THE County Championship returns tomorrow and its opening few rounds have long been seen as a shop window for county players to put themselves in contention for a spot in the England team.
Ahead of the home international summer starting in June, this has been the phase of the season where performances usually carry most weight, but after a 4–1 Ashes defeat and a selection approach that has moved away from rewarding county form, can the England setup continue to keep going with this model?
A model that has created a large disconnect felt by those outside the England setup, including Liam Livingstone, who recently revealed in an interview with ESPN Cricinfo, that he was told by managing director Rob Key, that there were “100 more important things” than speaking to him.
Reece Topley also added to that by saying the communication between him and the England setup “hasn’t been great“, alongside test wicketkeeper Ben Foakes, who said his call lasted, “about 10 seconds”.
Sussex’s new red-ball captain Ollie Robinson, who played 20 Tests for England between June 2021 and February 2024, sees it differently, instead claiming that, “as much as there’s a disconnect in county cricket, I think it’s also used by county cricketers as an excuse because they aren’t getting in the team.”
Robinson likened it to his own situation when he was dropped following England’s 4-1 series loss away in India, as the once leading test seamer admitted that, “I used it as an excuse in the first year that I couldn’t get back into the test side. I only took 35 wickets, so how can you expect to get in?”
“I’ve not done myself any favours, I’ve not been consistent in the Sussex team, had a few years of not taking the wickets that I did when I got selected (for England) the first time.”
Robinson then took his hit against county cricketers even further by stating that despite putting up excellent performances, some players will just never have enough quality to play at the top level.
“There has to be a bit of realism, a bit of reality that maybe you’re not good enough to play international cricket. The difference in level between county cricket and Test cricket is huge.”
Robinson also made a bold statement to cast doubts over the quality of county cricket claiming, “there’s not many players that we played against last year (in county cricket) that would do well in Test cricket.”
“It is hard for county cricketers to get their head around that because you need a special cricketer to play for England. To play Test cricket or International T20 cricket, you need the X factor and not everyone in County Cricket has that.”
In regards to his own chances, Robinson still harbours hope that there is a way for him to reach test cricket again as he believes that, “If I can take 50, 60 wickets in a year, then who knows? That’s the objective, as it’s on me to knock the door down because if you knock the door down, they’re going to select you….I think.”
Although Robinson makes a compelling argument, his view is not the same as everyone else’s in the dressing room, as fellow seamer and Sussex’s T20 Blast captain Tymal Mills, who has also experienced the England setup as recently as a tour of the West Indies in December 2023, sees it very differently.
“I feel like at a county level, in both red and white ball cricket, it doesn’t matter how you perform, if I’m being completely honest,” explained Mills. “Everybody will have their own groups of people that they’ll back and then there’ll be people on the outside that will feel like they’re not going to get a look in (to the England setup).”
Despite differing views, both players put doubts over the level of county cricket, with Mills in particular worried about how a disconnect between domestic and international setups could affect the county game.
“If players feel like that progression isn’t there, then that can hurt the county product because some guys might not be motivated by just playing county cricket, instead needing something higher to aim for, whether it be the Hundred or international cricket.”
