Will Waugh's stint undermine England's Ashes hopes?

Lloyd believes Australia captain Waugh's stint in county cricket will allow him to gain vital knowledge of the England squad ahead of the Ashes series this winter.

Lloyd also fears it will give Waugh the chance to sharpen up his batting in time to face England.

With Stuart MacGill moving to Nottinghamshire and Waugh's brother Mark going to Essex, there are almost 20 Australians involved in county competition this season.

Should somebody have intervened?

However, despite having been England coach, his criticism of Steve Waugh's move to Kent is outside his field of commentary. His opinion is worthless. Steve Waugh won't learn anything that he doesn't know in playing for Kent.

And what if the situation was reversed? If one of England's top men had been playing in Australia during our close season, supposedly to gain vital information on the Aussie team, would David Lloyd have had anything to say? Of course not. And neither would the Aussies.
Joel, England

Steve Waugh spying? What is there to spy on? Until English cricket can get its act together, the Australians have nothing to fear from their English counter-parts. He could however show the young lads what it takes to be the world's strongest team leader.
Jason, Australia

The question of overseas players is a bit more complex than the analysis so far here. The overall structure of English cricket must be examined at the same time as whether overseas players are a benefit or not. Unfortunately the Australian system of domestic cricket is completely different with six evenly balanced sides providing really hard fought domestic competition.

It is interesting that not so long ago England's coaches and captains were trying to suggest that Waugh was not truly Test standard.
Tim, UK

It would be childish in the least to 'ban' a player from county cricket because of the reasons Lloyd proposes. But, either way, I don't think that Steve Waugh will tell the Aussies they need to change anything to drastically to be assured of dishing out another sound lashing to England.
Daniel, UK

No-one seems to complain about this in football...
Sandy, UK

I find Richard Stemp's comment that English cricket was stronger when we had two overseas players quite laughable. During the Eighties we won two series against Australia, both mainly because Botham took the Aussies apart. We regularly were slaughtered by the West Indies and lost home series against NZ and Pakistan.

The only real difference is that today most sides have an Aussie or two (one usually with a UK grandparent) not a West Indian. So now we regularly get slaughtered by the Aussies.

I think we should limit it to one overseas player who must have played more than 75% of the games for their country in the last 12 months. If that player is injured after the first game of the season, then tough luck.

Counties should then receive their subsidy dependent upon the number of English qualified players under the age of 25 who play more than half the games that season to encourage the introduction of young players.
Richard Evans, UK

If anything Waugh and the other Aussies are taking a risk playing county cricket just before the Ashes. They could easily pick up an injury which could render them to the sidelines for the Ashes series - and that would be a pity!
Mehul, UK

David Lloyd's mouth always was slightly disconnected from his brain. This, presumably, is what makes him such an entertaining after-dinner speaker. Steve Waugh has never shown the slightest interest in spying on England before. And we all know the results of Ashes series with him as Australia's captain (and Lloyd as England coach). Regrettably, Waugh seems to have found a more dignified way of earning extra cash than Lloyd.
Tom, UK

David Lloyd is right. Giving Steve Waugh much needed match practice is a mistake. The benefit to the local players who may learn from Waugh will be far outweighed by the value he will gain by playing for Kent.

Think about it; where else in the world can Waugh go at a drop of a hat and get good match practice? Now that he is out of the one day side, he needs a place to go where he can ramp up his skills in an easy-paced environment.

It is no coincidence that the rise of India, Pakistan and West Indies as cricketing nation may be traced back to the 1970s when their players started to play county cricket. Conversely over the same period, English cricket has been in a state of abeyance.

The worry is that other stars in need of some quick practice will also come over, for short term assignments and there will be only one winner and it's not English cricket!
Oxa, UK

Either we are good enough to beat the Aussies or we are not. Don't pick on individual players, Mr Lloyd.
Oliver James, England

England are still worried about a person the Australians have almost written-off! Now I understand why English cricket is 10 years behind!
Dushy, Canada

Steve Waugh's influence upon the young players at Kent will be immense. England's new opening batsman Rob Key considers Waugh as a major influence.

It won't make any difference to the outcome of the Ashes, it could just make a difference to the outcome of young county players in the future though.
James Buddell, France

English cricket has been in the doldrums for too long. Two reasons for this plight are the parochialism and the petty-mindedness of the officialdom. David Lloyd's comments on Waugh is par for the course.
Nihal Kodituwakku, France

English cricket was stronger when counties were allowed two overseas players. Surely the presence of top quality cricketers in the county game will enhance England's prospects and not diminish them.
Iain Stemp, England

Waugh is clearly coming over for a chance to be paid to check out the opposition. However, as far as I can tell that is perfectly within the rules of cricket. From an English point of view it would be nice if he weren't, but if Kent want to sign him they are entitled to.
Dave, Cambridge, UK

Of course the decision to let Waugh play for Kent is stupid or worse. Even more so because he will play just a few weeks. Just enough to win a trophy and do some spying and testing.

