“Let the best play with & against the best”: Kevin Pietersen again calls for lesser county teams to improve the quality of County Championship

Kevin Pietersen has called for lesser teams in the County Championship to increase the quality of red-ball cricket in England.

English red-ball cricket has struggled a lot in the last year. It is quite interesting that the English team has been able to win just one of their last 17 red-ball games in international cricket. They lost the Ashes quite convincingly, and the performance on the West Indies tour was below par as well.

Looking at the results, a lot of changes have already been made to England’s setup. Chris Silverwood was sacked from his head coach role, whereas captain Joe Root resigned from his role. Ben Stokes is the new red-ball captain of the side, whereas Brendon McCullum is the new head coach of the red-ball team.

England’s next red-ball assignment will be against New Zealand in the 3-match test series starting from 2 June 2022 at the Lord’s in London.

Kevin Pietersen calls for County Championship revamp

Former England batter Kevin Pietersen has yet again voted for the idea of having a lesser number of teams in the county championship to increase the quality of it. The County Select XI recently defeated New Zealand in the practice game by seven wickets.

Kevin Pietersen said that the best players should play against the best in order to have a great impact with the red ball. Pietersen insists that lesser teams will create more competition between the players, and it will definitely increase the quality of cricket as well.

“First Class Counties team beat NZ this last weekend. Combining the countries talent into less 4-day teams will only improve the players and that’s what I see from that result. Let the best play with & against the best in a 4 day comp!,” Kevin Pietersen said.

First Class Counties team beat NZ this last weekend. Combining the countries talent into less 4-day teams will only improve the players and that’s what I see from that result. Let the best play with & against the best in a 4 day comp! 👀

— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) May 30, 2022

Kevin Pietersen has been a regular caller of the revamp of the County Championship. Players like Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, etc have done incredibly well in the County Championship, but they failed on the international stage. The quality of the county cricket has been questioned in the recent past.