Arthur Crabtree wrote:The county game has fallen apart out of neglect. And there's no A team/Lions as a stepping off point.
I think even a newspaper headline writer with a deadline is going to struggle to nominate someone out of the county game to step in. Saving some kind of cricketing savant who can predict greatness out of those currently underachieving in CC, England are going to remain in mediocrity for the forseeable future.
But the unknown factor is how bad everyone else is. It looks like many countries are struggling with Test cricket at the moment.
Perhaps I am being melodramatic, but it does feel as though we are witnessing the beginning of the end for test cricket. Despite lip service being paid, it hasn't been the most popular form of the game, or the ones many players truly aspire to play, anywhere other than England, Australia and maybe South Africa for a good while now. White ball has been more popular and more successful in the West Indies and subcontinent for many years, and the IPL and other franchise leagues are now accelerating that trend. The Big Bash in Australia has grown and grown and is now drawing bigger viewing numbers than the marquee home series including the Boxing Day test.