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CRICKET ROADSHOWS

Week 2 Review - 18 May, Lord's Roadshow tackles county

Rugby-style salary capping is being considered as a means of ensuring parity within the English county system.

David Graveney, who is both chairman of selectors and director of the PCA, told the Cricket Roadshow the idea of financial restrictions was one option under discussion following the winter "transfers" of players such as John Crawley and Aftab Habib.

Both players ended up paying compensation packages to facilitate their moves as both were still under contract to their respective counties but Graveney said a raft of measures was now being looked into so that a formalised system can be put in place.

"When you come to the end of your contract you will be allowed to move," said Graveney. "I'm sure the clubs will immediately think that will mean the rich clubs will get richer and the poor clubs poorer so there must be some other control and that will be a similar system that operates in this country with rugby league and rugby union.

"That will enable more of a collective bargaining position between the players and their employers and the restriction will be in terms of the total amount of money they will be able to spend on salaries. There's no suggestion we're going to cap the individual but the constraint comes with the total amount of money you can spend," added Graveney.

But he admitted if a player was set on leaving there was now very little a county could do to retain him. This was best illustrated by Crawley's acrimonious departure from Lancashire during the winter when the player lost his legal battle but still moved to Hampshire once a financial compensation package had been agreed.

The player himself, however, surprisingly said he wouldn't want to see a football-style transfer introduced.

"I would be very much against it really," he told the Roadshow. "I think my situation was slightly different - the reasons for a transfer are different in a lot of ways – and I'm not sure that there's enough funding in the game to sustain a full-on transfer system. I personally wouldn't want to see one."

Surrey chief executive Paul Sheldon had a different perspective. "A successful and financially-able club should be able to use that and I don't think we should apologise for that, but at the same time the game is committed to 18 counties and that system, and therefore we have to have a compromise system that enables market forces to operate and yet protects those who are less fortunate in terms of finances and geography and so on."

Back in the studio Dermot Reeve adopted the pragmatic approach, accepting that if a player really wanted to leave there was no point trying to prevent him from moving. The important thing after that, he said, was to make sure clubs are compensated for the development they may have done with such a player.

Elsewhere on the programme injured wicketkeeper James Foster talked to Mark Nicholas about his first England tour, and how he fought back from a baptism of fire on his debut Test in India.

"I had an absolute 'mare really, to put it nicely," admitted Foster. "I spoke to Nass a lot and Duncan Fletcher and Mark Ramprakash. I had a lot of advice and took it all in and then I had more of a game plan when I went out to bat and when I kept wicket as well, and I tried to enjoy it a lot more. I tried to relax and just chill out really."

Meanwhile, Nasser Hussain got the Michael Slater treatment in the popular "60 seconds with Slats" section.

Apart from a gentle ribbing about England's continuing lack of success against Australia viewers discovered Hussain's favourite band (REM), football club (Leeds United) and car (Jaguar), in addition to the revelation his nickname is "Bunny" – "From various bowlers I suppose," said Hussain.

Michael Atherton gave viewers an insider's tour around England's dressing room in the famous Lord's pavilion and Slater confirmed the north London ground still retains huge importance for overseas players.

"My century here in 1993 is the finest memory of my playing career," he told Sybil Ruscoe.

"I'm lucky to have my name up in lights on the honours board and it's great to be back here at Lord's. I'm here in a different capacity this time but it's still very special," he added.

Mail the Cricket Show team at cricketshow@cricket4.com

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