ECB warns England and Joe Root no ‘silver bullet’ can fix red-ball cricket as 2022 fixtures released

An uncomfortable spotlight has shone on the LV= Insurance County Championship after a 4-0 thrashing Down Under with Test captain Root and England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tom Harrison calling for a red-ball “reset”.

There will be five rounds of Championship matches in June and July, as opposed to just three last year, as the competition returns to its regular two-division structure following a couple of revamped seasons caused by the pandemic.

But the season is set to start on April 7, with four successive weeks of red-ball matches, and finish on September 26 – with no Championship fixtures at all in August when the second edition of The Hundred will take precedence.

Neil Snowball, the ECB’s managing director of county cricket, admitted that the schedule is far from ideal in striking a balance between the formats but any significant changes will have to wait until at least next year.

“The fixture schedule is a step forward from last year but don’t expect this schedule to be everything that we need it to be to address some of the challenges of red-ball cricket,” Snowball said.

“We know there’s no silver bullet, all of the different things that we need to consider have been talked about a lot – whether it’s what type of ball we use, what type of pitches we play on, the format of competitions, etc.

“It needs a comprehensive review. I think there’s a feeling that we haven’t got the balance right (between the formats) at the moment and that’s what we need to look at.

“We need to get the first-class counties, the ECB, the PCA (Professional Cricketers’ Association) and the other stakeholders together and then work out a plan through this year hopefully so that we can start making some changes from 2023. But there’s absolute commitment to do that.”

Yorkshire’s placement in Division One led to the suggestion relegation will not be part of their punishment for bungling Azeem Rafiq’s racism allegations although Snowball was unable to shed little fresh light on the issue.

He rejected suggestions the delay in announcing this season’s fixtures had been down to awaiting what penalties might be handed down to Yorkshire following an ECB investigation, which is still ongoing.

But Snowball said: “I can confirm the fixtures are as published. Yorkshire are in Division One and everyone should work on that basis, that Yorkshire are playing in Division One and plan accordingly.

“If anything changes then everybody will communicate it in due course.”