If England keep on like this, they’re going to get torn to shreds in South Africa. I’m not thinking purely of Carry On Misfielding, the film they appeared to be auditioning for at Trent Bridge last night. I’m even going to cock a temporary deaf’un to their bowling (the three senior seamers – Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ryan Sidebottom – have all gone for more than five an over). No, what’s really making Groundhog Day appear like a breath of fresh air is England’s batting.

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Flintoff has turned his back on England. Finally. As if his departure from the Test scene didn’t stink of indulgence and a sickening stage-management – announcing his retirement on the eve of the Lord’s Test; moaning about not being picked when he was clearly injured – he has now shown his true priorities.

By turning down a one-day increment contract with the ECB, he has admitted that he wants to be free from obligations to his country so he can pursue an international freelance cricket career.

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So, on Monday I was at Lord’s for the npower Village Cup final. It is an occasion that never fails to lift the spirit,  a day when amateurs - in the truest sense of the word - get their 15 minutes of almost fame.

It is a day of pride and passion - for club, village and the many hundreds of supporters that have taken a day off work and, in the case of the runners-up Streethouse from Yorkshire, made a long trek to be there.

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