After his woeful Ashes series in which his technical problems of getting out lbw to the straight ball were exposed surely the last thing he needs is being groomed as the next captain.

Whats the great rush? Strauss is in no immeadiate danger of laying his bat to rest is he?

Also if his bad form continues you would have to imagine his place in the side would come into question, or am I just stupid to suggest that he might get dropped, after all the selectors haven’t brought any batting cover for the top of the order, sending out the wrong message that your place is guaranteed no matter how bad you are playing.

Just two centuries in the last two years and both against West Indies, is that really good enough?

We could end up in that unfamiliar English position of having a bloke picked just to captain, rather than for his batting. Usually that is reserved for captains that have been there and done it though.

I’m not suggesting Cook is not good enough or finished or anything like that as I think he has a good temperament and good attitude to the game and could be a good test player and maybe captain in the long run. Just that if he is out of form and carries on this way maybe a break from the team and a chance for someone else might be better for England and Alastair.

The England management seem to be getting well ahead of themselves with this one, lets turn him into a top class batsman first and then worry about the captaincy at a later date.

Jimbo – that was kind of my point: everyone talks about the need for change, but it never goes beyond words. However, this is not something that bloggers can do effectively – as far as the ECB are concerned we fall somewhere below the great unwashed.

Reduce the number of counties? Good luck with that, will never happen (hopefully)…I fit it baffling that there is a belief that less counties will automatically mean better England players and like it or not, each of those counties (including Somerset I indignantly add!) has their own identity and history not to be easily erased.

Because, unfortunately, people like me, you, cricket journos and ex players keep saying this on blogs and in the press and not doing anything about it.

The ECB and the counties absolutely rely on us all having a limited attention span i.e. we get animated about the first class shambles for a bit, then get bored and distracted, and then go back to buying £80 tickets for the Eleventh ODI v Bangladesh.

But that’s the way we are! There’s only two ways anything will actually happen, and they’re both financial:

1. Sky will turn off the TV money (realising that they’re haemorrhaging audience for p@sspoor county slogs and an incomprehensible England programme), or the Board will get forced to move to free-to-air. Either would instantly slash the £40m subsidy paid to the counties and close at least 7 of them, even after the ECB has taken the ‘responsible’ action of cutting all grassroots funding first to try and save the FCF chairmen.

2. The Government/Commons will finally hold a proper investigation into the game’s finances, with its state funding subsidies up for review. If so, they’ll work out that this isn’t a grassroots-first class-elite national sport, but just a slightly tawdry cartel. Taking the Government cash away, and referring the financial structure to the OFT, would also kneecap the Board.

I’d rather neither of these things happen, but they’re the only way change a’gonna come.

With Hughes, I find it vaguely depressing watching that level of unorthodoxy in test cricket. It’s like a tail-ender is opening the batting.

But no, I don’t think that Watson is the answer to the opening problem. I find him far too flaky for a the test openers’ berth. It is only a short-term measure I hope.

Now I come to think of it, I didn’t like watching Jacques much either.