Kolpaks

As many of you will know, Kolpaks have sprung up amongst the ranks of English cricket in recent years. A Kolpak player is a player who has origins in a nation that has a trade agreement with the E.U. that entitles its workers to be treated as equals of E.U. employees. Many counties have used the idea of these 'extra' overseas players to their advantage. However, some counties have exploited this concept and have imported a huge amount of players to bolster their ranks (and in some cases change the local language). One county who has exploited the situation is Northants.

This season gone, Northants had five players registered as Kolpaks: Johan Van Der Wath, Riki Wessels, Nicky Boje, Andrew Hall and Lance Klusener. All of these players have considerable reputations in their own right. However, are their presences detrimental to the state of the English game? To understand this question, we must explore their accomplishments on the county circuit as well as, quite importantly, their attitudes towards our domestic setup.

At Northants, we have a number of English players waiting in the wings. Graeme White was named the county young player of the year. Graeme White did not make an appearance in the County Championship. He has won the NBC Denis Compton Award on three occasions as cricinfo informs me. Is that not a sad state of affairs for English cricket?

However, this may be excusable if this was the only example in the country never mind the county. Mark Nelson, the NBC Denis Compton Award winner and another England U-19 player, was given a chance this year. However, he did not feature as regularly as you would expect. While I joke about this award, recipients have included Sales, Afzaal, Trescothick, Solanki, Giles, Shah, Flintoff, Read, Harmison, Hoggard and many other names that are recognisable figures in the cricketing world. Another young player at Northants is Alex Wakely, an England U-19 Captain. Yes, you have guessed it, he faced limited opportunities in the first team.

Why is it that these players have faced such limited opportunities? Could it be that Boje is a spinner similar to White; Klusener, Hall, Van Der Wath and Louw (yes, another South African who played as an overseas player) are middle order all-rounders in the mould of Nelson and that the packed middle order meant that there was no space for Wakely towards the top of this congested mercenary outfit? Ironically, there was one young player who flourished this year when given the opportunity, his name being Riki Wessels.

While this article may seem to go down the typical route of Kolpaks preventing English youth from flourishing, although it may be an old-fashioned argument, it is relevant. I can understand that at a club like mine, where it is hard to attract top quality English players (and arguably the top quality English players that we have had in recent times have not got the international recognition they deserved, Usman Afzaal for example. Some have had to leave to try and fulfil this desire, namely Afzaal and Shafayat.) that the acquisition of Kolpaks is both an inexpensive and attractive idea and alternative.

I do believe that Kolpaks can be beneficial to an extent, surely the next best English talent will only learn from the Kluseners and Bojes in this world, but there should be a limit on this influx. Klusener added 1000 runs, however, not all were as productive as him. And he is the one that has been released, the mind boggles on occasion. Van Der Wath may have been our top bowler, but surely for the money paid, you expect him to perform like a top overseas player. This was not the case. Boje was a failure after the first month or two, Hall has never been such an all-rounder and Louw barely featured.

So, what did Northants do this year? They invested heavily in foreign 'talent,' what did this achieve? The progression of the English youth has been held back for a further year, while the 'fat cat bankers' of cricket have collected their cheques whilst destroying team morale. This statement comes from news that Hall and Van Der Wath chain-smoked outside the dressing room at every possible opportunity, according to local press, and that harsh words were spoken in Afrikaans of their try-hard English counterparts. Northants, with a bowling line-up which I am sure will have featured in an ODI for South Africa at some point, with money spent on building a team for these lucrative limited overs tournaments, failed in this quarter.

In the Pro 40, we struggled to get a point, and the whether had to do it for us with two NRs. In the FP Trophy, weather meant we could not reach the quarters, finishing third in a group of six, a group which contained Ireland. Twenty20? Oh, just the normal, they outperformed all sides in their group, reached the quarters and capitulated against an Essex side who was not that much their superior. And if this meant that we achieved in the longer form, then no, this is not the case. The foreign contingent, who amassed 113 test appearances between them finished fourth in Division 2. Obviously not their fault, you need a supporting cast as well. However, two Englishmen scored 1000 runs, and English opener and an Irish WK/opener both scored over 900 runs, with an English bowler finishing as the second best bowler, the supporting cast seemed to do its job.

Again, I emphasise the point that a few seasoned internationals can help a team and particularly its youngsters develop, but in this quantity, is it acceptable, when no serious benefit appears to have been gained? Northants, if they had blooded the youngsters in the County Championship, may have finished lower, but considering they were two points of sixth position, how much lower could they have gone? This year could have been used to give experience to some raw talent that could really feature in cricket's future, especially English cricket's future, by sacrificing the position of a few warhorses. However, can a poor county like Northants be blamed? If there are no regulations in place to stop them, then why should they stop? The ECB must take this issue to task and come up with a satisfactory resolution, maybe limiting counties to one Kolpak and one overseas player a year. Unless they, the powers that be, take a firm stance on this, English cricket and thus worldwide cricket will suffer perhaps irreversibly.