Stop Australian players using the county game as a finishing school before the Ashes, says Bob Willis.
Nurturing Australian talent undermines Ashes bid, says Bob
Geoff Miller is a concerned man and not just because of some dire results.
England have failed to win an international game throughout the winter - a terrible indictment on a team of very highly paid, extremely cosseted cricketers.
They must start performing soon to build some confidence ahead of the Ashes because since the turn of the year Australia have reinvented themselves extremely well and could complete a series sweep of South Africa in the coming days.
But national selector Miller has other worries, amongst them the decision of Middlesex and Kent to snap up Australians Phil Hughes and Stuart Clark respectively ahead of the Ashes.
There are two views on this: one is that cricket is one big happy family and everybody helps everybody else.
Angus Fraser, managing director of cricket at Middlesex, has said that England want to beat the best Australia side available and if Hughes' experience with the county helps his chances in the Ashes, then so be it. It just means that England have got to beat the strongest side that the Aussies put out.
I don't subscribe to that argument: I have very firm views that the County Championship - not so much the domestic one-day cricket - should be for England-qualified players only and should be a 10-match competition with three divisions of six teams.
Clearly that is something that can only develop over a period of time but the tightening of some of the loopholes in the Kolpak ruling has brought it a step closer.
As it stands Hughes will be able to use Middlesex as a ready-made finishing school ahead of the Ashes, just as the county game helped nurture Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden over the years.
The counties are once again being short-sighted, preferring to employ ready-made cricketers rather than produce their own through the academy system.
Detrimental
Clearly the South Africans will be determined to put on a better show in Cape Town this week so they avoid the humiliation of losing 3-0 to Australia at home.
Both injuries to Graeme Smith - his elbow problem in Sydney and broken finger he sustained in Durban - have clearly had a detrimental effect on the tourists' chances.
The problem is that South Africa don't have a natural leader to replace him; Smith is a real inspiration for them. Jacques Kallis, his replacement as skipper this week, is a safe pair of hands but I wouldn't say he is an innovative captain.
You can tell from the way he bats that he likes to get into a zone of concentration and think about what he's doing. We are always told that he is a reluctant bowler so it will be interesting to see how many overs he gets under his belt too.
Meanwhile, it has surprised everyone how well the Australian bowling attack has done without a spinner but Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle are learning quickly, Mitchell Johnson is happy to lead the attack and further down the track Brett Lee and Clark will be hoping to return in time for the Ashes so things are shaping up pretty well in that department.
It remains to be seen whether Bryce McGain is the answer to Australia's spin problems; there's no doubt he is a very talented bowler, but as Stuart MacGill found out following Shane Warne heaps extra pressure on you.
If he is selected at Newlands and turns in an impressive display, Miller and England might just have something else to worry about.
