Lancashire used to be one of the top cricket teams in the country, feared by most other counties in both the first-class and one-day version of the game. The county is well-known for bringing through home-grown local talent such as Michael Atherton, Neil Fairbrother and more recently Andrew Flintoff and James Anderson.  However as seen in their Twenty20 semi-final loss to Gloucestershire, something is wrong with the team morale and effort.

The influx of foreign players into the English domestic cricket  leagues is surely to blame for this lack of teamwork.  When I was a boy, counties were only allowed one overseas player per season and this worked out well for Lancashire.  Wasim Akram filled this role for most of the '90s.  He was very popular and boosted the whole team with his fast bowling and hard-hitting approach to the game.  He felt like a local to the Lancastrian crowds. 

This season Lancashire have had a whole host of foreign players, including Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Brad Hodge and Stuart Law.  These players can sign for a month or two and have no commitment to play for the county for longer, as Akram always did.  The constant changing of overseas players in the team is not good for moulding a strong cricket team and team effort.  They all want the limelight, the money and the success, but on a personal level rather than as part of a team.  The local lads often don't get mentioned in the media at all, as the focus is constantly on the big stars. 

Is cricket becoming like Premier League football? Of course, the money is never going to be on the same level but the idea of 'foreign is best' is being introduced into the gentleman's game.  Rules should be implemented to control the number of overseas players per team and the length of contract that these players should be forced to sign before we start losing home-grown talent, as has been the case in football.

We must give our youngsters a chance. It is no surprise that on an international level  other countries such as Australia and South Africa are so competitive against England. Their players turn out for Englsh counties and get used to the opposition and conditions.

Lancashire need to change their approach. It's not all about big names and big shots. Yes, of course these players can make the game more attractive and pull in the crowds, but which crowd wants to see defeat rather than success for its team?  Local players are often prouder and more hard-working - they want to be the heroes of their birth counties and not just of the media.