NEW Road chief executive Mark Newton has dismissed suggestions that county cricket is at fault for the poor performance of the England team.

Instead, the Worcestershire boss pointed the finger of blame at the appallingly old fashioned' set-up of the ECB and the fact that no-one is accountable for the results.

Newton said: "I think it is interesting that in 2005, when we won the Ashes, everybody was saying that part of the reason behind that success was the re-organisation of the county cricket structure.

"The game became a lot more competitive with promotion and relegation being added and that in turn made our cricketers a lot more competitive. Nowadays, if you talk to the overseas players, they all say how good a standard county cricket is.

"Suddenly, after England's dreadful performance in the World Cup against South Africa, you hear Bob Willis and others saying that county cricket is to blame and that it is the fault of the chairmen and the members because they won''t accept the changes that are needed.

"I just think that it is so wrong to say that suddenly England are performing badly and county cricket is to blame - nothing is further from the truth.

"County cricket is not perfect and there needs to be further change in the structure of the one-day game without a doubt. But to blame it is just crazy when you have a team of quality players - and I do believe we have very good players - who are being coached and managed in such an old fashioned manner.

"In the end you won't resolve this until a position is accountable for England's performance - one person has to be accountable and at the moment nobody is. There are committees, selectors, a coach but nobody says I am responsible for the performance of England cricket'.

"At Worcester, Steve Rhodes is ultimately responsible for our cricket performance and he will live or die by that. Whereas I am responsible for the commercial side and the running of the ground and if the club goes bankrupt or loses money year after year, then it's my fault."