Revamp 'fit for the future' needed - Leics chair

Leicestershire have sealed promotion back to the Division One of the County Championship, ending a 23-year top-flight absence

English cricket has a "dysfunctional" calendar that counties need to ensure is future-proofed in a long-talked-about revamp, says Leicester chairman John Thorpe.

The structure and schedule of the domestic game has been discussed by the 18 first-class counties this season in an effort to address issues around player fatigue.

A reduction in T20 Blast games has already been agreed, but what the County Championship looks like remains up for debate – meaning a shake-up of the four-day game may not happen until 2027, if at all.

Thorpe says counties need to react to demands from the Professional Cricketers' Association [PCA] and reduce the number of County Championship fixtures to enhance the standard of the competition and improve welfare.

During what has been a title-winning season for Leicestershire in Division Two, Thorpe says he has sought the opinions of director of cricket Claude Henderson, as well as head coach Alfonso Thomas, assistant coach James Taylor and the players.

"The quantity of cricket is too much, the calendar just doesn't work today," Thorpe told BBC Radio Leicester.

"I have talked about it with Claude, and the feedback he has got from Fonz [Thomas], Tich [Taylor] and the players and everybody is that it is quite dysfunctional as a calendar.

While the PCA have called for a reduction of County Championship matches from 14 to 12, Thorpe says Leicestershire favour a 13-game season.

The Foxes chairman also says the East Midlands side want the two divisions to remain intact, shying away from the radical proposal put forward earlier this year that would include a rugby-style Grand Final to decide the County Championship.

It was suggested the current two-division championship should be scrapped and replaced by two upper divisions of six teams each, and a lower division of six teams.

"There has been discussions, but there definitely is no agreement because everyone has different views," Thorpe said.

In his two years as chairman, Thorpe says he has come to realise that talks among clubs and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is a "world of politics".

"I think everybody agrees that the current calendar doesn't work," he said.

"But there is a resistance to change it for different reasons. You look at some counties that are a lot stronger than us and their members. And we have to get it right for the members, of course we have to, but actually, the reality is that cricket is changing.

"It's a different world to what it was five years ago, and in five years' time it is going to different again, whether we like it or not.

"I just think it's an opportunity now to make a change for the positive of the game. Let's all embrace it and work together and make the calendar fit for the future."