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CRICKET ROADSHOWS

Week 16 Preview - 25 Aug, The Oval Academy undet the spotlight

Mark Butcher may have inspired England to an unlikely – if welcome – win at Headingley but there's still plenty of work to do to catch up the Aussies, as Nasser Hussain readily admitted afterwards.

One of the main reasons for Australia's recent domination has been the influence of their National Cricket Academy, set up in response to successive Ashes defeats, but maybe the worm is about to turn following confirmation the ECB has finally seen the light.

Not only have the powers that be decided (belatedly) to follow suit, they've also managed to poach the head of the Adelaide-based academy, Rod Marsh, to spearhead the English version.

Richie Benaud refers to him as one of the toughest disciplinarians in the game and no-one doubts his coaching ability – especially when you look at his track record – but can the former Aussie 'keeper really make an impact on England's future Test stars?

This week's Cricket Roadshow goes in search of answers in an exclusive interview with Marsh, as well as looking at which players are likely to feature in the initial intake and how they might benefit?

A major factor in setting up the academy was the argument that there's too great a gap between county and international cricket, a factor seemingly borne out by England's selection policy this summer. Kent's David Fulton has had a remarkable four months with the blade, outscoring all-comers in the first-class game without ever making the Test squad.

Sussex's Richard Montgomerie has also been in prolific form with the bat to no avail while Phil Tufnell's consistent success finally warranted a belated call-up for the current Oval Test.

Bearing all that in mind the Roadshow asks what do county performances really mean in terms of international selection? If the answer to that is 'not a great deal' then surely it's time to restructure, but how should that be done?

Should there be fewer first-class counties? Is regional cricket the way ahead? How else could we strengthen the domestic game? Email us with your views and opinions on how the English domestic game should move forward.

Elsewhere on the show we catch up on more cricket raving, this time with Paul Oakenfold on Clapham Common, and there will the usual round-up of regular features, news and cricket reviews.

Mail the Cricket Show team at cricketshow@cricket4.com

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