County Championship tweaked for 2023 with fewer points for draws and two rounds played with Kookaburra ball | Cricket News

Fewer points will be awarded for draws in the County Championship in 2023 in order to encourage the sort of attacking cricket that has revolutionised England’s Test match team.

Sides will earn five points from draws this year, down from eight, while the system of batting bonus points has also been amended with quick-scoring rewarded.

The first batting bonus point will be attained after scoring 250 across the first 110 overs of the first innings, up from the previous 200, with sides needing to score in excess of four runs an over to reach the mark of 450 needed for the full set of five points.

Free-scoring has been key in England’s Test resurgence under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, which has yielded nine wins in 10 Tests ahead of this month’s two-match series in New Zealand.

Stokes has not had a direct influence on the changes but he reportedly attended a meeting of county directors in January, alongside ECB managing director of men’s cricket Rob Key and performance director Mo Bobat.

ECB head of cricket operations Alan Fordham said: “We are looking to achieve an encouragement for teams to bat long on well-prepared surfaces in the first innings and pushing games into day four but providing the added incentive to win games.

“Ultimately, teams should be out there to win. It is a delicate balance. First-innings bonus points continue to be seen as essential with an incentive to go out and win.

“Is scoring 200 runs in a four-day game a level where you should be getting points? No. So let’s move that up a bit. And maxing out at 450 can only have a positive effect. Those were the drivers rather than a direct ‘Bazball’ influence.”

The amendments, which come following recommendations in the high-performance review, include the Kookaburra ball being used for two rounds of games in June and July.

The Kookaburra ball, which usually swings and seams less than the Dukes ball, is used mainly in the southern hemisphere, including Australia, where England are winless in their last 15 Tests, losing 13 and drawing two.

The Kookaburra will be deployed in the County Championship for the June 25-28 and July 10-13 fixtures – coinciding with the Ashes – during which all 18 counties will be in action twice.

Counties are also now able to have four overseas players on their roster at any one time – up from three – although they are only able to field two each in the County Championship, One-Day Cup and Vitality Blast.

The change has come about to allow teams to have red-ball and white-ball specialists in their squads when the Championship and Blast overlap.