Ward: Mad to axe A team

13 April 2012

Ian Ward, the Surrey batsman being groomed as a possible successor to Mike Atherton in the England side, has criticised the decision to scrap England's A team.

An outstanding product of that shadow squad, he accuses the England and Wales Cricket Board of making a "criminal mistake" in replacing A-team tours with academy tours for fledgling hopefuls. Ward believes it could cost England the chance to uncover Test players of the future.

The 28-year-old said: "Under the new set-up, I can't see late developers like Marcus Trescothick and me getting a sniff. Both of us were quite senior when we went away. So was Ashley Giles.

"Nasser Hussain cut his captaincy teeth in the A team, and used those tours as a platform to get his batting together again at a fairly senior age.

"Had the A team not existed, who knows what would have happened to Nasser.

"I find it crazy we have disbanded the most successful aspect of English cricket over the last decade. It's tragic. The lock isn't broken, so why change the key?

"I am not against the idea of an academy team but why not run it in conjunction with the existing A-team set-up?

"Instead of scrapping the A team, I would extend it with four-day fixtures during our domestic season against touring sides like this summer's visiting teams Australia and Pakistan.

"I would also include two or three of the most talented Under-19s in that team.

"The investment in A-team tours is now bearing fruit at international level.

"Hussain, Trescothick, Giles and Graham Thorpe are all products of the A team."

Ward was sacked by Surrey nine years ago after a run of poor form and a clash of personalities with the Oval coach Grahame Clinton.

During his spell away from the club he earned a living by working at a petrol station and cleaning aircraft.

But he rejoined Surrey in 1996 and he claims the new system will give no encouragement to late-starters like himself.

He says: "Getting picked for the A tour at 27 was fantastic.

"I benefited so much from what I learned in the winter, especially the need to bat for long periods and score centuries if you are to play Test cricket."

Ward's own England prospects were boosted by him being the A team's top scorer in their Busta Cup fixtures in the West Indies this winter and by the fact national coach Duncan Fletcher has promised to make changes to his ageing team.

Fletcher believes the prolific Ward - he scored three centuries and three 50s in his first five A-team appearances on tour - can mount a challenge for Atherton's job when the England opener, now 33, retires from the Test arena.

Ward, who averaged 40 in first-class appearances for championship-winning Surrey last season and 35 in the one-day matches, said: "I'd love to bat with Alec Stewart's fluency but I suppose I'm more in the Atherton mould." Hugh Morris, England A captain on three tours in the early 1990s and now the ECB's technical director, has the task of setting up the new national cricket academy at Bisham in November.

The aim is for academy squads - which will have players aged between 19 and 23 but with the flexibility to select over-age players - to fast-track players to the threshold of Test selection.

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