England stars bullying club players is not in the spirit of cricket

It is great that former England and county players should play league cricket. The interface between professional and amateur cricket has always been weak. It is so sad that county players, having played their last game, never want to pick up a bat or ball again.

And it is one of the strengths of Australian cricket that their players are always connected to their clubs. When Mitchell Starc was injured and could not bowl, he batted in the middle order for his Sydney grade club and scored a century, learning how to do something he had never done at a professional level.

Similarly, all of England’s injured fast bowlers - like Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and all the rest - should be keeping their hand in by playing for their league club and developing their batting. Win-win all around.

But the crucial factor in the uproar of a debate about Rikki Clarke smashing 229 against South Wiltshire 3rd XI is the standard of the league match. Superb if Clarke is playing in division one of his local ECB Premier League. Not if he is smashing village second and third XIs.

The whole point of playing or watching a cricket match - that it is a roughly even contest - is annihilated if a shark swims in a goldfish bowl. Having played in media matches with a few former England players, you do not see the big difference when they walk out to bat: when playing themselves in, they are human. But when their brains and conditioned reflexes have been reactivated, they return to their former level and bat like the internationals they were.

Having an England player - and Clarke was a full-time Surrey player until last season - in a village match makes the game lop-sided, or simply one-sided, and ruins the essence of cricket and sport. Once he has got a