Reduced rounds of County Championship fixtures and more time between formats can help manage player workload, according to the England and Wales Cricket Board’s operations manager Alan Fordham.
The 2024 domestic schedule has 15 County Championship fixture slots instead of 16, with every side set to have a rest from action through rounds four, five or six.
With a busy international summer – which includes the men’s T20 World Cup hosted by the West Indies and the United States in June – the ECB has tried to limit the impact of another packed fixture list for counties across all competitions.
Vitality Blast matches will be staged almost entirely on Thursday nights, Friday nights and weekends, running from the end of May to mid-July.
The Charlotte Edwards Cup Finals Day will be at Derbyshire’s County Ground on June 22, while the knockout phase of the Vitality Blast is set for a ‘Super September’ which will see the remaining five trophies – across men’s county, regional women’s and disability competitions – all be decided.
Fordham accepts the ECB’s hand was forced somewhat in the schedule jigsaw, which sees the Hundred window moved slightly earlier to start at the end of July, while all the men’s bilateral international cricket has to take place after the T20 World Cup.
Fordham, though, feels the compromises will play out to be worthwhile when the new season starts on April 5, with Surrey opening the defence of their County Championship title away to Lancashire
“We are able to schedule these competitions reasonably satisfactorily, but we would all always like to do it better from a performance point of view and provide more distance between red and white-ball transitions if that is at all possible,” Fordham said.
“One thing we have done this year, and I think for the first time, which is a consequence of getting by with 15 rather than 16 slots, is ensuring that between Championship rounds there is always a three-day break.
“Normally you would expect one game to be home and one away so there is often added travel between games, so a three-day break between four-day games is really quite important.
“We have been able to achieve that in 2024. That is not something we have been able to achieve in every previous season, so again, there is a bit of give and take.
“I am confident the schedule is the best output that we can possibly have, but there are always priorities to be made and compromises to be made.”
Of the 126 Blast group-stage fixtures, 122 will be played over the most commercially appealing Thursday to Sunday slots.
ECB’s county cricket managing director Neil Snowball is confident the 2024 schedule strikes the right balance for all parties.
“Because we have got the longer (Blast) group stage, we can actually just have those two blocks with the one transition (between competitions) of rounds nine and 10, whereas previously we have sometimes flipped between them,” Snowball said.
“That was one of the things that they really didn’t like from a player welfare point of view, so I think that is a positive.
“It is always balancing the commercial with the welfare, but certainly, there was a lot of good feedback from the PCA (Professional Cricketers’ Association).”
ECB chief insists no decision made on Mott future
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould has denied reports a decision has already been made on Matthew Mott's future as white-ball coach.
Mott's future has been called into question in the aftermath of England's failure to defend their T20 World Cup crown in the United States and West Indies, losing to India in the semi-finals.
Mott also oversaw England's calamitous 50-over World Cup campaign last year, as they lost six of their nine matches in India and crashed out in the group stage.
Reports earlier this week suggested the decision had already been made to dispense with Mott's services, with Eoin Morgan a contender to succeed him, though the former limited-overs captain has since said he has no interest in the role.
Asked by BBC Test Match Special if Mott's future had already been decided, Gould said: "That's not true. That's certainly not true.
"Matthew Mott is a really good guy and coach. He's got a great track record and it is the same with [captain] Jos [Buttler].
"We are always assessing options - that is what happens in high-performance sport, you are always assessing your options.
"You never want to be drawn into being given the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that. Competitive sport always brings scrutiny and decisions.
"We'll constantly want to assess our options but we'll always want to do the right thing by the sport, the team and individuals."
West Indies grab three late wickets on day one as third Test against England in the balance
England lost three wickets in a dramatic end to day one of the third Test against West Indies, leaving them in a precarious position after restricting the tourists for 282.
Gus Atkinson finished with figures of 4-67, while Chris Woakes took 3-69 for England, as only a fine sixth-wicket stand from Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva saved West Indies from being bowled out for a much lower total.
But England, chasing a 3-0 series whitewash, let their dominant position slip when taking up the bat for the final 35 minutes, Zak Crawley (18), Ben Duckett (3) and Mark Wood (0) being dispatched as bowler Jayden Seales dropped them to 38-3.
Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and chose to bat, leading his side to a solid start before a spell of three wickets in five overs before lunch put England on top.
Atkinson accounted for Mikyle Louis (26) and Alick Athanaze (2) on either side of Wood sending stumps flying with a full delivery to dismiss Kirk McKenize for 12.
Brathwaite's knock of 61 was brought to a halt shortly after the action resumed, the captain gloving Wood's leg-side ball to Jamie Smith as the tourists slid from 76-0 to 115-5 in 45 balls.
Holder (59) and Da Silva (49) then shared 108 to drag the Windies towards a respectable total, but things looked bleak for them when the latter feathered Woakes' ball through to Smith.
Having gone 30 overs without a wicket, England needed just 14 more to polish off the tail, the highlight being a terrific diving catch from Joe Root to send Gudakesh Motie (8) packing.
England were given just over half an hour with the bat to cap Friday's action, but any hopes of a serene finish were soon dashed.
Holder made two terrific catches off Seales' bowling, the first from Crawley's thick outside edge and the second to dismiss Wood for a duck, either side of Alzarri Joseph's cracking delivery accounting for Duckett.
That spell ensured what had been a good day for the hosts ended on a sour note, with the Windies sure to target quick wickets when the action resumes on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Atkinson and Seales dominate
This series began with all the focus on James Anderson as England's greatest-ever bowler bowed out at Lord's, but Atkinson has taken centre-stage since making his Test debut in the opening match and now has 20 wickets through five innings.
That is eight more than West Indies' Jayden Seales, the next-most prolific bowler in this series, has managed.
Seales was determined to have an impact on day one, though, and his two wickets at the death have set the stage for a far more competitive match than those England won at Lord's and Trent Bridge.
Bairstow set sights on swift England Test return
Jonny Bairstow bit back when asked if he was targeting an England return, insisting it is "all I want to do."
Bairstow was dropped from England's Test team for the ongoing series against West Indies.
The 34-year-old was part of England's T20 World Cup squad, and played in all five Tests of the tour of India earlier this year.
Bairstow has made 100 Test appearances, and when asked what his immediate target was, the wicketkeeper-batsman told former England captain and now-BBC Sport pundit Michael Vaughan: "All I want to do is play for England. That's end of.
"You don't need to ask me that do you? I think you know me well enough and I think you've known me for long enough to know that."
Bairstow did, however, enjoy a break away from the game, having had four weeks off before he joined the Welsh Fire for the Hundred.
He said: "At the same time it's been a great period of time.
"I had the best part of seven months away from home. Since January, I had five nights at home in my own bed since, until three weeks ago.
"That's the thing you have to sacrifice, time at home but at the same time, when you are away for that period of time, it takes its toll."
England are 2-0 up against the Windies in their three-match series, with the final Test starting at Edgbaston on Friday.
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