Two-pronged Job:

Both Middlesex’s Director of Cricket Angus Fraser and captain Neil Dexter agree with the assessment of up and coming batsman Dawid Malan. Middlesex’s best – only – chance of silverware this season is the Clydesdale Bank Pro-40 Cup. The once great county languishes near the bottom of the Second Division of the County Championship, knowing that they have to do without their three top players.

We spoke to Fraser last year. The former England fast-bowler sees his job as two-pronged. “First of all the ambition for the club is obviously to be a club that is consistently pushing for domestic honours and be a club that is consistently providing England with cricketers, so they are the dual role for the county – obviously try to win domestic competitions – but also to produce England cricketers,” Fraser told us.

Fraser knows what is required from young players, but is realistic in his expectations. “It will be hard to develop into the team that they once were, because every now and then a team has a generation of cricketers,” he said. “For Middlesex there were eleven international cricketers playing in their side when I joined in the mid 80s so it will take something for that to happen, but you’d like to think that in three to five years the club will be pushing for those goals.”

Youth Policy:

But is that possible. It didn’t matter so much last year as only captain Andrew Strauss was a fixture in the England team. Eoin Morgan was seen as a limited overs specialist and developing talent. Steven Finn was on the verge of breaking through, but still available to Middlesex. “I think we’ve got exciting young cricketers,” said Fraser. “They are young – hence maybe the inconsistency in the side at this moment in time, but I think they do have the potential to go on to make Middlesex into a very competitive side.”

But how? They will always run the risk of being victimised by success. The better the players they develop, the more likely they will become England players and be awarded contracts that leave them at England’s beck and call rather than their club. It is impossible to build a team around a talented player. There is little option but to scour their catchment areas thoroughly and develop generation after generation.

“I think we’ve got some good people working in the academy set up for starters,” Fraser told us. “I think the standard of cricket within Middlesex is pretty high at youth levels and club cricket and a lot of interesting cricket is played within the county. We’ve got the advantage of minor counties bordering on Middlesex – Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. I’m sure that helps. We’ve got quite a wide web. We’ve got some good people there and they obviously find some good cricketers for us.”

Competing Demands:

The structure of the county game does not allow for long-term planing – even Fraser’s three to five year expectations are nigh on impossible. As soon as a young player is ready, he is called up for England and his county has to do without him. Even if the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) pay his wages that doesn’t replace the talent.

Youth is the only solution. Dawid Malan is making excellent progress, but he has international ambitions too. He has the talent, but his very success could cost his county dear. Is it fair that counties like Middlesex produce such players only to lose them when needed most?

Imagine Liverpool playing regularly in English football’s Premier League without José Reina Páez, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres – the spine of their team – for most of the season, while opponents are at full strength and you might begin to understand what Middlesex go through week in week out without complaint.