Ok, so they might have been paid in pounds, who knows but you get the subtle nuances…!

Well, what a bloody shambles. When the Stanford farce broke, I almost felt a sad smugness that the ECB had come a cropper thanks to some tactless Texan tosspot (and that’s being kind). It was so obviously wrong to get into bed with this grinning buffoon and as we’ve all now learned, there was no substance behind the rented helicopter and groping hands.

Giles Clarke won’t go though he’s bloody lucky there’s no one else willing to give him a run for his money as the reputation of English cricket is a joke right now.

On the field, it seems that England will likely as not have to accept a series defeat against the West Indies as I can’t believe the home side won’t produce a track equally as moribund as the last two. A series win against England is not to be sniffed at however it’s ground out but I can’t believe these kind of stalemates are good for the game.

True, there’s something highly admirable at these marathon innings from Sarwan – especially as twenty minutes at the crease is pushing it for me – but entertainment?

Where England go from now is interesting. I would give Adil Rashid a go in the last Test, persevere with Shah, hell, give Amjad Khan a bash to freshen things up and see what happens but a series defeat is on the cards.

England simply have to accept they’re not as good as they think they are and with the talent and resources on offer, certainly not as good as they should be. They’ll need SA to wallop Australia and a stonking series against WI in May to produce any momentum at all.

And one last plea to the ECB, don’t let Freddie go to play a few meaningless IPL games for Chennai when he should be resting and play a game games for Lancashire in English conditions at home.

I’d have thought the problems with the lure of money and its pitfalls is something the ECB should have finally learnt and the hard way.