But the Premiership air still reeks of danger. Foreign footballers are infesting the leading teams and at least 200 have been registered in the four main divisions, more than ever before. Chelsea's starting line-up could read: Kharine, Petrescu, Gullit, Vialli, Di Matteo, Johnsen and Leboeuf, for instance. Yet last weekend five counties fielded an entire team of English qualified players in the Britannic Assurance Championship. A polarisation of views is emerging to the question: are foreign sportsmen good for the nation's health?

The Institute of Professional Sports is concerned and will hear from worried representatives of football, ice hockey and basketball when they meet next month before con- fronting the Department of Employment. Gordon Taylor, of the Professional Footballers' Association, will point out that there have been 400 free transfers in 1996 as football clubs cast off their fringe players predominantly in favour of cheap im- ports.

In cricket the overseas issue has come to a head because of the hurried departure of Australia's Stuart Law and Michael Bevan from their counties immediately after last week's NatWest semi-finals to join a training camp back home. The gradual expansion of the international cricketing circuit has set many clubs wondering if the investment is worth it. Middlesex have ceased negotiations with Javagal Srinath because his commitments to India would eat into a large chunk of next summer.

The result should be extra opportunities for a home grown player, but the decreasing availability of foreign Test players is a mixed blessing. Overseas cricketers have made a vast contribution to our game for 36 years (Ron Headley was the first, joining Worcestershire in 1960), a fact that will certainly be recognised when the officers of the TCCB gather tomorrow to discuss, among other things, the pro- posed moratorium on overseas players in 1999, the summer of the World Cup.

Lancashire's chairman, Bob Bennett, tabled the mo- tion. ``Remembering that the nine Test playing countries in the World Cup would each have a squad of 14, taking away the world's greatest players, we felt this was an ideal time for the domestic game to look at itself without over- seas players,'' he said. With a membership of 14,000 and a large catchment area, Lancashire can afford to be slight- ly gung-ho on this subject; they often choose to leave out their current overseas player, Steve Elworthy.

But the minnows in the championship pool will not be easily lured. Peter Anderson, Somerset's chief executive, was adamant. ``We think it's unreasonable for the TCCB to suggest we can't sign an overseas player for the latter half of the 1999 season if we want to,'' he said. ``Call me Paro- chial Pete if you like, but players from the sticks are mi- grating to the larger clubs with more money, so the only way peo- ple like us can remain competitive is with overseas players.''

There is a dichotomy here. The presence of the Wasim Akrams and Courtney Walshes does raise the standard and entertainment value of county cricket, but the development of local players can become stunted if they are denied opportunity. And there is no doubt overseas players absorb all the idiosyncracies of English conditions and players, then subsequently undermine our performances at Test level.

Figures assembled over a longer period tell a vivid story. The chorus of overseas players in English cricket reached a crescendo in 1980 when there were 42 sprinkled among the 17 counties, though only two could play at the same time. It was not until 1988 that regulations and wastage res- tricted all counties to one. Between 1980 and 1988 England played 95 Tests, and won 19, a success rate of 20 per cent. This compares unfavourably with the decade before (35 per cent), the 1990's (25 per cent) or England's overall 34 per cent record (1876-present: Tests 728, wins 247.)

Obviously this discrepancy is not caused purely by the influx of Asians, West Indians, South Africans and Aus- tralians. But a scenario we will call the 'hide and seek factor' is damaging. When counties field imported match- winners, many home-bred players take shelter behind them, scavenging on the scraps left by the predators. If there is a Malcolm Marshall or a Richard Hadlee in the side, the average En- glish professional does not seek to change the course of a match, but tends to hide until the job is three-quarters done. Sometimes there is little choice. Cardigan Connor, no shirker, owed last week's nine for 38, the best figures ever achieved at Southampton, to the advantages he en- joyed (new ball, choice of ends) as a result of Winston Benjamin's enforced retirement.

W HILE it is tremendously exciting and challenging to scrap with the world's greatest players, it is a fallacy to think these stars always have a beneficial influence on their English colleagues. The fearsome pace of Wayne Daniel won Middlesex countless matches in the 1980s, but the technique he discussed after the game had nothing to do with cricket. Last week Walsh conceded that he spends too long in the field to have the time or energy for much tuition, and he is not alone. At least former greats like Malcolm Marshall and Desmond Haynes have now infiltrated England's tired coaching system to pass on their expertise.

Australian Dean Jones is another rare exception. His inexhaustable supplies of energy and bravura, his ruthless aggression and his verbal diarrhoea have taken Der- byshire to the brink of their first championship since 1936. He is immersed in the team goals and refutes the sugges- tion that his nationality compromises his objectives. ``I want to see England do well, its important for world cricket,'' he said, ``and I'm concentrating on trying to help Derbyshire bring on youngsters in a winning environment - that's the ultimate route to producing good Test players. I'm trying to help get Corky right.''

After 30 years of trial and error then, cricket has got its overeseas equation just about right. One per county bolsters the weak without usually encumbering the strong and should not hinder the national side. Overall, the galaxy of foreign stars has transformed the county scene into the most prestigious cricketing circuit in the world.

The benefits of this sudden influx of foreigners in English football are less certain. In the short term they will offer the public, the sponsors and the directors the suc- culent fare they crave. But when the 'hide and seek factor' takes effect, the prowess of the England team could be impaired. Ruud Gullit is anxious for Chelsea to ``play the European way'' so has filled his squad with skilful Europeans, wonderful for ticket holders, but not necessarily welcomed by Glenn Hoddle wearing his England hat.

The Premiership is awash with #22.2 million booty, and the top 11 finishers will all receive in excess of #1 million. The FA neglected to convert their projected prize money into lire or francs but Gullit echoes the thoughts of all managers when he says: ``English players cost too much mo- ney.'' If the superior taste of Swiss chocolate was more afford- able, we would consume the odd extra bar with no ill- effects. But those who gorged themselves would eventually be sick.