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The ECB’s player replacement trial is under fire after new regulations were used six times across the second round of County Championship fixtures, with Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson leading the criticism.
Glamorgan fell to a 192-run defeat to Nottinghamshire with allrounder Lyndon James taking two wickets after he replaced the injured Fergus O’Neill on the fourth morning. Nottinghamshire attempted to replace O’Neill with Olly Stone only to have their request rejected, but Carlson was frustrated by the introduction of a fresh seamer on the final day of a match regardless.
“Obviously, with the injury replacement, bringing in someone later on has made a bit of a difference,” Carlson said. “This is no slight on Notts whatsoever, because we would have done the exact same thing if we were in that position. But to bring in a guy who hadn’t played cricket for three days to then come in and bowl, obviously that’s an advantage.”
Glamorgan had themselves used the new regulations to replace Ben Kellaway (hip flexor) with Sean Dickson on the opening day. Carlson added: “The thinking behind bringing in the rule is sound, but I think it has to be ironed out in terms of the way it does get done.”
Replacements have previously been permitted in the County Championship in the event of players suffering concussion, contracting Covid-19, or being called up by England, but the regulations have been expanded to cover injury, illness and significant life events this year as part of an ICC trial, which follows similar pilots in Australia, India and South Africa.
