I''m writing this just as James Kirtley gets changed into his Sussex gear having returned from Lord's where he was deemed surplus to requirements for the first Test.

It must have been a massive frustration for James that he wasn't able to make his Test debut.

As a player you can't ask for much more than making your first appearance against one of the weaker nations at the home of cricket.

But I'm sure James will get that opportunity soon. The first thing to realise is that he has done brilliantly well just to get into a position where he was so close to selection.

All I hope now is that James continues to do what he has been doing so well in county cricket for so long now rather than trying too hard just to prove a point.

As his captain, I've got no worries on that score. He is one of the most focused, level-headed individuals I know in the game and I'm sure he will keep producing the performances that got him in the England squad in the first place. I'm sure his chance will come.

Fair play to Matthew Hoggard as well. He obviously worked hard this week to get himself fit to play. I know he hasn't had the best of starts to the county season with Yorkshire, but a fit and firing Hoggard should be in the England side.

While James was disappointed, Yorkshire's Anthony McGrath would have been delighted to make his first England appearance.

Personally, if you'd asked me a week ago to name 50 players who might get in the Test squad he wouldn't have made it.

But I know that Duncan Fletcher was impressed with his performances in Yorkshire's C&G Trophy semi-final and final last season and earmarked him then as a possible England player.

In which case, why wasn't he sent to the Academy in the winter?

There he would have got himself fitter than he's ever been, enjoyed the best facilities for working at all aspects of his game and been influenced by Rod Marsh, who is now one of our selectors.

There are always certain players who develop later than others and that's where I think the Academy fails a bit in that the emphasis seems to be on youngsters.

Time will tell, but McGrath could turn out to be another Marcus Trescothick, a player with a modest record in county cricket who adapted to the international stage as if to the manor born. We'll see.