This is not a new phenomenon, England having previously been captained by Tony Greig, and having been represented by others born and raised in different countries: Basil d'Oliveira (South Africa), Dereck Pringle (Kenya) and many others. In fact, Billy Midwinter, who played international cricket between 1877 and 1887, began and ended his Test career with Autralia, but also played for England in between these dates. Cricketers representing a country other than that of their birth is not a new phenomenon, but it is a highly controversial one.
Why is this? As has been noted, players have represented countries other than those of their birth for over a century. Pietersen, Trott and Kieswetter all have a British parent, although Kieswetter's is Scottish, so they are all entitled to represent England. They have all spent their period of residency in England to qualify according to the ICC regulations, which state that players must have spend at least 183 days in each of the four years pending the application to qualify. They are all perfectly legally entitled to represent England in all forms of the game.
The criticism has come at this particular stage partly due to the number of non-English born players in the England eleven now. Pietersen, Trott, Kieswetter and Michael Lumb have all represented England in 2010, and yet none of them were born in England. While Pietersen left South Africa for England because of the racial quotas, designed to positively discriminate in order to encourage more black South Africans to play cricket, Kieswetter, Lumb and Trott both chose England for more personal reasons. Kieswetter and Lumb have always claimed that they believed themselves to be more English than South African, and that is why they decided to play for England.
The fact that so many people born in South Africa are representing england now is becoming a concern, but those who are concerned tend not to know that both Matt Prior and captain Andrew Strauss were also born in South Africa. The fact that Pietersen, Trott and Kieswetter all speak with an obvious South African accent make them very visible, in a way that Prior and Strauss are not. Had they been born in South Africa but not had that accent, the issue might not be so widespread right now. In the past, when players born outside of England represented England, the public perhaps did not know that they were not English. The majority were born in the old colonies, and lived among the English, not picking up an accent, or any of the mannerisms. Today, that is clearly not the case, and these players are being noticed and questioned.
While many people perceive this as a problem in English cricket, this writer does not. These players all have British blood, so all are entitled to represent their country, just as much as a player born and raised in England. Had they managed to qualify without having had a British parent, then there would be a great deal of controversy. But they do, so I personally do not have a problem with it. The problem exists within the county game, where so many foreign players are coming to England and playing as 'Kolpak' players.
There has been a boom in recent years of foreign players representing English counties, and Kolpak players are unlimited. If a county wished to, their entire eleven could be Kolpak players, as Northamptonshire have seemingly attempted to do in the past few years. Kolpak players can come from Zimbabwe, South Africa, and a number of West Indian states, but they are discouraged by the ECB, who pay the counties more for English-born players than they do for Kolpak players. In effect, for each game that a Kolpak player plays ahead of an English-born player, the county will get £1,100 less in central payments.
Originally, the ECB had set a criteria of players having not played for their national team for a twelve month period. However, that rule was deemed unenforceable when it was challenged by, of all counties, Yorkshire. Yes, the county who once insisted that all of its representatives must be from Yorkshire were the team to show that the ECB could not limit Kolpak players. 2008 saw a new interpretation of the rule mean that only those who had held a work permit for four years could be considered a Kolpak player, unless they have played a Test match in the last two years, or five in the last five. This has still meant that some counties have a great deal of them, as well as their alloted overseas player, as there are a lot of players who are happy to forego international cricket to make a living with the counties.
Many have blamed this system for a lack of young English players coming through to make the English Test team, meaning that players have be taken from those who have qualified. I am one of those people who believe this. While having experienced international cricketers is a good thing for youngsters in one way, as it can help their development, most of them are older players, in the twilight of their careers. Looking at the Kolpak players in county cricket today, Makhaya Ntini, Nicky Boje, Andrew Hall, Pedro Collins and Corey Collymore all ply their trade with various counties, and all fit these criteria.
I feel that county cricket, as in any sport where the top level is international, should focus on growing young English players, and preparing them for the international game. So I suggest that county cricket goes back to the days where just one overseas player can be in the squad at any one time. Whether or not they have played for their country in however many years become irrelevant, whether or not they are English becomes the deciding factor. If they can qualify to play for England, they are not an overseas player, if they cannot, then they are. The system is simple.
For regular county cricket that will suffice, as it will allow young English players to make their names with their counties and will make them much more prepared than many young players, especially fast bowlers, are when they come into the England side.
So I have no problem with players qualifying for England, they are technically English. They may have have been born and raised in England, but they do have a British parent, so they can elect to play for England if they so wish. The problem in cricket is county cricket having far too many non-English players, and, while this is being limited, it needs to be totally sorted out so the county game can go back to being a feeder for the England cricket team. The next big question is whether or not the county game is in need of a big change, but that is a whole different discussion.
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