How Rob Key Plans to Make English Cricket More Appealing 2023

Rob Key’s Approach to Leadership and Planning

The managing director of cricket in England discusses his management philosophies, how to resist the pull of franchise cricket, and why Bazball has been successful.

 

Rob Key admits that he could be a better planner. Hearing from an ECB staffer who holds the keys to the men’s national set-up would be startling in a different period. The fact that it isn’t is a sobering reflection of the times.

Now, tell me what you have planned for the upcoming weeks. I want somebody around, Key says to his wife. But I’m thinking, ‘Just have people over tomorrow. We’ll be alright.

What could go wrong? I have accomplished that with this job. “We’ll try it out.”

That approach has worked since taking over in April 2022 as managing director of the cricket team for men in England. The 43-year-old, who has received 21 caps for his country and served as Kent’s longtime captain before transitioning to the commentary box, has presided over a turnaround in the Test team’s fortunes, winning 10 out of 12 games after losing only one in 17 games, as well as a T20 World Cup.

Rob Key acknowledges that he never contemplated or even coveted this position. It was more appealing because he was approached at the right time, during the Test series loss to the West Indies following a demoralizing 4-0 loss in Australia. He asks again, this time on his reasoning for taking the job, “What’s the worst that could happen?” “We’ll continue losing.

But the narrative will be incredible. That is the entirety of my preparation for this job.

He started quickly going through the in-tray. Brendon McCullum was named red-ball coach for the Test teams, while Matthew Mott was named captain for the white-ball squads. Luke Wright’s appointment as men’s national selector in November completed the list of positions that needed to be filled.

His second year has started much more like an office job. He describes his weekly commute to Lord’s as being “different now.” “You now live in the workplace. I just made my first-ever vacation reservation in my whole life the other day. I had to ask for it there. For instance, can I go away for three days and play golf?”

A man who considers himself “relatively childish” and says he has “a busy mind that makes it difficult for me to be motionless and forces me to do action” may not be a good fit for administration. But he knows that the boardrooms and power corridors will be the scene of his most significant future activity.

Since he started, franchise cricket has grown more; the initial seasons of the SA20 and ILT20, along with Major League Cricket, are all scheduled in the United States in July, amid the English summer. Recently, it was discovered that IPL franchisees had already started talking about hiring English talent all year round. The old world eventually encroaches on the new.

The Challenge of Retaining English Talent: Insights from Rob Key

Rob Key has long argued that they can both coexist. Rob Key was heavily involved in negotiations with English players who declined spots on the white-ball trip of Bangladesh to play in the Pakistan Super League in March. These players were grateful for the flexibility, particularly the open dialogue.

But that only goes so far in providing coverage. Because the contracts provided in franchise competitions are so much better, the ECB is currently reviewing the compensation it offers to players, especially match costs.

The game-to-game remuneration is what Rob Key believes needs to be addressed immediately, especially given the need for talent, as demonstrated by the winter when more than 70 English cricketers were recruited abroad. Central contracts are also being examined.

“Take, for instance, match fees, you know? More money is needed. You may possibly receive, I believe, £3500 for a T20I. They receive £25,000 in these leagues throughout the world. As a result, instead of the three games we played in South Africa when it was a bilateral 50-over series, they are suddenly playing ten games in that competition. These competitions will never allow you to be financially competitive. Therefore, you need to figure out how to guarantee that you do genuinely control those guys.

In the Hundred, he discovers a cure. That has become much more difficult due to rumored informal conversations to modify or repeal it, though the latter appears unlikely given that broadcasters Sky and the BBC will stick to their guns. In essence, Rob Key thinks that English cricket can best keep control of its players by copying the IPL.

“It’s not easy, but I believe that focusing on our own game is how we accomplish that. It allows us to say, “Okay, we have the American League, and you have this, the Pakistan Super League.” Don’t worry about it; creating the finest and most profitable competition is important. So, all of a sudden, the solution is if you have a core contract that is valuable and profitable, plus you receive additional compensation in our franchise competition.”That’s how India does it.

India can stop their players from going and playing worldwide because they have such a big competition with the IPL in the backyard. There isn’t any reason why we couldn’t accomplish it. It’s complex, but that’s what we’ve got to focus on.

 

The Importance of Balancing Players’ Demands and National Duties in Franchise Tournaments

I recently read that Saudi Arabia would be starting a rich T20 league. You’ll need to be fluid because the scene abruptly shifts once more. But just like anything else, you must take care of your backyard. And if you do, what a fantastic time to play cricket.

“Consider the possibility: you would get to play abroad. Additionally, playing in it pays you a lot of money. We need to get there, along with your four-day system and everything else that is going on. Because if you have an alternative perspective, we will ultimately lose. The other nations that are focusing on their competition will prevail.

Jofra Archer’s dilemma is the best contemporary illustration of the necessity to balance players’ demands and wants, working with franchise tournaments and doing right by England. Following an 18-month hiatus, the 28-year-old fast has followed a personalized “roadmap” to return to action.

It started in the SA20 with MI Cape Town, continued in ODIs in South Africa (taking 6 for 40 in the third ODI), and then went on to the tour of Bangladesh before ending with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Everything seemed to go as planned, but Archer experienced a little setback after feeling soreness in the right elbow that sustained a stress fracture in 2021. It was sufficient for him to need a quick operation two weeks ago to make a trip to Belgium.

