Some players go backwards in county cricket.. but that's more a reflection on their own lack of committment than on county cricket: a bowler knows they have delivered a bad ball, even if it doesn't get punished.. and a batsman knows he's played a loose stroke.. even if he has got away with it.

English conditions are actually very good for honing batting skills: there's often a lot of sideways movement for the batsman to combat... both in the air and off the seam... and we've now got a host of great overseas bowlers: Harmison and Akhtar bowling in tandem at Durham should be interesting... Warne is over here with Hampshire... I think Murali is coming back again.

On the bowling front: any bowler who can take wickets (or even force defensive shots) in late summer at the Oval when faced with a batting line up that includes guys like Ramps is doing /something/ right.

Add inthe fact that the County scene is increasingly professional.. and getting a steady inflow of Academy players... and I really don't see an issue.