T20 focus undermines England Test prospects says Yorkshire director of cricket

Yorkshire director of cricket Martyn Moxon believes England’s Test prospects are being undermined by the counties’ focus on the financial rewards of Twenty20.

England’s humiliating Ashes loss in Australia, where they have lost the opening three Tests to surrender the urn before Christmas, has put the domestic game under the spotlight, with the lack of pace bowlers coming through a particular issue.

With T20 now being played in the middle of the season to maximise revenue, marginalising a large chunk of the County Championship to April and September, Moxon says the county game is no longer a breeding ground for Test players.

“Realistically, how many counties now can genuinely look to produce Test cricketers because of the financial situation. Counties are in debt, so we have to play the cricket that’s going to bring in the revenue to keep us all afloat, and we all know that the type of cricket that brings in the revenue is T20.

“We have to maximise revenue from that and it’s been identified that the best time of year to play that is when we’re now playing it. The importance that a certain number of counties place on T20, that’s the priority, not red-ball cricket.

“There isn’t an easy solution. We need to play T20 when we do because of finance, which means we’re playing Championship cricket in April and September predominantly, which is the time of year when your traditional English seamers dominate.

“But it’s a different type of cricket and a different type of cricketer required to winning in Australia as opposed to winning in England, for example, just as Australia have found when they’ve come to England.”