The Control Dilemma: How the ECB is Balancing Franchise Tournaments and International Cricket

Archer has now travelled back to India, but there is concern that he won’t be able to participate in the Ashes later this summer, which was where his plan was supposed to end. Given that he is under an entire central contract, the ECB can cut him off and order him to return to England anytime.

That won’t happen, according to Rob Key. They must succeed in this scenario for themselves and as a case study. “We assess what they should have done to prepare correctly, according to what worked best. However, it’s equally important to consider their goals for the future and their available options. At times, you mention enormous quantities of money. And the IPL, for instance. Cricket competition that is. We control Jofra’s return to play, so it’s only advantageous for the players.

“So it’s not like he’s there now, and we have no say. We frequently communicate with them. Working with the Mumbai Indians is a fantastic franchise. As a result, they turn around and declare, “Well, you know, right, Jofra has. We believe that this problem won’t last for a long time at this time.” Because [the elbow problem] won’t last forever, we already know that.

We, however, get to decide when he may play once more. Additionally, he has a full schedule planned for the summer before the Ashes. He will therefore be working even outside, or as the medical community now says, “getting his loads up.” That makes me reasonably content. So, there is a small amount of compromise.

 

From rivals to Friends: Remembering the Bond between Rob Key and Shane Warne

The main issue we’re attempting to solve is that everything we do has unintended repercussions. If you block people from completing all of this, you’re bringing about the day when no one has ever signed a contract. Even in the county [circuit], you wind up with freelancing cricketers and have no control over anyone, which is not a situation you want to be in.

They can be running out of ways to be kicked down. Thus, we must be prepared to confront these issues head-on. It is a legacy-defining time for the ECB because it needs to secure the future of men’s sports in this nation.

Rob Key is similarly situated, albeit his position more closely relates to events occurring on the pitch. People on the street, who occasionally stop him to wish him well, make that very clear.

Occasionally, he says, “Someone will go, ‘Well done’ and ‘Thanks. “But when we start losing, you realize that’s not going to last,” he continued. So you take pleasure in it now. I like it. Everyone believes that once things start going well, that’s it. That’s not the way life is. It will still be cricket.

A sequence of Ashes does more to establish a legacy. The finest chance for England to defeat Australia since 2015 is less than a month away, and anyone engaged, including Rob Key, will quickly rise to high status.

He’s been hounding for tickets, of course. “I’m going crazy over it. But isn’t that fantastic? Most of the time, he is tired of waiting for it to arrive. He understands the rivalry, having participated in four Ashes Test matches during the 2002–2003 series. Australian cricketers have always held a special place in his heart. Shane Warne, in particular.

At a County Championship game between Kent and Hampshire in Portsmouth in 2000, Rob Key first crossed paths with Warne. Over the years, especially when they were coworkers in the commentary box, he badgered the legspinner about cricket, and their bond and shared interests grew.

Warne passed away in March 2022, and one of the reasons for his loss was that he would have enjoyed watching the England Test team as they were at the time. It is pretty reminiscent of the phrase “Tee off (not recklessly).”

Rob Key on Cricket, Career, and the Managing Directorship

When you first meet him for a round of golf, Rob Key recalls, “he’d ask you to play tomorrow.” He’s constantly trying to figure out how to take advantage of every chance. Because of who he was, he lived a hundred lifetimes in the one he had, which makes him so contagious. And they want to adhere to that.

“People, their superiors at work, or someone similar are probably talking only about your limitations. That is incredibly uninspiring, but that is something you learn. And those are the qualities that Brendan, Stokes, Jos [Buttler], and Motty all possess; they are not individuals who constantly report problems. Leadership is all about achieving that.

“I believe that Bazball is the power to inspire others to reach their full potential. So, regardless of your performance, make the most of all you have. That’s what those guys do as well. People respond well to them.

It must be emphasized that Rob Key used the “B-word” on the spur of the moment. When I inquire if he would want to have the phrase bleeped out, given how much McCullum detests it, he cries out, “We can’t get rid of it!” The coach’s assertion that it is equally “Stokesball” is reiterated by him. Rob Key of Stokes says of Stokes, “He’s unfortunate; it doesn’t roll off the tongue as much as Bazball.”

Rob Key has played a somewhat phlegmatic role in the Test comeback. His perspectives have been expanded, and while not particularly revolutionary, his business life experience has been informative. You can sense a spark when he talks about the cricket played during his reign.

Looking at how the Test team has reactivated a fan following that was beginning to detach, a man who lists “cynical” as one of his personality traits sparks with joy. They are attracting fresh eyes with the class and elegance of their performance.

“I adore the idea that what they accomplished the previous year sparked the public’s interest. This game revolves around that. The goal is to amuse. I batted like I was an accountant for a large portion of my career, assuming it was a job. On the other hand, most visitors come to observe you. Even if there may not have been a lot of people at Kent, you still need to keep them entertained. If no one watches it without that, the game is over.

It makes you wonder whether this managing directorship is his method of reestablishing a more profound connection with the sport based on his contemplation, mainly how he thought he lost sight of what cricket was intended to be throughout his 17-year career, preferably for a little while.

“Are you sure you’re going to do these jobs forever? But it’s just something that, when I reflect on it, I’ll say to myself, “Geez, what an interesting time that was.” You play the part for a while, then you move on and hand it off to a fresh voice who can add to it, alter it, or take care of whatever else is required.

How would he feel if he quit his job the next day?

He replies, “It’d be alright, wouldn’t it? “I would have accepted what we’ve done so far if you had asked me initially.”

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