Grounds to Play - Ecb - England and Wales Cricket Board

29Successful England teamsSuccessful England teamsThe key partners in the player pathway for Team England are the First Class Counties.The objective in this 5 year plan is to enhance communication and the sharing of best practicebetween Team England and Counties to ensure that players transition smoothly from domestic tointernational cricket.A minimum pool of 50 England qualified players under the age of 26 regularly playing domesticfirst class cricket is required to operate a competitive England Lions team. Rewards for thedevelopment of these players should be enhanced.The national performance centre must be the world’s leading facility and have available theworld’s leading coaches and science and medical teams.The introduction of the IPL and Champions League further challenges player workload, whilstreducing income to ECB and Team England. In order to manage workload a maximum of 10playing days per year should be accommodated outside the Team England playing schedule forthose players participating in more than 95 days per annum of international match cricket.The women’s team must gain experience of venues in which Global Events are tobe scheduled.In order to replicate international tournament formats, the England Lions must play at home andabroad replicating ICC tournament playing conditions.Developing future Captains of both England and Counties is seen as a priority and this will be ledfrom the National Cricket Performance Centre.The disabilities team must gain experience of venues in which Global Events are tobe scheduled.It is imperative that to balance playing programmes there are no more than two ICC GlobalEvents in a four year cycle.