Mick Newell comes out against Championship conferences idea
[ad_1] Mick Newell has urged the English game to resist the temptation to restructure the County Championship into conferences. Newell, director of cricket at Nottinghamshire (and, for now at least, an England selector), has instead pleaded for the ECB to persist with promotion and relegation and suggested the reorganisation into conferences would only allow mediocre sides to "hide" in mid-table without the scrutiny that relegation can bring. His comments come just as the ECB announced a working party , chaired by Wasim Khan, charged with looking into the future structure of the domestic game. And while no conclusions have yet been reached, it is clear the popularity of the conference idea is growing among coaches at the first-class counties. They argue that it would lessen the urge to make short-term decisions - such as preferring Kolpak registrations over opportunities for young players - and reinvigorate the competition by providing all teams involved an opportunity to wi...