Less cricketers playing abroad - hampering development?

[Top_Cat]

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http://sport.independent.co.uk/cricket/article3231144.ece

Decent article from Gus Fraser and makes a good point with regards to growing up quick when you're away from home. There has been an appreciable decline in players, particularly English, playing cricket away from home. I do remember that guys like Glenn McGrath and Courtney Walsh said that continuous playing by, say, playing out-of-season away from home prevented injuries because many injuries are suffered in pre-season training.

 

[Craig]

I guess the pound is too strong for them to have the need to go abroad and looking for cash. But a few guys have come to Australia and played Grade cricket, like Paul Collingwood for example. At one point Mosman had Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar in their club ranks

 

[sideshowtim]

It's something I've thought about with Aussie cricketers now too given the limits being put on overseas players. Playing in England is a big part of our guys' development...Now only few of them will be able to do it at the top level. I suppose playing in lower English leagues would work OK, but it's now harder to play for an English County than it used to be...

 

[Richard]

Interesting article. Being a home-boy myself I can't really agree with all of it, I almost feel "being toughened-up" is something people take as an automatically good thing... debatable for mine. It will make some; it will break others. You find-out where they're at as cricketers quicker, sure, but cricket isn't all there is to life.

It's a double-edged sword, really.

 

[Goughy]

Playing overseas, especially at club level, is a massive development aid for cricketers.

England has always been the centre for this during the Northern Hemesphere summer and has played a huge role as a school for foreign talent.

As silly as it may sound, playing at this compatatively low level is good preparation for International cricket. Test cricket is high pressure and punishes failure and the same is true for a Pro in a mainly amateur club side. A pro at that level is expected to perform every game and has huge expectations placed upon them. If they mess up then they are told that they are a waste of money.

Adjusting and coping with those pressures at club level is good preparation for the ordeal of Test cricket.

One of the reasons for WI decline is the dramatic decrease of WI players around the leagues and in County Cricket. In decades past the English summer was where the West Indians refined their game and took it to the next level.

Regarding the English side, it has long been said that the English produce fewer part time bowlers capable of doing a job at International level. The lack of overseas club cricket is a reason for that as well. When a Pro goes to a club, it doesnt matter if he is a specialist batsman back home. He is being paid and is expected to do their fair share of the bowling. They had better learn, and learn quick and get good.

Few English players have that weight on them to have to develop different skills.

Im a huge believer in the importance of overseas cricket, especially at the level below FC cricket.

 

[skipper]

IPL is supposed to pay hefty sums. Though initially it is targeted to play T20, if it is successful, ODI cricket will also be introduced.

That is when English counties may suffer from the quality that they have now. It may take few years but there is a realistic chance of that happening.