Are teams just taking a chance on players and then reviewing player fitness in real time?
For genuine injuries, I have no issues. Is this situation open for manipulation? Definitely yes. You can pick a player who might not be fully fit, and if he goes down injured, you lose nothing because you can replace him instantly.
In my opinion, this rule needs to be tweaked at the very least. One replacement per match, and that’s your lot unless it is a concussion replacement. It should be like the review system; if you burn off your reviews, you do not get them back. If you replace a 50/50 player and then have a genuine injury, you are stuck with that player for the remainder of the game because you took a gamble earlier in the match.
The ECB need to start looking at the substitutions and make a judgment call on them. Or else the county game will become a farce. Teams will be naming 14-15 in their provisional squads just because certain players aren’t fully fit, and they know they are able to be replaced at a moment’s notice.
This rule cannot be allowed at international level.
