England qualification criteria change

Amendment to Regulations for England Qualification



ECB today announced that the Regulations defining Qualification for England male cricketers had been amended with immediate effect.



The key provisions are as follows:



· All players who are already qualified for England will remain so – provided they continue to meet the existing regulations.

· All players who begin residence in England or Wales before their 18th birthday will need to complete a residence period of four consecutive years.

· Players who begin residence in England or Wales after their 18th birthday will need to complete a residence period of seven consecutive years.

Interesting, what was it before? I can't remember!

I think it was 3 or 4 years residency at any age?

Yeah, four years I believe Kiwi.

The existing rule is that in order to be eligible, you must be a British or Irish citizen (the latter presumably because of complicated UK law) and either have either been born in the UK or have been a resident in the UK for the past 4 years.

(Plus you can't have played for another country or as a local player in an overseas first-class competition).

Despite regular ridicule, the ECB's laws on this are pretty fair and stricter than most other countries and sports.

m@tt wrote:The existing rule is that in order to be eligible, you must be a British or Irish citizen (the latter presumably because of complicated UK law) and either have either been born in the UK or have been a resident in the UK for the past 4 years.

(Plus you can't have played for another country or as a local player in an overseas first-class competition).

Despite regular ridicule, the ECB's laws on this are pretty fair and stricter than most other countries and sports.

The crucial factor is that both KP and Trott have English relatives - a parent in KP's sense. Kieswetter, Lumb etc. are also similar cases. In this cases it would seem fully justified that, after serving a short qualification in which they don't play as a home-grown player abroad, that they could qualify for England.

KP and Strauss have English mothers, Lumb and Prior an English father. Trott I hear different things. Kieswetter has a Scottish mother.

Dernbach has a South African father and an Italian mother whilst Meaker has South African parents but both have been here since their early teens and have citizenship and are clearly products of the County system.

And for all the "mercenary" tags, KP was a nobody in South Africa and after coming to England played club cricket whilst earning extra cash as a barman. Yet some people suggest he walked straight into the England team.

Trott may have played Under 19s but did little after that, evidenced by no first class centuries for his SA teams and a poor record.

The 4 year qualification period is maintained for non-test playing nations (in particular Ireland).

Associate countries have 7 year qualification periods (with 2 exemptions - 4 years at least - allowed).

Moreover you can play for England the day after playing for an associate if you like - should you wish to change the other way (e.g. Ed Joyce, Hamish Marshall) you need to wait 4 years. Fair enough?

Interesting, south Africans going over to england might now think a little harder before they change their allegiance.

Under these rules players could see the prime part of their career spent in County Cricket before they may even get a sniff of playing for England, if they are good enough.

How does the grand parent and parent rule work?