Kolpak Counties: A Step Too Far, but the End Is in Sight

Du Plessis, Shaun Pollock, Charl Langeveldt, Grant Flower, Justin Kemprsveld, Ryan Mclaren, Justin Kemp, Jermaine Lawson, Lance Klusener, Andrew Hall, Nicky Boje, Chris Cairns and Corey Collymore are just some big names you will hear floating around the county grounds this season.

They are not classified as overseas players, but fall under the Kolpak ruling and are eligible to play without restriction. These players are true greats of the game in some cases. They take over a quarter of all places in the twenty county teams.

Kolpak players are something that must surely be limiting the opportunities of our home grown stock, something that in the past cricket has been able to hold against the foreign player mix that is English football. But the current influx of Kolpaks, which has been greater than ever before this season, was the start of a trend that could lead county cricket into the same state of the English Premiership.

Surely you would think this is a good thing as the Premier league is widely regarded internationally as the best football league in the world, for the most part down to the mass of foreign players.

If this happened in cricket, then surely county cricket would follow suit and become the best domestic cricket in the world?

True enough, but by doing this English International cricket would suffer hugely; as much as the England football team has recently, with failure to qualify for a major tournament. Less players would gain experience at the highest domestic level and would be unable to compete with the more talented cricketing nations.

You cannot, however, blame the counties. Kolpaks provide tried and tested quality players. I mean, who would you pick: your best youth player or leading South African Test wicket-taker Shaun Pollock?

And with the money stakes being raised, especially in 20/20 with the new cricketing Champions League, it's no surprise the counties are looking for hired help in the form of Kolpaks who would give the counties a greater chance of success.

But thankfully recent developments show that total foreign dominance is probably never going to happen. The ECB are apparently in talks with the EU Commission about closing the Kolpak loophole by restricting the number of Kolpak players allowed like the overseas.

But just imagine what could have happened to English cricket...