National boards at the A&A level are not flush with cash, but what money is available is often misspent and wasted on club cricket which contributes little to the development of the game or the success of national sides.

Much of the money administrators receive comes with ties attached to it. We found out this week (via leaks from the ICC Development Committee meeting) that Estonia’s Affiliate status depends on the board ensuring they have 8 senior club teams by the end of this year.

Despite the requirements imposed, it is wrong to believe that administrators are simply holding houses for money which has a pre-determined destination. What money they do have control over, must be spent more wisely.

This week the Jersey Cricket Board announced the opening of their Centre of Excellence for U10-U18s. This is not a one off for Jersey. The arrival of Craig Hogan (now National Academy Director for Cricket Ireland) in 2009 saw the creation of a pathway for boys at U15 level to fast track the most talented youngsters into the national squad by the time they reach their late teens and early twenties.

The creation of this pathway was multi-faceted. Obviously Jersey needed to identify and intensify the coaching of the talented youngsters amongst their crop of U15 players. But further than this they ensured that their young players were exposed to strong club cricket. In an interview given to ICC Europe in 2012 Hogan said: “the clubs have a real responsibility to look after the young boys and develop them”.

This attitude reflects the attitude of top tier nations, indeed one could imagine Andy Flower saying just this about the relationship between the England team and the 18 major counties. Jersey’s cricket set up is entirely geared towards the success of its national sides.

This is perhaps symptomatic of a country where cricket is already well established. However other countries in Europe are surely envious of the recent record of Jersey, and must look to learn from their island neighbour. In 2013 Jersey were WCL 6 Champions and a whisker from heading to the UAE for the WT20 Qualifiers (thanks to an incredibly tight semi-final with Italy in Europe Division 1).

The performance in Europe Division 1 was perhaps their most impressive achievement, but the success in the WCL is indicative of the importance of the Jersey set up. Jersey’s continued presence in the WCL, whilst many of their continental European counterparts dropped out of the WCL structure, shows the consistency with which they are producing quality players.

Whilst cricket is more established in Jersey than in many other European countries, the relative population size of Jersey compared with its European neighbours surely rules out this factor as the reason for Jersey’s continued superiority over its continental rivals.

What the Jersey Board has put in place, which should be the envy of other boards, is a competitive club system which acts as a proving ground for its young players. However there is little evidence of other boards learning from the Jersey model.

In many countries around Europe the clubs are unconcerned with the success of the national side. Youngsters are given too few opportunities. This is reflected in the quality of national U19 sides in these countries. There is a huge disparity between the quality of U19 sides in Europe U19 Division 1 (in which Jersey compete) and the quality of U19 sides in the now disbanded Division 2.

Clearly if boards in Europe are serious about success in European competition, then more opportunities need to be found for players before they reach senior level. Mark Moodley (Director General of France Cricket) attempted to rectify this in France. He introduced the ‘Challenge de France’ in 2011 which pitted the French National side against a Parisian Select XI, a Southern Select XI and a Development XI (made up of U20s) in a round robin tournament. This provided the best youngsters in France with proper exposure against quality adult opposition.

On the back of the Challenge de France, France have been the best of the rest at U19 level since 2010/11. Clearly a one off tournament cannot take all the credit. Mike Selig (twice ICC Europe Volunteer of the Year) has been left to run the junior sides during this time and has built an excellent environment.

French teenagers have the opportunity to meet up regularly for intensive training sessions run by Mike Selig. Current members of the French Senior Squad are invited to attend in order to help run the session and pass on advice to their potential successors.

Mike Selig and Mark Moodley, along with others, have started to build a pathway which mirrors the one created by Craig Hogan. But there is one ingredient missing. Throughout countries in Europe junior players are not getting the opportunities they need to play against men, and gain the experience of playing regular high level cricket.

So what does this have to do with how national boards spend their money?

Across Europe national boards subsidise cricket. They provide balls, umpires and sometimes even the pitches. With all this investment the boards must demand that the clubs take greater responsibility for bringing on young players – to paraphrase Hogan.

Efforts are being made to do this. France created a ‘Ligue Espoirs’ in 2013. The top club sides in France are mandated to have a junior set up, but despite this fewer than 10 games were played in the U19 ‘Ligue Espoirs’ in 2013. The consequences for the lack of interest shown by the clubs are yet to be decided by those who run competition in France, and decide the allocation of funds to clubs.

But it is clear that if France are to build on the emergence of a talented group of U19s, these players need to be exposed to the best bowling and batting available week in and week out next summer.

These issues are not isolated to France, the self-interest and short sightedness of clubs is an epidemic which affects clubs across the continent. National boards must combat this. They must ensure that these subsidised clubs do their duty, and understand that the relationship between the clubs and the administrators involves both give and take.

Those clubs which fail to contribute towards the development of youngsters must see a cut in funding even if that means these clubs cease to exist, whilst a carrot must be given to those clubs who comply.

Craig Hogan and the Jersey Cricket Board understood that a professional national set up and excellent coaching are vital to success, but they are not sufficient. It is time that national boards across Europe use what clout they have to bring clubs in line, if they hope to enjoy similar success to Jersey.