Is it cos I is from Worcestershire?

When Peter Moores took over as

England coach after the World

Cup he pledged every player

would start with a clean slate

and the consensus is that he has

been true to his word. Just ask

Ryan Sidebottom.

However, Kabir Ali is clearly not

convinced. The Worcestershire

seamer yesterday responded to

his omission from the provisional

30-man squad for the Twenty20

World Championship by accusing

the selectors of making him a

scapegoat for past failures.

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In a scathing attack, the

26-year-old, with just one Test

cap and 14 one-day international

appearances to his name,

argued that he has not been

given the recognition he

deserves.

"If the squad was picked on merit

I should have been in a long time

ago," said an indignant Kabir. "I

tick all the boxes. I can bowl, bat

and field and I've shown England

that. OK, I had a couple of bad

games against Sri Lanka in the

one-day series last summer

but I was hardly the only one.

Other people had worse

figures than me but it seems

I'm the guy who gets the

blame if England lose.

"I took five wickets as a

22-year-old in my first Test and

they've never picked me again. I

came back from South Africa (in

2005) as leading wicket-taker in

the one-dayers and they

dropped me for the next game!

If they told me what I needed to

do for things to change then I

might understand but I've heard

nothing. All I can do is keep

performing and hope I can

embarrass the selectors."

Kabir has seemingly done more

than enough to justify a place in

the Twenty20 squad. He took

nine wickets in the group stage

of the domestic contest at a

phenomenal average of 14.4,

with a healthy economy rate of

7.35 runs per over.

There have also been as many

highs as lows — if not more —

while on England ODI duty. His 20

wickets have cost a respectable

34 runs apiece, with a best of

four for 45 against India in Delhi

last year.

But his last four

matches brought just one wicket

and he was dropped after being smashed around by the Sri

Lankan batsmen a year ago.

Yet, as Kabir pointed out, other

bowlers suffered then only to

re-appear while he has

remained off the radar. He has

his conspiracy theories, adding:

"Perhaps it is the club I play for

or perhaps I don't fit in for some

reason."

Kabir's belief that your chances

may depend on your county

could have substance. Moores'

arrival has been followed by

promotions or recalls for

several players he used to coach

at Sussex.

The advent of two divisions in the

county championship and oneday

league has seen a slight

selection shift towards the top

tier.

But England won the Ashes

in 2005 with a first-choice XI

drawn from nine counties across

the divisions.

To be fair, Kabir and

Worcestershire colleague

Vikram Solanki have been given

a number of 'lives' at

international level, while New

Road wicketkeeper-batsman

Steven Davies has toured with

England 'A'.