CricInfo Home
News Home

NEWS FOCUS
Rsa in Pak
NZ in India
Zim in Aus

Domestic
Other Series

England's authorities bit the bullet and announced yesterday that the Benson and Hedges Cup was to return to the domestic calendar next season surrounded in development terms by a barbed-wire fence.

The re-installation of a third major one-day competition represents a setback for the England Cricket Board in their attempt to streamline the county game along the lines set out in Raising The Standard, their strategic plan published two years ago.

According to the plan, major one-day competitions were to be reduced from three to two ``in 1999''. That did happen, on the whole, though the plan did not mention ``and will be increased to three again in 2000''.

This year's cut-down substitute, the Super Cup - also B & H sponsored - has reached its semi-final stage, with Warwickshire playing Yorkshire today and Gloucestershire meeting Sussex tomorrow.

Only eight clubs started, and by Sunday night we should know who will be competing at Lord's in the final on Aug 1, a Sunday. It will be fascinating to see if the match attracts a full house, and the lure of St John's Wood should not be underestimated.

Warwickshire are used to reaching finals, but for the other three counties the prospect of a big day at Lord's is a relative novelty.

The return to a full-blown Benson and Hedges Cup had been foreshadowed after informal talks around the shires over the winter, and its return looks likely to be condemned by many good judges.

Professional players, the argument goes, spend too much time competing in matches and not enough practising, a routine that takes its physical toll and deadens enthusiasm. That would apply mostly to bowlers, and central contracts to the ECB for international players should remove this misgiving.

Tim Lamb, the ECB chief executive, said yesterday: ``Many of the counties feel that the zonal stages of the Benson and Hedges competition add real value for county members, and a clear majority were in favour of expansion beyond its present form.'' He added that one reason for the reduction to eight teams this year was to create space for World Cup warm-up matches.

Next year only the counties will be competing, so there will be no room for Ireland, Scotland and the British Universities, or Holland and Denmark. All these need more than one big match per season, and an opportunity to test an England Amateur team regularly against the professionals has been spurned.