In nearly every case they are nurturing exactly that type of game which has brought

In nearly every case they are nurturing exactly that type of game which has brought England their truly remarkable record of ineptitude over the last few years.Think not? Let us look at what might happen to an aspiring 14-year-old pace bowler. Like George Davis, the counties are innocent - at least of some of the charges.And the real guilty parties? Most of those clubs and captains who think they are nurturing the future of a great game. But be like Boycott and have patience - the half-volleys are just around the corner.The traditional response to this endless diet of monotony - England's bowling rather than this column, of course - is to blame the first-class counties For everything. Doubly so if he rejoiced in English humiliation on a regular basis, but - through gritted teeth - you have to admit that Rodney "pie-thrower" Marsh was right.As this has been going on for rather a long time, none of the above is especially new.

Quite apart from the fact that they are rather boring, rather bitter ageing men, Bob Willis and Fred Trueman share another - increasingly rare - quality They were once both English fast bowlers. And now Devon Malcolm is showing every sign that he is about to join them among the ranks of former international players. That is for the future. What is for the present is that England are about to embark on yet another Test match with what is almost certainly the most pedestrian attack they have ever had - only the bristling presence of Dominic Cork rescues it from total mediocrity. No pace, not much swing, not much spin, in fact not much of anything to quicken the pulse of the crowd or tighten the stomach muscles of the opposition batsmen.Nothing, but nothing, in cricket is so upsetting as an Australian being right. Matthew Burke made NINE successful conversions on his way to a record 39 points for the Australia rugby union team in their 74-9 defeat of Canada in Brisbane on Saturday. Sportsboats: 1 A O'Leary (Ford Racing); 2 T Richardson (Premier Cru); 3 M de St Parr (Highlander).. Class 4: A Webster (Quencher); 2 B van Bilderbeek (Solent Plexus); 3 F Walker (Pavlova III).

Class 5: J Macgregor (Flair II); 2 A Pearce (Magnum); 3 N and G Colboume (Arion). Class 1: 1 Elliot and Flynn; 2, S Fein (Full Pelt); 3 S Bailey (Arbitrator). Class 2: 1 C Brown (Billy J Whizz); 2 R Clabbum (Rulor II); 3 H Evans (Alvine IX). Class 3: 1 S Hawthorn (Jump the Gun); 2 C Hall (Boysterous); 3 J Capard (CNC Lebrun). On a blustery day that had nerves tingling for the nearly 10,000 crewing on the 1,368 entries, especially on the choppy run from the Needles at the western end of the Isle of Wight to St Catherine's Point on the south side, Slade's 84-foot maxi Hoya Longobarda delivered to its sponsor for the day a perfect present. With Chris Law at the helm they hammered out of the Solent on a strengthening westerly breeze without ever having to tack and then, with the gusts climbing above 25 knots, handled the spinnaker run with verve and determination.Behind them the Firebird 26 catamaran Orion was capsizing, two crewmen were being recovered from the water, and, with even the experienced occasionally rolling out of control, there were various dismastings and sail damage, along with hearts to be relocated from mouths back to chests.Producing one of its best performances was Tony Todd's Ed Dubois-designed 50-footer Eagle, chartered by Doug Flynn, with the likes of Stuart Childerley, John Boyce and Kelvin Rawlings to guide it to the top prize of overall winner and the Gold Roman Bowl.HOYA ROUND THE ISLAND RACE (Island Sailing Club, Cowes): Gold Roman Bowl: R Elliot and D Flynn (Eagle). All I want to see this kid do is win a Lonsdale Belt outright, make a million quid then get out.".