Newell proposes regional 'super academies'

Nottinghamshire's director of cricket Mick Newell has risked an outcry among cricket traditionalists by advancing the view that some counties could combine their scouting and coaching resources to form a regional super academy.

Newell, also an England selector, advanced the theory of a combined academy at Nottinghamshire's annual meeting, suggesting that it would attract the best talent from the east Midlands, including Leicestershire and Derbyshire.

At a time when some of the smaller counties are being invited to consider whether theoretically they might accept financial compensation in exchange for not taking part in a new Twenty20 competition, all talk of joining forces is bound to receive an emotional response.

"At the moment all 18 counties have academies. Does every team need an academy? It's a valid question," he said.

"It's possible you could have one academy for the east Midlands covering all the counties in the area. You could focus on quality facilities and coaching as a pathway for players to come through one top-class academy.

"Closer links are something to consider, but it's difficult to forge links and a coherent policy when you are so close together and in competition for players."

Which county the best of those players would play for, and what rules would protect poaching, was not explored.

Nottinghamshire regularly cream off some of the best talent from their neighbours as the dominant county in the region, most notably Leicestershire from where Stuart Broad, James Taylor, Harry Gurney and Greg Smith have all made the move up the A46 in recent seasons.

Newell regards that as an inevitable consequence of Nottinghamshire's success - based heavily upon the successful development of Trent Bridge - and argued that local rivalries should not obscure the benefits.

Of nearly 400 players who took part in first-class cricket last season, only seven started their career in Nottinghamshire age-group cricket, with twice as many from Leicestershire, a striking number of those from a handful of private schools.

"If people want the team to be successful then introducing loads of local players is not a route we can take easily," Newell said. "If you're 18, 19 or 20, it's a lot easier to get into Leicestershire or Derbyshire's team because of the level of cricket they are playing: that's a fact."

Nottinghamshire are so concerned about the results of their Academy, specifically the lack of batsmen coming through the system, that they commissioned a report from the former Surrey coach Chris Adams last summer.

"We've started on what Chris recommended already," Newell said. "One of the key things we want to do is develop closer relations with the age-group teams and the county players. We've had a reputation for not developing our own players and we certainly want to do more of that.

"We all want more young players to come through, but they have to be good enough to get into a team we want to be competing in the top three or four of Division One."