Counties need to allow more guest players

FRIDAY, AUGUST 17: The way the Counties are set should be changed. We need to upgrade the rules with regard to who can play for the Counties. The constitutions for the three Counties have not been updated for years and they need to change with the times.

A prime example is in the Eastern Counties, you can have unlimited guest players as long as they have qualified by living in the area for two years. For the rest of your life you can only play for that one county.

If you play for a league team for two years, then the third year you can play for it in the Counties.

Let’s say you play for a team for five years and then don’t play for a year, then you have to requalify.

In the Western Counties the teams are only allowed two guest players. No one can expect a competition to grow if just two guest players are allowed and a lot of the best players have to sit on the sideline.

We always need the top players in these competitions because it brings out the crowds. It helps make the competition more exciting.

All the top clubs are in the East and it’s been that way for a long time. Half the players on the East teamss would qualify for a Western zone by living in the area, but can’t play because the limited amount of guest players.

I would like to see it opened up to at least six guest players or unlimited.

It would make sense to follow other competitions that are successful.

The Central Counties is even worse off as they just have three teams playing with the demise of Police.

That’s a competition that’s never really taken off since the 80s, but it has had some great players like Coe Trott, Arnold Manders and the like.

There are no guest players allowed for Central Counties.

They definitely need to open it up so they can get more players involved.

We need to look at a way for the Counties competitions and cricket as a whole to prosper.

It can’t just be about clubs whether that be Somerset Bridge, Warwick or St David’s.

We need more of our top players playing in these competitions. When you look at the IPL, you have guys like Chris Gayle playing and that’s what brings people through the gates because that’s what they want to see.

In Bermuda we need to take steps to start following what some of these other competitions are doing.

We need to be more forward thing and not wait until it gets dead.