EXCLUSIVE: England legend Willis reveals his 2020 vision for county cricket

HUW TURBERVILL: Bob Willis wants to divide the season in half, first to red ball, second to white. He calls for three divisions in the Championship, with only 10 matches...

Bob Willis has a plan to solve county cricket's scheduling problem

Bob Willis was the saviour at Headingley in 1981, and now he wants to rescue English cricket again.

With administrators working on a new fixture schedule from 2020, he has unveiled his own ‘2020 Vision’.

The former fast bowler and now Sky broadcaster calls it “a radical plan to improve the quality and competitiveness of County Championship cricket, thereby producing better cricketers for England’s Test team.”

It is distinctive for dividing the season into halves – the first is dedicated to red-ball cricket “with no distractions”. White-ball formats then take over in the latter half.

County fans may be disappointed to learn that Willis wants a reduction in Championship matches from 14 to 10, with six teams in a Premier League and six each in Divisions One and Two – not equal conferences, as many in the domestic game are pushing for.

“The conference idea would lead to another 20 years of mediocrity,” he told The Cricketer. “The reduction in Championship matches to 10 should give a real big-occasion feel to each contest,” he says.

Willis wants to split the summer in two

“If the laws of the land allow, only players qualified for England would play in it.” He has also called for the Premier League matches to be televised.

He wants Test preparation reduced from three days to two, “because many more centrally contracted players will be playing in the Championship, where they should be, rather than in the nets at Test grounds”.

He wants one Test in May, two in June and three in July, with only the last two overlapping the counties’ T20, the Vitality Blast.

He believes no other cricket should be played while the first four Tests are on, with county Blast games on in the evening after the last two Tests.

“It is imperative that England contracted players are available for the ECB’s new competition, provisionally titled The 100. How on earth can you not have Joe Root, Ben Stokes and co playing in it? The ‘new’ audience could enjoy the choice of two matches each day. One 100 game starting at lunchtime and one at teatime during the school holidays. The best players in the world should be tempted financially to take part.”

The counties, meanwhile, would play each other home and away in the T20 Blast in a total of 34 matches each from mid-July to the end of August.

He is calling for England’s white-ball cricket to be played in September, with England Women’s in June and July.