I also suppose that if he was coming to a non-southern side he would have been stopped. Just the same as selection for England - play in the south or for Yorkshire otherwise you are dead!
Mike, France

What IS David Lloyd's problem? Steve Waugh is entitled to play for whatever team he likes and I have no doubt that Kent will be grateful for the experience he brings. If his six-week stint with Kent is going to jeopardise England's chances of regaining the Ashes, then England don't deserve to regain the Ashes.

Maybe someone should step in and ban Rod Marsh from nurturing and training England's young cricketers while we are at it.
Leanne, Australia

If Waugh wanted to study the England players he would sit at home and watch television replays, instead of playing county teams which may not figure even a single player from England's Ashes team.
Ajith, UK

Neither of the Waughs will play for Australia again.Their days are over so it is only proper that they should be put out to grass on your sleepy pastures.
Paul Vernon-Roberts, Australia

David Lloyd clearly has no faith in our most talented cricketers. Surely he should view this as a great opportunity to assess Steve Waugh first hand and work out his strengths and weaknesses for the Ashes.
Paul Jaffe, England

Just as much as Waugh might learn about the Englishmen, they also can learn about the strengths and weaknesses of these 20-odd Aussie players. Lloyd should start seeing the bright side of things and not just complaining all the time.
Gane, Sri Lanka

Steve Waugh is going to Kent to get some practice. He is a broken man these days. All he is trying to do is pick up the pieces! How cold can Lloyd be? But then again, coming from a man who has given scathing comments on Zimbabwe and Murali for no reason, it is no surprise. Aussie conspiracy indeed!
Rikaz Sheriff, Pakistan

What's the problem? Waugh will be playing county cricket at a time when some of the England side will be preparing to go off for a one-day competition. He won't learn anything more than the Aussie scouts will have learnt watching the England team playing SL and India.
Andy, UK

Kent have done extremely well to secure the services of Steve Waugh for the remainder of the season. He will be a delight to watch, and an asset to the Kent squad. Waugh will play against England players he has already faced in previous Ashes series, so will learn nothing new of these players.
Mark, Kent

I very much doubt that the Pommies have anything to show or teach Steve Waugh, the best tactical captain in history. Maybe it should be the other way around and it is Australia who should worry by sending the best captain in the world to England to show his greatness to the Poms.
Jimmy Simms, Australia

Lloyd should pipe down and get on with his job. Even if Waugh didn't play, what is to stop Australia looking at match replays? Or should all county matches now be played behind closed doors? And maybe we could request that the Aussies bowl under arm as well?
Jeremy, UK

Surely we should look at this as an opportunity for some of the English bowlers to test themselves against one of the best batsmen in the world. If someone can trouble Waugh here, perhaps they are worth taking to Oz?
Tom, England

I think David Lloyd has finally lost the plot completely. What if it was a star batsman from another nation that England were facing in a few months? Would he care? Just because he can't stomach the fact that Australia are a far greater side than England and have deservedly trounced them on every occasion since '89.

And anyway, it's not like England are going to have any surprises for Australia. If we had a Shane Warne with a mystery miracle delivery then I would understand his concern. But come on, this is just sour grapes.
James, UK

What a surpise, David Lloyd is shooting his mouth off again. You can't let some overseas players play county cricket and not others. The argument that Steve Waugh will get an insight into our best players is no different to the general argument about overseas cricketers playing in this country.

Has anyone also thought that it might also give some of our bowlers more of an opportunity to work out how to get him out!
Simon, Kent

An utter disgrace. All Kent are doing is giving Waugh some batting practice before the Ashes series. The whole overseas player scenario is getting ridiculous. My team Yorkshire will have used three different Aussie batsmen this season (Lehmann, Katich and Elliott).

Counties should nominate ONE overseas player at the start of the season and should not be allowed a replacement when he jets off the other side of the world to play in some one day tournament for their country.
Andy Shanks, UK

Not only will Steve Waugh have a chance to get a look at England's players and get useful match practice, he will also be blocking a homegrown player from obtaining useful experience of first class cricket. The ECB should have stopped Waugh coming over for such a short period as a mercenary.
CT, UK

What knowledge would Steve Waugh gain that he hasn't already? Play attacking shots, bowl tight and aggressively, set attacking fields, remind them that they haven't won the Ashes since 1987 and England always manage to play themselves into bad form.
Mark T, Australia

Steve Waugh should be allowed to play for Kent or any other county. The MCC can block any of the contracted players from playing against Kent so he won't get to see any of them.

David Lloyd is more worried about Kent winning things again this year with his Lancashire not even close to winning anything. Steve Waugh brings to Kent's party something they haven't had since Dravid or De Silva. I would like to see Kent keep this practice and secure his services for the whole of next season.
Rossi, Kent