Alastair Cook says new rules on toss will benefit England
Thursday 5 May 2016 15:40, UK
England captain Alastair Cook expects the rule change on the toss in county cricket to benefit the national team.
This season the travelling captain is offered the option of bowling first, with the idea that counties will prepare better pitches and encourage more spin bowling.
The first few weeks suggest the plan is working - runs have been flowing, bowlers are having to work harder for their wickets, and there has been a great deal more spin bowling than previous years.
Cook - who has been in superb form this season, scoring three centuries in four games for Essex - says that if the new conditions encourage bowlers to learn new skills, such as reverse swing, the England team will benefit in the long term.
"The new rules have helped - the pitches have been flatter," he told Sky Sports News HQ. "They have produced better cricket.
"That can only help the England cricket team in the long run. A lot more spin has been bowled. You can't get away with 70mph, dobbing it on a length.
"You have to find ways to get 20 wickets. Counties will be brave and will hopefully pick bowlers who might be younger, but can get it down there - those young guys will get the opportunities and have to learn skills like reverse swing and spinning it.
"I'm not sure the bowlers will be so keen on it. In the first four games I think more runs have been scored. In three out of the four games I've played, 350 has been a good score but there has been something in it (the pitch) as you would expect in April.
"That's exactly with Andrew Strauss and the ECB would have wanted, pitches flatter that take spin later on."
