CHRIS Schofield's selection in the first list of players to be given central England contracts left Lancashire chairman Jack Simmons with mixed feelings.

"I'm very pleased for the lad and I'm sure he has the temperament and confidence to give it his best shot," said Simmons.

"But it isn't going to make things any easier for us at Lancashire in what is a very important season with the two divisions coming in.

"We've already lost Muralitharan and we were hoping that Chris would be able to fill the gap.

"Maybe I'm being a little bit biased to Lancashire there but I am a Lancastrian first and an Englishmen second.

"I'm also a little bit concerned that England don't push him too far too early. Chris has made nice steady progress every year, with us and with England where he's come through the under-19 team and this winter on the A tour.

"But this summer England play West Indies, and Brian Lara has hammered Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill in the past. I wouldn't like to see that happen to a youngster like Chris."

Lancashire will receive around £150,000 in compensation from the England and Wales Cricket Board - £50,000 each for losing first call on the services of Schofield, Mike Atherton and Andy Flintoff.

But as Simmons reflected, that figure will hardly cover the players' contracts with Lancashire - which the club will go on paying - never mind the cost of their replacements and, in the worst case scenario, the damage it would do to the county if their absence led to the team struggling and even being relegated.

"Think what that would do to our sponsorship, our corporate takings and our catering profits," the chairman added. However, there is still huge confusion about how much the 12 contracted players will be available to their counties.

Schofield, Atherton and Flintoff will still go on Lancashire's pre-season tour of South Africa in 10 days, and will definitely be available for the five Benson and Hedges Cup games against Kent and Leicestershire.

They may hardly be available after England open their busy international summer with a Test against Zimbabwe on May 18, except for any other one-day knockout games, but that won't be much different from previous seasons in Atherton's case.

And Simmons is hoping that for Schofield at least, England's coach Duncan Fletcher will want him to play as much cricket as possible to continue his learning curve.

"The only way a spinner learns is by bowling, and Chris has still got a lot to learn, as he's the first to admit," added the Lancashire chairman.

He ended with a final plea to Lord's not to forget about county cricket completely in their efforts to revive the England team.

"We keep hearing that the central contracts are working very well in Australia and South Africa, but only up to a point. No-one argues that it's better for the international team, but I know for a fact that people in both those countries are very worried about how to maintain interest in the domestic game."

"I think we have to have a happy medium between the two, mainly by allowing them to play in as many one-day games as possible, especially the floodlit games. Because we want the new era of young people who want to come and watch cricket to be able to see our best players like Atherton, Flintoff and Schofield."

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