Surrey’s three-time Championship-winning coach Gareth Batty has argued that county players’ route to international cricket is unclear under this England management.
Since the appointment of managing director Rob Key and head coach Brendon McCullum in 2022, England have been creative in their selection, plucking players such as Shoaib Bashir and Jacob Bethell from relative obscurity. The approach has often characterised prioritising “attributes over averages” due to the difference between county and Test level.
The demands of being England’s all-format head coach, and the fact he is based in New Zealand, mean McCullum watches little county cricket. Luke Wright, the selector who has acted as England’s eyes and ears along with a network of scouts and analysts, recently left his role, which is yet to be advertised.
Surrey have won the title four times since 2018 under captain Rory Burns, but missed out narrowly to Nottinghamshire last season.
During this period, they have been the most prolific providers of talent to the national team, with 13 members of their current staff capped by England. Nine of those players have come through their academy. Among that group were four members of England’s Ashes squad: Gus Atkinson, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope and Jamie Smith.
‘You can’t have Test cricket without county game’
Asked about the relationship between the county and international game, Batty said: “The road has been misted over fractionally, from how selections have been recently. We all have our opinion. It’s not my place to comment on how somebody else does their job, but I truly believe that [county cricket] is the best breeding ground in the world to produce all-format players, because we can get volume [of cricket].
“Your best players don’t play it as much because they’re with England. That’s what central contracts are for. I would hope that we are looking at getting our young players lots of cricket, lots of game-time, so that we cherry-pick the very best to make England the very best team. This [county cricket] will always have a very, very big place within our system because you can’t have that [Test cricket] without this.”