IT was really disappointing to see Lancashire tumble out of the Friends' Provident Trophy this week - and even more so when you consider the manner of the exit.

To lose to both Derbyshire and Scotland in the competition is bad enough, but then to be shot out for 89 against the old enemy Yorkshire was a disaster.

I know there have been some harsh words in the dressing room after what has been, at best, a static start to the season. And I know there will be a few who have not liked what they have heard.

But everyone must now have a long hard look at themselves.

There is no merit whatsoever in hiding behind injuries, because Yorkshire had just as many as Lancs and there is a massive squad at Old Trafford.

It's harsh, but the players have to take responsibility and there are one or two wearing the Red Rose who are now playing for their survival at the club.

And I say that as someone who has been in a similar position. I was captain for five years and in the last of those we finished next to bottom in the County Championship. From that place, there is only one way to go - and that's out of the door.

While the county side is struggling, its Old Trafford home can hold its head high after producing another great Test match.

It was brilliant to see two finger spinners in action on a pitch that had something for everyone, both bowlers and batsmen.

Groundsman Peter Marron should be knighted for producing the best Test wicket in the country year after year. It's a crying shame that OT will not be on the rota again now for at least three years.

I know I have touched on this subject more than once but it is one that really irks me. I am sick and tired of people running Old Trafford down.

It has the best pitch, the best nets and the biggest dressing rooms in the country. You can park 1,000 cars round and about, there is a Metrolink to the ground, the motorway network is at the end of the road and an international airport ten minutes away.

It sits in the heart of the most densely populated sporting area in the country and it should have a Test match every year!

What worries me is that Test matches are now being handed out on the basis of how much they earn for the Board and that cannot be right.

I have nothing against the Rose Bowl in Hampshire but access is so bad that on some occasions you don't get out of the ground on the same day that you went in.

There is a north-south divide being created and it's not healthy. Sir Ian Botham was correct when he argued this week that there is no reason to have three Tests in London - but it's all about money. They were charging £65 for a ticket at Lord's and it was half that in Manchester.

I asked someone to get me a pie at Lord's and gave them a couple of quid (I expected change) and he came back and said they were a fiver! A pint cost £6 and cricket has to be careful it doesn't start catering for the 'Prawn Sandwich Brigade' and doesn't price out the working man and woman.

Finally, there is a lot of talk about the restructuring of cricket at the moment and for me it is simple.

We should keep four-day cricket to mirror Test matches, keep the 50 over competition to mirror one day internationals and create an English Premier League for 20-20 cricket that is done and dusted in three weeks in June or July.

A return to three-day county cricket should be a non-starter and talk that the TV deal that is now in an advanced state of negotiation will adversely affect the domestic calendar is also nonsense because that agreement is really about international cricket with the domestic game coming in on the back of that. Tweet