'No silver bullet' for English cricket after Ashes fiasco: ECB
Cricket
England cricket chiefs have said there is "no silver bullet" for domestic first-class cricket.
LONDON (AFP) - England cricket chiefs have said there is "no silver bullet" for domestic first-class cricket following demands for substantial reforms after a dismal Ashes campaign.
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Tom Harrison called for a red-ball "reset" to help Joe Root s Test team, who recently slumped to a 4-0 series defeat in Australia
The ECB announced its 2022 domestic fixtures on Thursday.
There will be five rounds of four-day County Championship matches in June and July, compared with just three last year, as the competition returns to its regular two-division structure following two revamped seasons because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the season will start on April 7, with four successive weeks of red-ball matches, and finish on September 29 -- with no Championship fixtures at all in August, when the second edition of The Hundred will take precedence.
Neil Snowball, the ECB s managing director of county cricket, admitted the schedule was not ideal in striking a balance between the first-class and limited-over formats but said it was an improvement from last year.
"We know there s no silver bullet," he said. "All of the different things that we need to consider have been talked about a lot -- whether it s what type of ball we use, what type of pitches we play on, the format of competitions.
"It needs a comprehensive review. I think there s a feeling that we haven t got the balance right (between the formats) at the moment and that s what we need to look at.
"We need to get the first-class counties, the ECB, the PCA (Professional Cricketers Association) and the other stakeholders together and then work out a plan through this year hopefully so that we can start making some changes from 2023. But there s absolute commitment to do that."
