Surrey’s director of cricket, Alec Stewart, has urged the England and Wales Cricket Board not to undermine the integrity of the County Championship after Surrey secured their second consecutive title.
While Surrey whistled through Hampshire’s middle order on Thursday afternoon, the title safely won when Essex failed to reach 400 runs at Northampton, a smiling Stewart gently twisted the knife. “It is such a good tournament,” he said. “The County Championship deserves a little bit more respect than perhaps it’s getting at the moment with the amount of cricket being played elsewhere.”
He aimed particular fire at the timing of England’s three one-day internationals against Ireland, which came during and between the penultimate and final games of the Championship. “That to me is disrespectful to the county game,” the former England captain and wicketkeeper said. “Could they have staged it better so that you only missed one game, and had all three games during that penultimate game and perhaps on that first rest day, so that everyone is then available.”
Stewart then got stuck into next September’s crowded schedule which is set to include the T20 Blast quarter-finals and finals day, the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy final, the Metro Bank One Day Cup final and the conclusion to the County Championship, as well as internationals.
“The ECB are going to try to call it Super September. It’s anything but. When the quarter-final of the T20 is on, there’s a Test match. When the finals of the T20 is on, England are playing Australia in T20s on the Friday and the Sunday. When the 50-over final is on, England are playing Australia.
“You have to work with the national team, and I always want England to be the best, but also trying to find a way of being more respectful to the county game because that is where your players are made to go on to England. That’s what we’re up against.”
Stewart also questioned the value of the mid-season two-match experiment with the Kookaburra balland the unbalanced structure of the Championship.
“I think symmetry is fair. It is not easy – I do have sympathy with the people who have to put the schedule together – but my role is director of cricket at Surrey so I care about county cricket a lot. I just want to see that it’s not diluted or put on the backburner and everything is just looked at internationally or franchise.”
