Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson has led the criticism surrounding the ECB’s new player replacement rule at the end of the second round of the Rothesay County Championship.
Player replacements are nothing new in the County Championship. They were previously allowed in case of a player suffering from a concussion, during the COVID-19 pandemic or if a player has been picked up in the England squad. This year, however, the rule has expanded to include injuries and significant life events as part of an ICC trial.
Glamorgan were playing defending champions Nottinghamshire in their second match of the County Championship. Chasing 478 in the second innings, the Welsh county fell to a 192-run defeat. Notts were allowed to bring in Lyndon James as an injury replacement for Fergus O’Neill on the fourth day.
Carlson does not question Nottinghamshire’s motives behind the replacement. However, he does question the rule, stating that it could give teams an unfair advantage, like a fresh James being able to bowl on the last day of the First-Class game.
“Obviously, with the injury replacement, bringing in someone later on has made a bit of a difference. This is no slight on Notts whatsoever, because we would have done the exact same thing if we were in that position. But to bring in a guy who hadn’t played cricket for three days to then come in and bowl, obviously that’s an advantage. The thinking behind bringing in the rule is sound, but I think it has to be ironed out in terms of the way it does get done,” Carlson was quoted as saying on ESPNcricinfo.
As many as six substitutes were made in the nine County Championship games across both divisions. Glamorgan themselves made a substitution, replacing all-rounder Ben Kellaway with new arrival Sean Dickson on Day 1. Meanwhile, Yorkshire and Somerset used two substitutes each, since there are no limits on the number of changes a particular team can make.
The new regulation has already faced a lot of criticism from past and current players. Former England player and current Sky Sports presenter Ian Ward and Kent’s Sam Billings are the two prolific members from the cricketing fraternity to raise an issue.
The ECB’s head of cricket operations, Alan Fordham, did warn the domestic counties to use the new rule in good faith.
“If teams are going to start pushing right at the edges of the regulation, then it risks a chance that we’ll have to backpedal from some of the things that we are putting in place,” Fordham said.
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