Not against this plan at all really. Assuming you can work out a way to take the step down to 12 counties it ought to make a competitive red ball competition that isnāt bloated and partly resembles the Australian system.
But the issue isnāt really the competition or the amount of games - theyāve all played 10 games with a few to come. The issue is when itās played, in the worst conditions of the summer, right at the beginning and right at the end. Fact is that whatever red ball competition you cook up the ecb will prioritise all other cricket over it, wonāt release England players for it and will generally treat it like a headache to be endured.
And I get it, the short format stuff brings in crowds and money, and cricket badly needs both. But we will have a shit test team until that changes if it ever does. I fear we are heading to a rolling calendar of T20 leagues around the world and the long format will become a weird curio for the terminally nostalgic.
