The times are changing

The entire England Test squad have played county cricket prior to the third Test against the West Indies on June 7. This is in stark contrast to Duncan Fletcher's regime, when players often took breaks between Test matches. Now that Peter Moores has taken over, even the 12th man will not waste his time, resuming county duties the moment he is no longer needed. Mike Selvey, writing in The Guardian, thinks it a good move.

Indeed, the days of the multi-tasking professional 12th man, the bloke who always seemed to be knocking on the door of the Test side, who got within the very precincts of the dressing room with the smell of liniment (actually it's fragrances by Hugo Boss now) only to be stymied again and again as fitness tests were passed, and potentially troublesome pitches re-assessed on match morning as benign, are over. Duncan Fletcher enjoyed inviting people to his party, the more the merrier, and if it meant they were unable to pursue their chosen career beyond bowling between motorway cones and mixing isotonic drinks, then so be it.