I have a dream..

That England could field a 100% British side. Want to know the last time that happened? Look in the archives, 'cause I probably wasn't born. Arsene Wenger will understand English fan's frustration that England can't field a team of 11 born and bred Englishmen. The Arsenal manager is the main culprit within the Premier League for causing this infamous row, and now it seems to be rubbing off on the nation's cricket side.

Andrew Strauss, Test match captain and opening batsman, was born in New Zealand. Kevin Pietersen was, of course, born and brought up in South Africa. Dimitri Mascarenhas was born in Kent, but is of Australian and Sri Lankan origin, while Eoin Morgan is 99% Irish, not to mention the two Indian boys, Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah. And yet, we still can't win a damn thing!

Whether English or Egyptian, it seems England just can't find the winning formula. Even the next generation of cricketers, or those touted to play for England in the near future can't claim to be even half English. Dawid Malan, the explosive Middlesex batsman, was born in South Africa, as was Somerset's Wicket-Keeper batsman Craig Kieswetter. We may not be complaining as such, but it would be refreshing to see our next generation of Test match and ODI cricketers at least born in England. Bopara and Shah can be excused, as they have lived in England nearly all their lives. And as for Kevin Pietersen, well, we prefer to boast about the fact he's not actually from our country. We excuse Mascarenhas because lets face it, he's such a nice fellow, and Eoin Morgan hasn't had the chance to impress as of yet.

Surely there are players out there, good enough to represent our great country, without having to ship them in from abroad or pinch them from associate nations. How about James Hildreth for example? Scores bags of runs - most notably his recent 303* in the county championship. No one has even mentioned Lancashire's Paul Horton, who was consistent last season in scoring big runs, and seems to have grown as an opening batsman. Kent's Joe Denly is another that could be thrown into the mix, yet the selectors are continually content with drafting in 'foreigners' to do the job. And the ones that are fully British - the likes of Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, and Tim Ambrose - don't seem to be good enough for the international scene. Perhaps that's the reason for the influx of non-Englishmen. Whatever the reason, the selectors need to take a good look at the county circuit and see the kind of homegrown talent that is on show.

It could be seen as a lack of confidence in the county system, and if that's the case, a review may be an option. Perhaps the players around the county circuit are simply not good enough, but how do we know if we don't give them a chance in the national team? I'm all for the 'play to win' ethos, and if that means having a team full of Springboks then so be it. But at least give our lads a go!