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[Howzat]

My penny worth...

Split test championship - big 8 in 1 Division and Bang, Zim, Ireland, Afgan, Kenya? in another "Feeder"Division. Feeder teams play each other every 4 years home and away BUT also play 2 tests a year against 1 team from the big 8. This gives approx 8 tests a year for each team allowing for a 3 test series against feeder teams. Only when a feeder team draws or wins 50% of the test fixtures or are ranked number 1 in the feeder division for a period of 2 years or more, do they get given full test status - reviewed every 4 years of course. Anyway, something like that IMHO is fair.

Irelands biggest problem is they don't have a professional league. If they could afford to fund 4 teams, it would make a life alot easier. Let's face it, if you lend your players to another country to give them experience and improve them, how can you not expect that country to pinch some of them? I think they've been lucky to only have 2 pinched, how many irishmen in county cricket now?

Re Bopara and Monty - both born in England, get over it. Any SA playing for England, qualified under ICC rules, fair and square and the same for all countries - get over it. It's freedom of choice - people can live wherever they want and become a citizen of any country they move to. Only people who are moaning are the ones who don't benefit.

Only prob I can see (pretty major one) England/India/Aus/SL/WI/Pakistan are all going to do over afganistan, kenya in 3 days!

[uknsaunders]

as opposed to doing over bang at Old Trafford in 3 days....

Not perfect, i'd admit, but these feeder teams need to play the best in some kind of limited capacity, to understand how good the feeder teams are.

[umz_786]

Umz, it is strange the you are English but dont consider yourself to be, care to explain?

Im brown. If you saw me, would you assume I was English or Asian? I'll probably work here, live here, play cricket here, for the rest of my life so its home, but its home home, if you get what I mean

Its funny though; all my mates call me a coconut (white inside, brown outside haha) because I like indie and rock and despise R&B, support England and not Pakistan, prefer football to cricket, I cant even handle a hot curry or speak fluent urdu and maybe they're right, but I feel uncomfortable thinking of myself as English when I am a second generation immigrant

[alexrickyponting]

"prefer football to cricket" 

[umz_786]

sorry lads - die-hard footy fan. As a liverpool season ticket holder I travel 400 miles every other week for 90 minutes at Anfield!

[alexrickyponting]

There's the virtual door -->
get out
 

[Talisman]

umz_786, I find it sad that you don't feel English, a sense of belonging is vital and it sounds like you have all the ingredients but it hasn't clicked yet.