Stacy Boit,

Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace says realigning England selection with form in county cricket will highlight the talent being developed by “non-Hundred” clubs.

The England management held talks with their counterparts in the domestic game before the new season in a bid to reset relations.

Since then, Sussex captain Ollie Robinson has been recalled to the Test squad after a good start to the new campaign, and uncapped team-mate Henry Crocombe has been named in the England Lions squad.

“That is the crux of county cricket,” Farbrace said. “The sooner the counties and the England team are more aligned than they have been, the better.”

Robinson, whose last England appearance came against India in February 2024, was rewarded with a call-up for next month’s first Test against New Zealand after taking 17 wickets in the first five County Championship matches.

The 32-year-old was not the only beneficiary of a re-established link between performances in the county game and England selection.

The uncapped trio of Durham opener Emilio Gay, Somerset batter James Rew and Hampshire fast bowler Sonny Baker were all named in the Test squad, which was the first involving new national selector Marcus North, who had been director of cricket at Durham.

“That’s what, in my view, county cricket is about,” former England assistant head coach Farbrace told BBC Radio Sussex.

“I know some counties don’t like having players selected for the Lions or for England, and they talk about ‘losing them’. I think it’s absolutely brilliant, because it shows the hard work that our coaching staff are doing.

“You want people to play at the highest level. I want [James] Coles, [Tom] Haines and [Jack] Carson to be talked about playing for England as well.”