London Bluebirds flag just mentioned by Boycott on TMS

[qccfc]

I laughed when Botham mentioned the singles only for him to do that. A very fine innings.

Fact: since 2000 5 England players have scored centuries on their test debut. 4 of them were born in South Africa. Haha.

It’s a difficult one, many would hold up the cricketing system as a form of mockery and farce about how players can represent teams from where they are not from. However if you look at it, it isn’t that bad.

Prior left SA at 11, and Strauss at 8, both would have qualified for the English national football team under the 5 year compulsory education law.

Pietersen and Jennings both had English mothers, so would have immediately qualified for the English national football team, both these players had to serve 4 years of service to county cricket before becoming eligible for English Cricket.

People like to mock the qualification of English cricket players, however if you post a thread saying that you don’t think Ashley Williams is Welsh, (He has more distant connections to Wales than any cricketer mentioned), then you are some sort of loon.

[Alex!]

Oh I'm not having a dig, just an observation, and if anything kinda shows how messed up South Africa are going to be going forward with their quota system. If anything England have kinda gone away from those players, of the current players across both formats the only ones of other origins are Roy and Stokes who moved here as kids.

[qccfc]

Oh I'm not having a dig, just an observation, and if anything kinda shows how messed up South Africa are going to be going forward with their quota system. If anything England have kinda gone away from those players, of the current players across both formats the only ones of other origins are Roy and Stokes who moved here as kids.

The quota system is only a small issue, the problem is that it is harder to make a career in the game in South Africa than it is over here. So if you have a British Passport then you are better off financially playing in the county system.

Then after 4 (now 7 years for players coming in after 18) years you are then eligible to play test cricket.

I cant see how south Africa can quickly improve the financial structure of their game to compete with county cricket.