County cricket should always been seen in an England context, for England are the team fans flock to watch, or stop at home to watch and who sponsors want to get involved with. In short, England are where the money’s at and cricket is a business.

Counties are businesses too, of course, but they survive with more than a little help from the ECB. Their annual handout from the governing body’s coffers is currently £1.3 million, so while counties look to forge their own paths, they have a responsibility to look after the interests of the national team.

On the issue of Kolpak players, they are failing their duty. Kolpaks are signed because they are relatively cheap and counties know they will be able to do a job. They are plucked off the shelf without the need for years of investment. “So what if they come with a 'made in South Africa' tag, they’re eligible to play and there’s nothing anyone can do about it,” seems to be the attitude, although county spokesmen will dress it up differently.

Counties want to win trophies and be successful in the short term. They will point to academies and all they are doing for the long-term good of English cricket but they will argue they need to win, that everyone else is doing it, and that they have a responsibility to their own members.

Non English-qualified players have been creeping into our domestic game ever since the Jean-Marc Bosman ruling in football meant anyone with an EU passport could come and play. The judgment over Marus Kolpak effectively extended this to countries with an associate agreement with the EU, which has enabled cricketers from the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific) through the Cotonou agreement to ply their trade here so long as they give up the right to play international cricket.

On average, including official overseas players, counties field sides with four players ineligible to play for England. While this leaves 126 spots open for home-grown talent (60 more than is available for Australia), it is the extent to which the Kolpaks and overseas stars dominate matches that is becoming a concern.

In the crunch moments of big one-day games do captains throw the ball to a young up-and-coming English bowler, who would benefit hugely from the experience or does he go to the overseas or Kolpak signing, who’s been there and done it before? In 2003 I was faced with that very situation and opted for the expertise of Muttiah Muralitharan to bowl the final over against Essex with 15 needed. Essex tied the game but that is not the point. I had a couple of young bowlers who never got the chance to bowl that final over and, perhaps worse, never expected to.

Taking a stance against the influx of non-English qualified cricketers is legally very difficult but it is an area that needs to be addressed if the national team is to progress. There aren’t too many Englishmen playing state cricket in Australia are there?

Mark Butcher, the Surrey captain, admits there is a problem with the amount of Kolpak players entering our domestic game and believes England’s one-day fortunes won’t pick up until the ECB gets proactive in maximising the opportunity for home-grown talent.

Butcher’s suggestion is to place restrictions on the number of non-English qualified players allowed in the 50-over competition.

“If we’re serious about trying to make a difference to England’s one day cricket, I believe that one of the one-day competitions, preferably the 50-over competition, ought to allow only one non-England qualified player per side,” Butcher said.

“Twenty20 is all about entertainment, no more no less, and they should be allowed to play in that and they have to play in the championship or you’re effectively putting a ban on them, which is not allowed. The 50-over competition seems to make most sense, as it’s the one we desperately need to improve nationally. You’re not saying to counties that they can’t sign overseas or Kolpaks but they could only play one of them in the competition.”

The ECB are well aware of the creeping tide of foreign players and have taken steps to incentivise counties financially to play more England-qualified talent. Of the £1.3 million that gets handed out to counties, a proportion is dependent on the amount of England-qualified players a county has played from the previous season.

A county will receive money for each England-qualified player for up to eight players (allowing for two overseas and one EU national or Kolpak) per day. This proportion of money is set to increase year-on-year and represents about as much as the ECB can do without facing a legal challenge.