England cricket chiefs have said there is "no silver bullet" for domestic first-class cricket following demands for substantial reforms after a dismal Ashes campaign.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Tom Harrison called for a red-ball "reset" to help Joe Root's Test team, who recently slumped to a 4-0 series defeat in Australia<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The ECB announced its 2022 domestic fixtures on Thursday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
There will be five rounds of four-day County Championship matches in June and July, compared with just three last year, as the competition returns to its regular two-division structure following two revamped seasons because of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But the season will start on April 7, with four successive weeks of red-ball matches, and finish on September 29 -- with no Championship fixtures at all in August, when the second edition of The Hundred will take precedence.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Neil Snowball, the ECB's managing director of county cricket, admitted the schedule was not ideal in striking a balance between the first-class and limited-over formats but said it was an improvement from last year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We know there's no silver bullet," he said. "All of the different things that we need to consider have been talked about a lot -- whether it's what type of ball we use, what type of pitches we play on, the format of competitions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It needs a comprehensive review. I think there's a feeling that we haven't got the balance right (between the formats) at the moment and that's what we need to look at.<\/p>\r\n\r\n