Even by county cricket’s standards, the start to the 2015 season is overshadowed – but change is in the air

David Hopps11-Apr-2015Even by the standards of county cricket (a toxic phrase to many), the start to the season could hardly be more understated. Not only is the IPL in full swing, but England are about to begin a three-Test series against the West Indies with the new chairman of the ECB, Colin Graves, indicating that failure will not be tolerated. There is much to grab the attention.The start to the Championship season will be so overshadowed that perhaps for the first time in half-a-century not a single newspaper will even bother to carry a photograph of a huddled spectator in an otherwise empty stand to illustrate in the usual cynical, cliché ridden, half-truth way, the low esteem of England’s professional game.Then comes the Ashes: the most inspirational Test series of all, but surely not the be all and end all, not the only thing that matters, not to the English cricket lover whose passions for the game run deep. There is more to English cricket than 15 to 20 players. It can achieve so much more than that.This summer, as the Ashes reawaken interest, and somewhere below many people’s radar the 18-team system cranks up once more, is a summer of hope. Nor for many years has there been such a chance for England’s professional game to regain its relevance. Nor for many years has there been the sense of an ECB administration so determined to reconnect it with the public. Not to create a miracle, or to entirely abandon its proven qualities, but to look English society full in the eye in 2015 and maximise in the near future – both commercially and in terms of entertainment – what can be achieved.While the county game meanders along – and ESPNcricinfo has proved it values its gentle rhythms as much as any media outlet – the most significant contest this summer will be in the committee rooms of England. These committees, constituted almost exclusively by conservatively-inclined men of a certain age, must dare to consider the offer, if the offer really does come along around the season’s end, to move England’s professional circuit back towards the centre of sporting life.Not quite the Manchester football derby admittedly. But a faith in its possibilities.There is nothing wrong with valuing tradition, quite the contrary. Tradition can display a respect for things far removed from the impermanent froth of modern trends and fancies. Tradition has kept the 18-county system alive. But even tradition needs to evolve or eventually it becomes not much better than Morris Dancing.Quite what changes should occur, ESPNcricinfo, for the moment, reserves judgment. But some of Graves’ initial pronouncements could not have rung more true. Those who caricature him for his Yorkshire plain speaking in the months ahead should be suspected for their dissembling.Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth (left), with Nasser Hussain, was the PCA player of the year last summer•Getty ImagesThat quality should be prized above quantity should be a given for a sport that cannot bear to see a gap in a calendar now more than six months long without filling it with a largely meaningless match. Thinning out the fixture list will be a desperately difficult task, bound to attract consternation, but somehow, who knows quite how, it must happen. It is not the function of professional cricket in England to fill the days of county members to no apparent purpose.Just as persuasive is Graves’ talk of building a “jigsaw” that joins the international and club game together and demands that both prove their worth.The model in which England’s international game supports 18 first-class counties, and so provides international cricketers in return (even to the point in the last decade and more of withdrawing them from the system as much as possible), has served English cricket well, but the model is beginning to fracture. It wold be an overreaction to suggest that it is on the brink of collapse, but outside London, Test crowds are shaky. The portents are clear: England’s professional game must also prove its worth.To suggest as much a decade or so ago would have been risible. But England has given Twenty20 to the world – a format with immense commercial potential – and has never dared to explore it with total conviction in case it proves to be a canker that kills the longer format of the game. That faint-heartedness must end.It is time to suspect anybody who frets unduly about the English climate, which will have its say but which is not insurmountable. England needs a T20 tournament of worldwide commercial appeal in which England players – at least for the most part – take part. This summer’s NatWest Blast will be fun, and can be recommended… until something even better comes along.For too long, England’s international programme has lain upon the club game like a groundsheet on a lawn; a groundsheet that has long claimed to protect it from the fiercest elements, but which also ensures a lawn that greets the onset of spring with vibrancy turns sickly yellow as it is never exposed to the air.County grounds have improved markedly in the past decade. Business plans have moved towards self-sufficiency- although there is a long way to go, Ground capacities have grown. Facilities have improved. Perhaps the ECB has not gained the credit it deserves.But the ultimate question remains this: having taken these steps, does English professional cricket now dare to believe that whilst it can never rival football (and should never try) it can once again become a pulsating part of the summer sporting landscape?One harsh fact to dwell upon: the rugby union club final recently attracted more than 80,000 to Twickenham; by contrast, England’s 50-over competition these days barely half fills Lord’s and T20 finals day, although successful, stages semi-finals and final on the same day to be confident of filling the ground.That represents failure.There will be much fun to be had this summer for those who love the county game. ESPNcricinfo will be at the centre of it as much as we can, fervently believing that English cricket is best appreciated by getting deep into the fabric of the professional game.But that enjoyment comes with a belief that times are changing, and that, for the greatest pleasure for the greatest number, change would potentially be no bad thing. It will be an interesting summer. The time has come to call “play” and to call it not just with respect for the past but with ambition for the future.