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When a national side isn’t having too good a time of it, the quality of their domestic system is generally questioned.
When Australia were ruling the roost in the 1990s and early 2000s the Sheffield Shield was held up as the first-class game to which all others should aspire.
Conversely, I certainly read the odd piece bemoaning the Shield’s standard when things weren’t going too well.
Likewise on this side of the world, the county game is the majority’s go-to focal point for criticism when the national team are in the doldrums – but it’s an ideal breeding ground when the opposite is true.
As with nearly everything, it’s never quite as good or bad as it’s made out to be, and once the rose-tinted glasses come off and some perspective is applied, there are pros and cons for any domestic schedule.
One thing that does ring true and always will is that good players have to come from somewhere.
The pessimistic and oft-spouted view of players emerging in spite of, and not because of, the system they play in misses the point that plenty of decent cricketers have emerged over time in all parts of the world.
Of course, two plus two will equal four regarding the production of cricketers when a country is strong, as how can they be if the production line is misfiring?
All a cricket board can do is hope their domain is as robust as possible and that the rest will fall into place.
In a roundabout way this brings me to Chris Rogers; a player who made his name in a strong state game but had to rely on resources dwindling before he was given his chance to dine at the top table.
Yet how he got there is pretty much irrelevant. What is important is he got there and when he did he was good to go, and that isn’t an accident.
In any successful team there are those who do their business in an unfussy and unheralded manner but their contributions are no less valuable for it. There needs to be some pragmatism among the dashing and it would require an almost foolhardy approach to utilise half a dozen strokemakers without the assistance of a more old-school practitioner.
That said, the way the game is going, with attitudes leaning heavily towards the more adventurous, the likes of Rogers could soon be a thing of the past. This may well be seen as undesirable by those who hope not all of the past is consigned to the history books, but change and evolution are inevitable.
David Warner is as good an example you will find of cricket’s transformation in recent years – an example of the 20-over game gaining the upper hand in terms of influence. But it isn’t all-encompassing just yet.
Rogers and others of his ilk still have a crucial role to play in the five-day format and, full circle, we’re back to the domestic scene. While Test cricket still retains something resembling a high profile, it pays to maintain focus on first-class competition.
Come the end of the Ashes when Rogers calls time on his Test career, Australia will need to go back to the states to find Warner’s new partner.
Unless Shane Watson is given another go at the top of the order – surely not – a leap of faith will need to be taken. With established internationals barely ever wearing a state cap, this is where the administrators, fingers crossed, will hope the state game is doing its job.
Rogers was a battle-hardened campaigner when he got the nod and for all the vitality of youth, experience and a well-filled CV can count for a great deal.
Australia, as things stand, are strong and as many have been keen to point out, the level below is the same. The time is coming where the proof will indeed be in the pudding.