Ian MacLaurin, who led the England & Wales Cricket Board "into its brave new world two decades ago," has some "concerns for the phase ahead," according to Richard Hobson of the LONDON TIMES. MacLaurin "cares for cricket, a sport richer than ever before but with a number of counties struggling for money." MacLaurin said, "It doesn't really surprise me. A lot of them got the money from the ECB and decided to revamp their grounds. They were doing this, that and the other. Many had ambitions to host international matches. I think it really got away from everybody. Too much was spent improving grounds, but you have to look beyond that and see where the counties are. I think the structure is wrong with 18. We introduced two divisions, but it is probably past its sell-by date. My view has always been very unpopular, but I think we should have 14 first-class counties and an all-play-all championship with time for rest." He is "unsure" about the eight-team Twenty20 tournament that the ECB wants to introduce in '20. MacLaurin added, "The worry for traditionalists, and I include myself among that number, is that we love Test cricket. I think that is the be all and end all. Whether it is going to stay, I don't know. ... I think you have to be careful exploiting Twenty20. I would hate to see Test cricket devalued by focusing so much on something else" (LONDON TIMES, 1/3).
