FRED Trueman used to say the first sign of summer was the sound of leather on Brian Close, who would stand two yards from the bat at short leg and shout "catch it" if a full-blooded shot ricocheted off his helmetless head.

That was in the days when only Yorkshiremen played for Yorkshire and they regularly won the title. Now, as I sit at Grace Road watching Durham play Leicestershire, there are three players on either side not qualified for England, and at some counties it's worse.

There's an argument that overseas players raise the standard of the county game, so it's easier for people like Andrew Strauss to make a swift and successful leap into Test cricket. But it is also obvious that far too many second-rate mercenaries are being peddled around by agents and some are being taken on at the expense of local talent.

The ECB are trying to clamp down by offering financial incentives for fielding home-grown players, which will hopefully help to persuade the counties that their main purpose is to produce players for England.

Durham have gone fishing overseas because they are desperate to get away from the foot of the table, but after wasting £100,000 last season on a succession of under-achieving bowlers was there really any need to bring over Victoria's Michael Lewis as a five-week locum for the injured Ashley Noffke?

They already have one Aussie bowler, Callum Thorp, waiting in the wings and if either is to play the most obvious candidate to make way will be Liam Plunkett, who is seen as a potential England player. It makes no sense to me.

I GATHER one of the tabloids quoted Shane Warne having a go at Durham for their handling of Shaun Tait at the end of last season.

We all like controversy, but this is the sort of journalism which gets the rest of us a bad name. It's topical because Tait is in the Ashes squad, but it was hardly Durham's fault that in his first match for them the Australian quickie totally lost his run-up.

They worked hard to help him re-discover it, but it wasn't until he got home that everything clicked back into place. The Aussies should be thanking Durham, not slating them.

NEVER can the fine line between success and failure have been better illustrated than by two chip shots in the Masters. I thought Tiger Woods had hit his too hard on the 16th when, in fact, it was a stroke of genius. It still needed an element of luck, however, to topple in with its dying breath - luck which Chris DiMarco didn't have when his chip hit the flag at the final hole. Luke Donald chipped in twice in the last six holes - I hope he can do it when he's in contention.

FOR the sake of his long-term future Jonny Wilkinson will have to learn to resist pressure. He was under pressure to make his last comeback in order to fit in a couple of games before Newcastle's Heineken Cup quarter-final, now he's under pressure to prove his fitness for the Lions.

He is expected to be on the bench for tonight's match at Northampton, but under what circumstances will he go on? The ideal scenario would be for the Falcons to be well ahead with 20 minutes left, but that is unlikely against a side even more desperate to win than they are. If it's tight, tense and abrasive Jonny can expect to be targeted as a potential match-winner and needs to be 100 per cent confident of his readiness to handle it. He would probably have an easier ride if Northampton were well ahead.

A HORSE doesn't need any of my money on its back, merely being tipped is always the kiss of death. Clan Royal had every chance of winning the Grand National until a riderless horse caused Tony McCoy to be unseated.

Statistics suggest McCoy is the greatest jump jockey ever, yet he is continually thwarted in his effort to win the National. If he was out of luck, it must have been even worse for trainer Jonjo O'Neill after the disappointing season he has had. Yet Jonjo, once desperately ill with cancer, knows the pleasure of living to fight another day and laughed it all off as just one of those unfortunate things that happen in the National.

IT'S just as well Sunderland still have a useful cushion at the top of the table as the home defeat by Reading was a nasty reminder of how those who come with a late run into the play-offs usually topple those who are well clear in third place, having failed at the final hurdle in a season-long bid for automatic promotion.

West Ham are also coming with a late run and the signs are ominous for whoever finishes third. Hopefully, the Reading defeat was a mere blip on Sunderland's radar, which still looks firmly locked on to the Premier League.

Published: 15/04/2005