Gareth Batty fears ECB's proposed domestic changes might affect England cricket adversely

Surrey won the County Championship Division One Final [PC: Twitter]

Coached by Gareth Batty, Surrey County Cricket Club (SCCC) clinched the 2022 County Championship Division One title on Thursday, beating Yorkshire by ten wickets. This was Surrey's 21st title and second in the last four years.

However, this season could potentially be the penultimate time that one witnesses a ten-team division one tournament. 

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) could follow the advice of the former Director of Cricket, Andrew Strauss, who in the High-Performance review suggested radical changes in the domestic structure. 

More importantly, Strauss suggested that five-day fixtures should involve only six teams in the top division.

Former England teammate Batty has warned the ECB that this could well and truly affect County cricket and hence England cricket adversely.  

Here's what Gareth Batty stated

"I think we've got to be very careful that we don't lose too many games,. That's our one positive, that we play an amount of cricket. Ultimately county cricket is here to serve an England team. We don't want to miss any players by playing less and less and less, and getting it the wrong way round,"

"I just hope that we're doing it for the greater good of the game, not to keep celebrity cricket alive. I want it to be for the greater good of cricket."

All these changes proposed by Strauss, will undergo a voting process. They will come into effect from the 2024 County season, only after getting two-thirds majority in a ballot of the eighteen counties. 

Also Read: 'We will not allow our Club to be rendered irrelevant'- Kent react to ECB's High Performance Review