Fortunately, since then, my wage rises have managed to nudge ahead of the RPI, and thanks to the continuing hard work of the Test and County Cricket Board and the Professional Cricketers' Association the lot of the aspiring cricketer is financially much more secure.

Indeed, many aspects of county cricket have moved on apace but there are still problem areas which must be addressed. These areas are currently being identified, and solutions discussed, by David Acfield's working party.

Theirs is a crucial yet thankless task as it will be impossible to satisfy the traditionalists, the idealists, the romantics and the revolutionaries. As short-term popularity has never guaranteed success we must all put aside our personal feelings and strive to make their formula work.

One of the largest areas for concern is the standard of 2nd XI cricket. This is a crucial nursery for our first-class and ultimately Test cricketers and the decline in standards must be arrested.

At the moment, no one seems certain about the role of 2nd XI cricket and what makes a successful team. In recent years, Somerset have won the 2nd XI championship and in the same season finished mid-table in the County Championship and subsequently released several players; whereas Warwickshire finished nowhere in the 2nd XI yet a number of players made crucial contributions to them winning the County Championship.

Too often it appears that out-of-form first-team players use the 2nd XI matches as a middle practice, games become uncompetitive and peter out into a draw. Yet if that player then makes a successful return to the county side and helps them win, the exercise could be deemed to have been successful.

At the same time, the younger, less experienced cricketers have lost out on the chance of a real match situation and the different pressures and techniques that go with it, so when they get their chance in the first team they may not have the know-how that is necessary to convert 40-60 situations into a victory.

Without wanting to drift into the realms of the ``In my day'' critics, it does appear that the standard of crick- et is falling.

There are other problems associated with 2nd XI cricket; often the matches are played on out grounds where the wickets are not conducive to three-day cricket, the practice facilities are usually poor and sometimes non-existent. The very fact that the championship is played over three days does not help prepare a young batsman or bowler for first-class four-day cricket and yet logistically and financially it is almost impossible to make the 2nd XI championship four days.

Without wanting to drift into the realms of the ``In my day'' critics, it does appear that the standard of cricket is falling. In the days of two overseas professionals per county, standards were much higher.

In my younger days, when I was on that handsome salary, I can remember wondering whether it was fair reward for facing the likes of Patrick Patterson, Tony Gray and Tony Merrick, or bowling at the likes of Roy Pienaar or Younis Ahmed.

While I appreciate the arguments against having two overseas cricketers per club - denying home-grown talent, money going abroad and to agents, and teaching yet more international cricketers how to play in English conditions - it is an undeniable fact that the standards of 2nd XI cricket were higher and the competition produced better players. As an idealist, I still believe that better 2nd XI cricketers produced better county cricketers and ultimately a better international team. This, after all, is our raison d'tre.

Even as I write, the Test Match Special team are winding up the final match of the Indian series, C M J et al singing a ditty about ``Ging gang guli'' with apologies to Baden Powell, sadly not to the listeners.

My nose-dive down the Whyte & Mackay rankings continues apace and my half-term report contains those ever present words ``Could do better'', and ``Must learn to concentrate for longer''. Kent are top of the championship and challenging for the Sunday League and I can only dream about the delights, or disasters, that July, August and September will bring. What a game . .