quote:
Originally posted by JayPatel:
If the argument is that overseas players in England raise the level of game - then why is it that most overseas players that do play are not even part of the regular XV let alone XI of their national teams - is English cricket in that bad a state?
....Yes..The standard of County cricket is such that it allows some lesser players from overseas to make some money playing cricket.
Secondly, all countries are facing attendence issues aka domestic games - not just England - but SA, NZ, Aus, Ind you name it - they have the same problem. But those countries have little overseas participation in their domestic setup so why does England think that it has the answer?
...As far as marketing domestic cricket goes I don't think any country has all the answers.....
I can't recall the last time I went to a match and where I heard a cricket fan say "... I'm only here to watch this overseas player ..." - its rubbish.
As for missing out and whether cricket is the number one sport or not - it wouldn't matter - soccer is and its grass roots level participation in the premiership has nearly died its death. For the counties - its about winning - and the winning mental approach seems to be that overseas players will do it - again I don't see any evidence where this is the case - they have helped - but there is no consistent proof to suggest that counties win championship titles due to overseas players alone - I thought prior argument was always its XI men that win - not a lone hand.
It seems that you would prefer overseas players didn't participate in County cricket for the sake of it.
The first point I made in the post you have responded to is that I don't believe that any young English talent that is good enough misses out because of overseas players participating in County cricket.
I did not speculate that one overseas player would win the competition for his team single handedly.
This overseas player thing is being used as a Patsy by some people IMO because overseas players aren't the reason for the the question mark on the standard of County cricket.
I also mentioned the grass roots of cricket in England and perhaps I should have spelled out that what happens in County cricket largely depends on what is happening with kids when they are still at school and the years before they are old enough to play senior cricket at any level.
Geraint Jones got the wicket keeping job in the Test team for example because England moreless didn't have another option who was not only talented like Jones but also had quiet a bit of cricket behind him.
How can a County team improve if they don't have young guns knocking on the door that are good enough to make the selectors push some of the deadwood out of the team?
Al State 
