Date-stamped : 26 Jul94 - 18:28 Pressure is mounting for import controls Overseas debate Lancashire, one of the wealthier counties, are giving voice to the financial fears of cricket's poor relations Why high-earning internationals are of questionable value... The overseas player, that supposed provider to English counties of instant results at no little cost, has become an endangered species. Extinction, however, may be some way off. Lancashire's request for the Test and County Cricket Board to place a morato- rium on recruitment beyond 1996 pending discussions has brought into the open growing unrest on the import issue among counties. It is felt, with salaries in excess of @30,000 per summer common, that an annual overseas wage bill approaching @1 million has be- come a millstone around county cricket's neck. Are the biggest names, weighed down by the increasing demands of the internation- al circuit, providing value for money? Lancashire stress that their initiative, which is to be aired at the TCCB's meeting on Aug 16, should not be interpreted as a call for an all-British championship. "We don't want a ban, just a debate," said their spokesman, John Brewer. "We've sensed this season that there is a degree of uncertainty among the counties over the future of over- seas players and, with more Test cricket now, their availability is not as great as it was. We'll be discussing our stance at com- mittee level before the TCCB meeting." Some counties, among them Gloucestershire, have registered surprise that it should be Lan- cashire, who are not short of a bob or two, who articulated the financial fears of the championship's poorer relations. Others feel Lancashire's motive is to gain a change in regulations al- lowing for replacements should an overseas player depart in mid- season. This, of course, is exactly what has happened at Old Trafford - and Taunton - this season. Pakistan's tour of Sri Lan- ka has claimed both Wasim Akram and Mushtaq Ahmed at a premature stage and the Asian countries are increasingly likely to be in- volved in series that encroach on the English summer. West In- dies, who provide 13 of this year's 18 overseas professionals, are not exactly idle either. Their players face an English winter which will include international cricket against India, New Zea- land, Australia and a visit to the Middle East, not to mention the Red Stripe domestic competition. Then they will arrive for a six-Test series against England in 1995. It is little wonder, then, that the likes of Wasim and Curtly Ambrose are maximising their earning power by demanding ever more lucrative contracts before their bodies give way under the strain and, at the same time, are struggling to justify their worth because of sheer fa- tigue. The returns of two players who are, unquestionably, among the world's best bowlers tell a revealing tale. Ambrose arrived late for Northamptonshire's season and missed the Benson and Hedges Cup defeat against Middlesex, a blow from which they have never recovered, according to chief executive Steve Coverdale. Since then, before he shook off his lethargy to excel against Derbyshire, he had taken 30 wickets at 17.63 apiece. Hardly earth-shattering. Wasim's final figures from just six matches were 244 runs at 24.40 and 27 wickets at 23.93. However much his contract is worth - and it cannot be far short of the @60,000 his compatriot Waqar Younis is said to earn at Surrey with incentive bonuses when he is fit - it has hardly been, in recent times, mo- ney well spent. There are always exceptions and, in Courtney Walsh, Gloucestershire have the closest modern example of the genuine overseas article. More often than not he has carried an average attack on his shoulders and he now has the added respon- sibility of captaincy, a 'burden' he sought last season when speculation linked him with a move. This season Walsh is again among the country's leading wicket-takers and flourishes where others feel the strain. So what is his secret? "He stays injury- free and we've always treated him fairly, as he deserves," said Gloucestershire secretary Philip August. "We've been lucky." Also relevant is the simple matter of entertainment, and the positive influence of world stars on impressionable British talents, which an analysis of statistics and salaries can never fully gauge. One B C Lara, for instance, could be said to have done his bit to create interest in county cricket this year. August admits to mixed feelings on the issue and says Gloucestershire "will be happy to enter discussions". Those talks will decide, next month, whether county doors are going to be shut on the world's greatest - and most expensive - talents. They are likely to at least be left ajar, however, for a while yet. (Extracted from a Sunday Telegraph artice by Paul Newman) Contributed by Vicky (VIGNESWA@*umass.edu)