Is County Cricket Truly Professional?
Thursday, October 07, 2010 : County Championship, Clubs
Do drinking cultures still exist? Do some players really appreciate the levels of fitness required? Are some Counties back waters of Second Class Cricket? In short, is county cricket truly professional?
Following Ed Smith’s Inside Sport investigation, ‘Is Professionalism Killing Sport? Steve James states, in his Telegraph article ‘County cricket still has some way to go in terms of professionalism’, that ‘The England team most certainly are [professional], now world-leaders in coaching innovation and attention to detail. But county cricket? It still has work to do.’
This raises the question, if the England setup is truly professional then why can’t the counties be just as professional too? They are all part of the same organisation, the ECB. Why can’t they simply pass on best practice within the organisation? Or is the ECB a loose conglomeration of 18 self interested businesses pulling this way and that.
Are the players to blame? Are there serious drinking cultures at some Counties? Is it because they are playing too much cricket, in front of 2 men and a dog, to be truly motivated to be that professional? I must admit when watching a county match this summer all the players did seem to be performing at about 80%. In clear contrast, the only player putting in a ‘professional’ performance was an experienced overseas international.
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