London: Former captain Kevin Pietersen believes a first-class competition on the lines of the Hundred tournament can help England’s Test team regain its old glory. Pietersen, who was a member of the Ashes-winning side in 2005, 2009, 2010-11 and 2013, said the current County Championship has lost its sheen and it is not in a position to produce good players for the Test side in the current format.
“With money elsewhere in the game, the (county) championship in its current format is not in a position to provide the best players for the Test team,” Pietersen wrote in a blog blog on Betway. He said, “The best players do not want to play in it, so the young players of England are not able to learn from other great players like I learned. Average bowlers are getting the batsmen out on a bad wicket and everything is messed up.”
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The 41-year-old former captain lauded the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for ‘The Hundred’, a franchise-based 100-ball cricket tournament. “At The Hundred, the ECB has created a really competitive tournament. It has the best players facing each other, it’s well marketed and the audience stays connected.”
“They need to introduce a similar franchise competition in red ball cricket where the best players play against each other every week,” Pietersen said. They should attract some of the best overseas players in the world and top England players will benefit from playing alongside them.”
Pietersen proposed an eight-team round-robin league whose pitch should be so designed that the players had solid technique. “The pitch should be monitored by the ECB so that as of now, the pitches that are not too favorable for the bowlers are seen,” he said. (agency)