England Test captain Joe Root delivered some scathing criticism of county cricket following his side's humiliating 4-0 defeat to Australia in the Ashes.
Speaking after England meekly surrendered in the final Test in Sydney, Root insisted change needed to be made at county level. He also claimed that any success England have in Test cricket is "in spite of county cricket, not because of county cricket".
In a damning assessment, Root told reporters: "Anyone that’s coming into this Test team at the minute is doing it in spite of county cricket, not because of county cricket. There are definitely things that need to change."
However, former Australia, South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka head coach Mickey Arthur has rejected Root's claim that county cricket is to blame for England's recent struggles. Arthur, who is now Derbyshire's head of cricket, believes England's failures over the winter are not down to "a problem with the county system".
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Arthur said: "It's not the county system's fault England have only won one Test in the last 17. We weren't talking about the system when England won the World Cup and became the best white-ball team in the world.
"I hear they are thinking about reducing the number of counties? That would be short-sighted. England are not losing because Derbyshire are in the County Championship.
"England need a real leader as their next coach. The tail might have been wagging the dog for a little bit too long. They need a guy who can lead that dressing room with the captain.
I've looked at it very closely and, without wanting to have a go at anybody, technically the England batters are not what they should be. You look at Joe Root and Ben Stokes but there are not a huge amount of other international batters available to England.
"Now I don't think that's a problem with the county system. I think it's down to coaching and you have to look at their techniques as they come through. Maybe English batters need to be coached a bit better at an earlier stage of their career."
