It's nearly the time of the year when we are given forms to fill out which later get published in a book called the Cricketers' Who's Who.

In the book there is a photo of every player who has played first class cricket in the previous year, as well as all those players who are registered to play for a county.

There is also a biography that goes with the mug shots which gives detailed statistics of the player's career, place of birth, education, family and so on. It is a fairly comprehensive read and very popular with autograph hunters. Eighty per cent of the autographs I sign are in various editions of the Who's Who.

But the most intriguing feature of the book is the space at the end of each biography devoted to the player's opinions on cricket.

They vary in length from the simple: "It's a great game" (very popular), or "never trust a man who eats green sweets" (courtesy of Sussex's Mark Robinson), to lengthy tomes on what is wrong with the game today. The form that we have to fill out has got me thinking about the comments I made last year and whether they still apply.

I stated that regional cricket should be played, the 'A' tour should be reinstated and that while the pitches had improved around the country, the practice facilities at county grounds were still very poor.

I don't think I will need to change my comments on this year's form because I still very much believe in those opinions.

The change to two-divisional cricket has been very successful on the surface and teams are playing competitive cricket right through to the end of the season. But techniques are not necessarily improving as much as they might because there are still some average players around.

The best batsmen are not necessarily facing the best bowlers because, at the moment, the good players are spread across teams from both divisions. Whilst this may even out over time as the best clubs become richer and so entice the best players with large salaries, it will take a number of years.

I believe a far quicker way to improve standards and techniques amongst English players is to introduce some sort of regional competition or tournament. Teams from six different geographical regions (made up of three counties each) could compete against each other in some sort of early-season championship.

This would give the England selectors a better chance to watch and observe how well certain players do under pressure - as near as possible to the kind of pressure experienced at Test matches.

I still believe the A tour should be reinstated as it gave a chance to people who you might call late developers. The academy is in danger of choosing just young players at the expense of those who might reach their prime in their late twenties.

The pitches have remained good, on the whole, this year. The weather has some effect on them and, mostly, they are slow in England, which doesn't encourage quick bowling.

However, they are, for the most part, flat and batsmen can go forward with the confidence that they are not going to get hit on the gloves and break a finger.

The practice facilities are still woeful at too many counties on the other hand. Far to little time and energy is devoted to the preparation of the practice facilities in this country. Only by preparing on decent surfaces do batsmen gain the confidence to perform in the middle and bowlers learn the skills required to take wickets on match-type wickets.

There. I've had my rant, I feel a whole lot better now!