The NCU ‘Junior' Inter-Pro team has just been announced and it has caused a bit of a stir. There is always contention when any team is selected simply because it often boils down to a matter of opinion. However when you consider that this team is playing in a fixture which is as much a celebration of camaraderie in sport and has absolutely no significance to anyone, it is strange that people are getting worked up.

The team is picked from available players outside the top divisions of NCU, and North West cricket and is a way to demonstrate that there are good cricketers plying their trade down the leagues. The idea is to give them a little bit of recognition, a bit like ‘Britain's got Talent' for lower division cricketers. Someone suggested it was a way to recognise the real strength of the two Unions by measuring the standard at grassroots level. I must confess I hadn't thought of it like that before. The next time I see the Test match rankings on Ceefax I will check for the sub-note explaining that in the absence of a global club competition it is impossible to say who the best Test nation is. Next years Ashes will be decided by a series of fixtures between Barnsley CC and Parramatta CC!

What is strange however for a match that has significance only to those playing is that the fixture is taking place in early June. If the game is to give recognition to the best players in 2008 outside the top flights then surely the game should have taken place in August with players selected on the basis of 2008 performances. Fortunately the weather has been kind this year so some modicum of form can be assessed but it still has the look of a side that has been picked on reputation rather than form. If we had had a summer similar to 2007 we would have no cricket at all to judge players and teams. Maybe the organisers should consider putting the fixture back for next season so everyone has a fair chance of selection.

It got me thinking however of selection policy generally. How do you pick a team? I think that this is something that is easiest at International level. You decide the type of game you want to play and then go and select the team accordingly. If you haven't got the personnel to play that game you blame the system for not producing the cricketers.

I think for clubs it is slightly different. If you haven't got a left arm spin bowler for example you can't pick one. You make do with what you've got. Most clubs will rattle off seven players quite easily and then another two on availability and you are often left with 2 players to make a decision on. It is easily the last two selections that cause most of the grief. Over the winter I selected some County teams to help pass the long winter nights and there is always someone who tells you ‘you haven't a clue about cricket and don't know what you are doing'. When they are challenged to come up with their own team they end up with at least 9 of your selections! The team only is significantly different if you aim to play a different type of cricket e.g. pinch hitters or lots of all- rounders rather than specialists, etc.

There are lots of things to take into consideration; subs, practice, commitment, a team player, loyalty, form, potential, temperament and so on. By and large however it boils down to ability. If you have a batsman who is horribly out of form but has produced match winning performances in the past, should you select him over someone who has been doing consistently well in the seconds but has never made a significant contribution on the firsts? If you have a bowler who is struggling for rhythm but can remove the best batsmen when in the groove, should you select him ahead of steady Eddie on the twos but rarely has made an impact at senior level?

Picking the best available team is always what is required but the argument is over who is the best available. Players on the seconds must feel that their performances are recognised otherwise they become disillusioned and drift away, but equally no captain wants to take the field with what he considers an inferior side. Good captaincy and man management skills are invaluable to give opportunities to the right players to come in at the right time and to give out of form players a chance to find confidence without affecting their commitment. Communication skills are vital. This job is a hundred times harder if you are the captain and out of form. Sales Managers don't sell and Foremen don't hump bricks but captains' bat, field and often bowl and are forever being reminded of their own fallibility.

In almost every case of selection it is vital for players to remember it is not personal, for if it is there is no way back. (I wonder does Jason Molins fall into this category.)

If it is opinion, the great thing is that opinion can be wrong, and proved wrong. The irony is the selectors and captain are usually delighted when they are proved wrong and you can't say that in any other walk of life.