerns among players, even before the 100-ball announcement, had been the “lack of information and clarity” from the ECB with regards to the new tournament, with PCA reps touring the country in the early weeks of the season to canvas the opinions of 85% of the country’s cricketers.
In his earliest response to the announcement, Mitchell had rejected initial claims from the ECB that the 100-ball format had been “enthusiastically received at all of the meetings”, pointing out that, given the size of the PCA membership, it was “too early to say”.
That caveat was reiterated in the Edgbaston meeting. “As we work with the ECB to get more information and provide our input we also need to seek opinions from all players following today’s meeting,” read the statement.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo