Cricket: Simpson slams English game

The former Australian coach Bob Simpson has hit out at the standard of English cricket and cited Ian Botham as one of the components in its decline.

Simpson, who moulded the Australians into arguably the world's best Test side, was sacked as the country's coach after their World Cup final defeat to Sri Lanka earlier this year.

In a new book, Bob Simpson: The Reasons Why, he attacks the English game, saying: "With their resources and tradition, they should be producing far better players than they are.

"At the moment they are a bit of a basket case, which is sad. But it is also their own fault."

Simpson, who also spent two years as coach of Leicestershire, continues: "The county system seems to have stuffed up badly. The overriding priority in English cricket is the welfare of the counties and while that is understandable, it is, in the interests of the overall game, a selfish, introverted view...

"Too many players accept the good life of county cricket without really stretching themselves. That attitude is going to be hard to change."

On Botham, Simpson says: "Botham's wonderful years for England may have been counter-productive. He carried his country so magnificently that the team's flaws were overlooked."