THE lull provided by Worcestershire's non-involvement in the NatWest Trophy quarter-finals, provides a suitable opportunity for reflection on the season thus far and the County Championship system itself in its new, two division format.

With six out of 16 games remaining for most teams, finishing positions remain wide open. Certainly all teams in the second division can achieve a promotion slot. I was not in favour of two divisions, regarding it as only so much more tinkering with a system which needed a radical overhaul, if anything. I think I was wrong, however. I like the way the importance of the games for both teams, and therefore their intensity, will last right up to the final stages of the season.

Having three teams go up in a division of nine, combined with the new points scoring system where wins and draws do not receive hugely dissimilar rewards, means that all teams are interested for as long as possible.

Similarly, in the first division, counties will be either vying for the championship or to avoid relegation with little, if any, room left for the slack, meaningless cricket for which our County Championship has so often been condemned.

And what of Worcestershire's campaign? The busy period, coinciding with the international one-day tournament, has passed and the recent period without a win in either form of cricket was beginning to look ominous. Yet they are still top in the one-day competition and still in the promotion chase in the County Championship Second Division.

Glenn McGrath's contribution has been immense, not just in the wickets he has taken, but in the lead he has given to others. Kabir Ali has been the most obvious beneficiary, but he, like McGrath, will miss a number of matches in August because of his deserved selection for England U-19.

Perhaps this will represent a chance for Chris Liptrot, who was similarly selected for England U-19 last year, to re-emerge. It is great for Worcestershire's future to have these young England players. Duncan Catterall is another, but we need to be winning games now as well as looking good for years to come as the batsmen need to convert starts into big scores, so the bowlers need to achieve the match-winning "five-fors."

The pace-building has been effective, though, despite Alamgir Sheriyar's loss of form. But as the sap dries from the pitches, their job gets harder and the spinners must play their part. Richard Illingworth's injury has been untimely in this respect. He was missed at Chelmsford, where Peter Such's bowling for Essex turned the match as much as Stuart Law's second innings hundred. Nasser Hussain has said how much he would like Graeme Hick to bowl more and the same could be said of Vikram Solanki.

His international aspirations would benefit hugely from proof at county level that he could maintain his ability to take wickets, while using the inconsistencies which top players exploit.

Illy's contributions down the order have been missed recently as well. The lower middle order has not baled the top order out as consistently as in the past. Yet the job still needs doing as the batting remains fragile and it is here, really, that the games have been lost.

Monday, July 31