The Hundred gave a much-needed cash influx to county clubs, but that isn\u2019t going to be the ongoing saviour of English county cricket.<\/p>\n
The simple fact is that county cricket in England is hurting; to be honest, it\u2019s on its knees in many ways. On top of this, English Test cricket has been struggling competitively on the global stage now for most of this decade (their WTC rankings is proof of this). <\/p>\n
The two are undoubtedly linked, but despite what some read in the papers, it\u2019s not Australian cricketers fault, it is unfortunately, governance that is the major issue.<\/p>\n
The Sunday Times in the United Kingdom recently reported that the England and Wales Cricket Board is \u2013 among a raft of ideas on how to win back the Ashes in 2027 \u2013 considering asking county clubs to avoid signing Australian players, a move for mine that was all but endorsed by English captain Ben Stokes.<\/p>\n
But in the ongoing saga of English county cricket\u2019s decline \u2013 marked by a decade-long slide in attendance \u2013 this concept coming out of the ECB is set to become yet another self-inflicted wound on a body that can\u2019t take too much more.<\/p>\n
It was clear when England opted out of additional match-practice games on Australian pitches (most notably an extra pink-ball test in Canberra against the Prime Minister\u2019s XI) citing scheduling and confidence in their preparation, and instead electing to spend time getting to know some local bars in Noosa and having a holiday mid-tour, the result was obviously not going to be good for the visiting side.<\/p>\n
Despite this, the loudest voices in English cricket who have floated the idea of barring Australian players from the county circuit, argue that it would prevent the Aussies from honing their skills before the Ashes. \u2018Hey Google, look up the definition of ironic.\u2019<\/p>\n
![\"England](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Australia_England_Cricket_26006026246833-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
England players react after having a video review denied. (AP Photo\/Mark Baker)<\/p>\n
England chose to shorten its own preparation in Australia as they didn\u2019t see the need for match practice on Aussie soil. Now they want to shorten Australia\u2019s preparation in England because they see the benefit on match practice on their own turf. That isn\u2019t forward planning; it\u2019s panic, it\u2019s scrambling, it\u2019s poor leadership.<\/p>\n
If we take a step back and look at this from a governance perspective, it\u2019s clear that this idea might end up doing far more harm to English cricket than good.<\/p>\n
Much like the Australian Sheffield Shield, county cricket is in many ways the backbone of the English game, but it\u2019s no secret that it\u2019s been facing serious financial and governance challenges. <\/p>\n
According to recent reports, counties like Surrey and Lancashire are among the few that manage to turn a profit, while many smaller counties are struggling financially. In fact, some counties have been operating at a loss, and they rely on big matches and star players to keep their finances afloat.<\/p>\n
This is where Australian players come in. Historically, the presence of international stars has helped boost attendance. Fans love to watch high-profile cricketers, and that means more ticket sales, more buzz, more sponsorship, and ultimately more revenue for the counties and English cricket. <\/p>\n
There is no doubt that international players add significant appeal and competitiveness to county cricket, which can be a lifeline for clubs trying to attract spectators. If the Queensland Bulls signed Joe Root or Harry Brook, I\u2019d certainly be going to more of their matches, and I dare say I wouldn\u2019t be the only one.<\/p>\n
While attendance in person at County games is very low, pleasingly, broadcasting viewership is on the rise, with reports that the number surpassed 30 million in 2024. <\/p>\n
Much of these viewers came from international markets, like India, Pakistan, Australia, and even the US. In fact, the report that came from Kia Oval\u2019s website, had only 28% of the viewership coming from inside the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
![\"HOVE,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-1491308552-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Michael Neser bowls for Glamorgan. (Photo by Mike Hewitt\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
So, what do international fans want from their cricket watching experience? International players. Strong teams. A competition that includes the best of the best. You take that away, and viewership falters, revenue fades. Is that in the best interest of English cricket?<\/p>\n
By proposing to shut out Australians, the ECB are effectively suggesting that county cricket should turn away one of the few things that might actually help it recover. <\/p>\n
If the ECB decides to drive county teams to reject Aussie cricketers in the lead up to the next Ashes tour, then they risk making the financial situation even worse, and they won\u2019t have a sell-off of teams in The Hundred to fall back on.<\/p>\n
The governance challenges facing county cricket are already weighty, and adding an Australian player ban appears to be a big step in the wrong direction. <\/p>\n
Rather than excluding Australian talent, English cricket need to focus on improving their own governance and finding ways to make county cricket more appealing to wider communities and international audiences (I think it\u2019s clear that this starts with international stars playing in their backyards).<\/p>\n
A thriving, competitive county circuit is in everyone\u2019s best interest, particularly the ECB.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Set small text size A Set the default text size A Set large text size Let\u2019s face…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422652,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[13285,64,63,740,952,85],"class_list":["post-422651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-ashes","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-featured","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}