SURELY the ECB and Geoff Miller cannot really believe that the rejection of 50-overs cricket by the counties in favour of 40 overs will make a scrap of difference to England's limited-overs aspirations.

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Miller, the national selector, was dead against the trimming and said it would be a "hindrance" for England's players if there was no domestic 50-overs competiton, still the favoured length in international competition -- though favoured not for long, one suspects. There is not a scrap of evidence to support his view.

The maximum length of an innings has made no difference in the past. Counties have been playing limited-overs cricket since 1963, giving all professionals more ingrained experience for a longer period than in any other country. Yet international success has been virtually non-existent, and England lie near the bottom of the international one-day ratings. The fact that a game might be 65 overs -- when the concept was first started -- 60, 55, 50, 40 or 20 probably makes no difference, because players should adapt quite easily.

South Africa do not play 50 overs domestically and yet perform very well internationally, especially against England. There really is very little difference between 40 and 50 overs. As John Emburey once said, all it means is that the openers block for 10 overs longer or he could have said that the often tedious middle innings consolidation did not last so long in 40 overs.

Miller said: "My job as national selector is to win cricket matches and if we do that, it makes money along the line, as will happen with the Ashes. We have always said we want county cricket to mirror international cricket. It's as simple as that.

"No matter what we are playing it is important they get all the experience before they enter the international stage - about how to play in certain situations. If you're not playing the 50-over format of the game it is going to be a little bit of a hindrance coming in."

The counties rightly see 40 overs as more attractive to the paying public. Fewer spectators want to spend an entire day at a cricket ground and prefer to eat lunch at home. That is fair enough.

Possibly 50 overs suited a knockout match as an 'event' for the public, worth taking a day off work to experience, but league games do not have that allure.