Covid-hit summer proves strength of cricket’s county system, says Yorkshire chief Mark Arthur

“Cut the number of first-class counties… Get rid of the likes of Leicestershire and Northants… 18 teams is too many…”

And so on.

Colin Graves, the former Yorkshire supremo, suggested recently that some counties might be better off playing just white-ball cricket in a bid to preserve their futures post-Covid.

Graves said it was a personal view as he prepared to step down in his role as chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, but he nevertheless stressed that “I think they (the 18 counties) can survive and there is a role for them”, indicating firm support for the overall framework if perhaps not the exact detail.

Whatever your opinion on the structure of county cricket going forward, and whatever the knock-on effects of a pandemic that has already cost the game over £100m, there remains a tangible desire to “protect the 18”.

Unsurprisingly, it is one shared by Mark Arthur, the Yorkshire chief executive, and as much of a cricketing traditionalist as one will find, albeit with an appropriate recognition of the attraction and merits of the white-ball game, too.

While some fear for the sustainability of the 18-county model (although haven’t they been saying that for years?), Arthur believes that the summer just gone proves how valuable and effective it really is.

Indeed, there was a strong sense of cricket pulling together and working as one – the ECB, the counties, the various stakeholders, and so on – as two months of the county season was salvaged when it had seemed as though there might be no cricket at all.

Reaffirming his own commitment to the 18-county template, Arthur said: “I’ve always been an 18 counties man. I’m not for division in any shape or form.

“People always have these conversations, and I’m sure that people will be having the same conversations in 10 years’ time, but one of the strengths of professional cricket is that we all support each other, as has been proved this year, and that we are all stronger together working collectively.

“We’ve just gone through probably the most difficult summer in living memory, probably the most difficult summer since the Second World War, and cricket has come out of it relatively well,” he said.

“The government hasn’t had to bail out cricket as it has done some other sports, which would suggest that the way that cricket is organised is fair and equitable to everybody.

“This year has shown our strength and solidarity, with everybody supporting each other right the way through all areas of the game, and the fact is that we managed to get cricket going behind closed doors against all odds without any tangible health issues.

“That solidarity, in turn, is our strength and, ultimately, it allows the ECB to run international cricket and to get great television deals and great sponsorship deals.”

Arthur believes that the 18-county system remains eminently viable and enjoys its diversity and geographical spread.

He is a firm advocate of Championship cricket, which has always been Yorkshire’s traditional focus, and he remains acutely aware of the role that Yorkshire play in the grand scheme of things.

“We recognise our role in Yorkshire cricket, right up from grassroots cricket through to the international scene,” he added.

“Basically, it’s up to the first-class counties to produce great players for the England set-up because the game of cricket, 85 per cent of its revenues, come from international cricket, and we’ve produced more England players than anyone else.

“That, at times, is to the detriment of our own performance, because at any time we might have between three and seven players away.

“At the same time, we accept that is our role and that it is ultimately for the good of the sport as a whole.”

Arthur continued: “The fact is the counties are the shareholders of the ECB. We’re all small businesses but, collectively, by working together and supporting each other, we produce a product that is very favourable and marketable by the ECB.

“That’s why the ECB were able to generate such a massive TV deal over a five-year period.

“We all have our own role to play, if you like, in ECB plc, and are all doing our bit to ensure that cricket remains a mainstream sport and a sport for everyone.”

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