Bill Bridge: Youngsters only window dressing as Capello fails to change his tack

The rain held off long enough for a full tour of the pens, rings and marquees of Bingley Show to be undertaken – admittedly at the gallop before a return to the realities of the football-mad was required.

While doing the rounds of sheep, cattle and jam-and-curd stalls there was time to ponder the remarkable antipathy being directed towards England's friendly against Hungary on Wednesday.

No-one dislikes the abbreviation of summer by the obscenely-early kick-off of a new season, especially in a summer already plagued by a World Cup, more than those at this address but it seems that some in the game are, not for the first time, taking their personal agendas a little too far.

Harry Redknapp has been typical of those who earn their living in the Alice-in Wonderland world of the Premier League in decrying the England game: "ridiculous, stupid, unnecessary, incredible," were just a few of the adjectives chosen by bleating Harry.

He insists the fixture is an encroachment on their sole duty, which is to have their clubs succeed in the Premier League. That obsession is why the English game at international level is in such a mess.

The critics cannot understand – or so they claim – why England have to play a friendly at this time of the season. The answer, of course, is that Fabio Capello and his players face the start of their European Championship qualifying programme against Bulgaria on September 3 and need a match to revive the spirit so obvious in their World Cup qualifying campaign but so grotesquely absent in South Africa.

Thankfully, Capello has kept his head and not entered into verbal duels with the myopic fringe. Instead, he did something which his Premier League counterparts so often fail to do after a miserable performance: he apologised.

He also gave an indication that he is prepared to look at new faces by including young talent into his squad – in some cases without them yet establishing themselves in their club starting line-ups.

But – and this is much more worrying for England than anything Redknapp and Co might suggest – Capello shows little sign of changing tack. He claims not to be rigid in his tactical approach, denying that 4-4-2 is as far as his vision goes. The signs indicate otherwise. Emile Heskey is gone from Wayne Rooney's side but in his place Capello has turned to Darren Bent, Bobby Zamora and Carlton Cole; they are good players at their level but hardly classic icing on England's home-made cake.

Similarly, Capello has dispensed with David James, Matthew Upson and Ledley King with openings created for Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill but the bulk of the old guard who failed so miserably in July remain.

We had doubts then and they linger still; the youngsters might get cameo second-half appearances as window-dressing but Capello will stay faithful to himself.

WE are constantly being reassured by the England and Wales Cricket Board that their commitment to Test cricket remains as strong as ever, despite their ceaseless search for ways of cashing in on the Twenty20 game.

That commitment has not been well served by their fixture planning this summer and there is growing concern among those who pay to watch the game – as opposed to those who sit in their private boxes and count the cash – as to the way the programme is drawn up with tradition taking precedence over modern realities.

Forgetting for a moment the constant flitting from one form of the game to another our counties have had to endure this season and the fact that England players have so rarely figured on the county scene, it must be time to focus on two issues.

The first is why, with grounds like Headingley now available after their new pavilion project has been completed, do the ECB find it necessary to take a Test to Edgbaston, which at the moment resembles a building site in one of the less chic resorts of the Costa del Sol? Even they must have been aware of the work schedule.

It cannot be good for players, spectators, the TV audience or the oft-forgotten advertisers and sponsors to have a match played in such grim surrounds. Far better to have Tests played on grounds that form an amphitheatre, not an eye-sore.

Then there is Lord's. With so many grounds, not least the newcomers to the rota, vying for Test matches, why should Lord's continue to host two in seasons when we have two series in a summer? The ECB will point to tradition – that our visitors love playing at the old ground and (perhaps even more) enjoy their week or so in London.

But with our older Test grounds all making improvements and many of the counties who own them – including Yorkshire – not enjoying the best of times financially, it would benefit the English game more if Lord's was restricted to one Test with the "spare" going to more deserving hosts.

Surely the ECB can see that if we lost our major counties due to financial implosion we would not have a Test team; Lord's would be surplus to requirements.

and another thing...

OUR Sunday lunchtimes are now much quieter, no more screaming engines on the track and whining drivers in the pit lane; it is that blessed period of the summer when Formula One takes to the beach for a mid-summer break.

How do things stand at the midpoint? Well, we know the Red Bulls are the best cars; that Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are making good use of that technical superiority; and that Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari and Renault are struggling to keep in touch as the circus heads for super-fast Spa.

Oh, and we know that Michael Schumacher has not changed. His crude manoeuvre when Rubens Barrichello attempted to overtake him in Hungary was a throwback.

He might have been out of F1 for a while but remains the nasty piece of work he was when he dominated the grid. Nothing, it seems, is allowed to ruffle King Michael, especially when he is driving a car so far off the pace his pride must be suffering. Now, while it's quiet, would be a good time for him to go before someone is hurt – or worse.