English County Cricket

In England much has been made of the fact that Peter Moores has come through the County system (as did Duncan Fletcher to a lesser extent in case anyone had forgotten) and has much greater faith in the players who excel at County level to come through in international cricket. This may be so, but the success of an old-fashioned England medium/quick bowler in helpful conditions against the West Indies (i.e. much like bowling at County batsman) should not be blown out of proportion. I thought Sidebottom bowled excellently at Headingley and he could well force his way into England's plans when they are full strength if he continues to bowl well, but I think we're probably getting ahead of ourselves if we say that County cricket is an excellent production line for international cricketers.

David Graveney has been suggesting as much recently. "The selection of Ryan speaks volumes for our domestic game. He's developed his game with the coaches at Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire and swings the ball much more than when he previously played for England."

I hope that Graveney has his head screwed on enough to be playing the PR card with the Counties. There's no way that the County game, with all it's manufactured results, can be seen as on a parallel with the Sheffield Shield in Australia. Until that time, County Cricket still has a long way to go.