MARK BUTCHER

The 18 first-class county model we have in this country is unique, and one of its main benefits is that it offers opportunities to cricketers from all corners of England and Wales to play the game at professional level.
That’s something to be celebrated, but it does have its drawbacks.
For as long as I can remember, there have been murmurs about the current system’s sustainability. In a relatively small country, do we need that many professional teams? Is there an argument to compress that talent into fewer sides?
The biggest problem that we have in county cricket – and it fe...