Rory Burns, speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast, has suggested that the current county schedule is “unsustainable” and questioned the volume of cricket that is played.
Burns has been one of the standout batters in county cricket over the past few seasons, earning a consistent spot in the England Test side before being dropped after their 4-0 defeat in the 2021/22 Ashes. Burns was bowled by the first ball of that series, managing a top score of 34 across three appearances, and spoke about how the County Championship provided less than ideal preparation for the challenge of batting in Australia.
“It’s been difficult,” he said. “Our county cricket promotes skills-based bowlers that can swing the ball or nibble the ball on green surfaces with a Dukes ball, which obviously suits our own conditions and fulfills the needs of counties at times, rather than actually promoting guys to the Test arena. Facing Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood and Lyon is fractionally different to what you get in the county game.”
Despite criticising the surfaces seen in county cricket, Burns defended the groundstaff who prepare them, instead pointing to the schedule as being “unsustainable” for a number of reasons.
“The volume of cricket we play in general is probably too much,” he said. “You’re probably asking too much of groundsmen. You’re probably asking too much of your players to bowl at better speeds and promote that on slightly flatter surfaces and promote guys that potentially might not do as much with it, but when you go to places like Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand, hit the pitch harder so they get a bit more out of it.
“The volume of cricket we play in the county game, and now with The Hundred, it’s probably marginally unsustainable. To actually get guys taking the park as close to as fit as they can be, particularly from a seamer’s point of view, and to get guys in their best mindset to go and score runs.”
Burns also pointed out how the impact of the schedule is about more than just the volume of cricket played, with switching between formats also far from ideal. He used his struggles against India last summer as an example. Burns averaged 59.50 with one century against New Zealand, but managed only two half-centuries and an average of 26.14 in four Tests against India, having played almost exclusively T20 cricket in between.
“I think [the amount of cricket played] is something that maybe gets looked past,” he said. “It’s easy to say this bloke has scored this amount of runs or taken this many wickets or that many catches. It’s a lot more difficult to have a more realistic view of things. ‘He’s playing a Twenty20, he’s travelling the next day, he’s playing another Twenty20.’ I remember that being my month after the New Zealand series leading into the India series, I was playing white-ball cricket, day-on/day-off Twenty20s and travelling in between. It’s the slightly less glamorous side of the game, and probably one that isn’t reported on or thought about as much. Touring now, guys trying to make up for that Covid period, there’s just so much cricket on.”
