Former England wicketkeeper Jack Russell has issued a scathing attack on the ECB, accusing them of doing "absolutely nothing" to promote the new County Championship season.
The County Championship began on April 7, with eight first round matches taking place across division one and two. And Russell, who played 54 Tests for England across an international career which spanned a decade, was highly critical of the ECB's efforts to promote the competition.
In a string of tweets, Russell labelled them "short sighted" and "reckless beyond common sense". He wrote: "Well @ECB_cricket #CountyChampionship has started and unless I'm mistaken you have done absolutely nothing to promote its importance Who runs the #Marketing Dept?
"I hope you haven't got the nerve to pick up your wages at the end of this month? Because this is a disgrace
"Do you not understand it's importance? Do you not understand that future England players are nurtured #CountyCricket Players that will hopefully go on to greatness and win #TheAshes and generate millions of £'s for you to run @englandcricket So short sighted its beyond belief.
"@ECB_cricket this is beyond reckless beyond common sense You have future success of @englandcricket under you stewardship.
"You dont understand this basic #CountyCricket2022 is pivotal Where do you think the players will come from if you choke this competition to death".
Former England batter Graeme Fowler responded to Russell, adding: "It’s sad, but the @ECB_cricket don’t care about the future of the game, nor where future players will come from." All the fixtures are available to watch on livestreams, an innovation which has markedly improved the competition's visibility in recent years, particularly during the height of the pandemic when fans could not attend matches.
The ECB do provide support and funding towards these streams and showcases them on their website, along with highlights packages. They also fund a reporters network which provides match reports on every domestic game across the summer.
There has already been a result this season, with Hampshire completing a comprehensive victory over Somerset by an innings and 113 runs. Somerset were missing nine players as a brilliant 168 from Joe Weatherley and match figures of 6-50 from Mohammad Abbas earn Hampshire a 23-bonus point win.
