Sporting Life columnist Ryan Sidebottom talks the County Championship, Kolpak and the Cheltenham Festival
Former England and Yorkshire fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom is back to look ahead to the County cricket season and discuss the ongoing the Kolpak issue.
Fun at the Festival
It feels like so much has happened since I last put pen to paper but having had the pleasure of visiting Cheltenham for the Festival last week, I'll start there.
Attending the Cheltenham Festival is something I've always wanted to do, one for the bucket list if you like, and it was an absolute pleasure to be there and get so close to the action.
It was a real eye-opener for me. We went down to the fences for one of the races to see the horses jumping live and I just couldn't believe how fast they were travelling and how quickly they negotiated the obstacles.
That was a definitely a highlight, as was meeting the lovely Mary Berry, but I must also thank my pal Brian McFadden who came good with a couple of winners and ensured I just about broke even on the day.
My dad absolutely loves his racing and having now been down there for the Festival, I really do get what's it all about. It was very special.
Dancing journey comes to an end
Talking of Brian, our journey on Dancing On Ice has finally come to an end but I just want to reiterate what a special experience being part of the show was.
It really was an amazing thing to do and I have made some good friends over the past few months, Brian in particular, who is such a terrific bloke and someone who I intend to keep in touch with.
I don't miss waking up sore and bruised from another heavy fall on the ice but while it's nice to put my body back together again, it was great fun and I really will miss it.
Ashes places up grabs as county season nears
Another thing I've missed is county cricket. As ever, the winter seems to have gone on and on and I'm looking forward to the new season getting under way.
I would expect Surrey to be favourites to defend their County Championship crown and having been their four-day bowling coach last summer, I know more than most what a strong and talented group they are.
Their bowling attack, with the likes of Morne Morkel and Curran brothers, will worry any opposition batting line-up but winning back-to-back Championships is tough and international call-ups could hit them hard if Sam [Curran] and Ollie Pope start the season well and impress the England selectors.
Pope is just one of any number of English batsmen who know that weight of runs will give them a huge opportunity to leap into the Ashes selection picture.
In the case of Pope, he is a serious young player who I have had the pleasure of seeing close up but as we have seen for a while now, finding good middle-order batsmen isn't England's problem, it's the opening positions and the number three spot that need to be nailed down.
You look around county cricket and even when I was still playing, there didn't appear to be a heap of guys who had the application and technique to survive when conditions were tough and a gritty knock was required.
It's probably one of the reasons why I enjoyed as much success at the end of my county career as at the beginning - despite my advancing years - and as we keep saying, that's a real worry for England going forward.
Being 20-2 or 30-3 in the Ashes isn't where we want to be against such a strong Australian bowling attack and hopefully the start of the county season can see some top-order players really put their hands up and make some big runs.
There is no doubt in mind that the emergence of T20 cricket, and the white-ball game in general, is effecting batting standards in the current era.
The white ball just doesn't swing or seam very much and it means that guys can score runs without moving their feet on pitches that just don't help the bowlers.
That isn't the case in red-ball cricket and I think it's clear to see that this is one of the main factors for declining batting standards in four-day cricket, not just in England, but all over the world.
Kolpak conundrum
Batting might get tougher for a few more county batsmen now Yorkshire have announced that South African fast bowler Duanne Olivier has signed a three-year Kolpak deal with the club, thus ruling him out of international cricket in that period.
I know the 'Kolpak' issue is one that has really divided opinion but the first thing I'll say is that he's enjoyed a terrific time of it of late and I'm sure he'll do a good job for Yorkshire, which as I know, is a fantastic club to play for.
From a personal point of view, Olivier has to think about his future and the future of his family and I don't think anyone can have an issue with a professional player for making their own choices.
That said, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit concerned about the future of English cricket when you see the place of a homegrown English player effectively being taken by a Kolpak signing.
We pump hefty sums of money into our academies and produce some brilliant young cricketers of our own and I would hate to see that jeopardised by the influx of Kolpak signings.
Yorkshire have some serious young talent in their ranks and have a history of producing England fast bowlers. I wouldn't want to see anything stand of the way of those great traditions.
It isn't just the White Rose who are taking advantage of the system, though, with Hampshire another powerful and much-respected club who have invested heavily in Kolpak signings.
It's a delicate issue but it's one I feel we must keep an eye on with English cricket and English cricketers at the forefront of our minds.
I've no doubt Olivier will do a good job for Yorkshire and, along with the likes of Hampshire, they could easily challenge for domestic honours in the coming months.
As I said earlier, Surrey are still the team to beat in England but the County Championship is so wide-open nowadays and if a team gets on a roll with the matches coming thick and fast, they can soon chalk up a number wins quickly in an era where draws are becoming increasingly rare.
It will certainly make for an interesting watch.
Good times back at Old Trafford!
I'll touch on the upcoming County season again in future columns, as I will this summer's Cricket World Cup, but I want to give the last word this week to my football team, Manchester United.
It was all doom and gloom at Old Trafford only a few months ago but since Ole Gunnar Solskjær has taken charge, everything has changed and he has done such a fine job in turning around the fortunes of the side.
Saturday night's FA Cup defeat to a very good Wolves side was a slight setback but it doesn't detract from the great work Ole has done is turning things around at the club.
I have loved the time I have spent coaching and Ole is proof that coaching and management is about more than just tactics and technique; that building relationships with players and giving them the confidence to go out and express themselves is absolutely key.
Jason Gillespie was the same at Yorkshire when we had so much success and you only have to look at what Ole is doing at Manchester United, with the same players who were struggling so badly earlier in the season, to see how building a good, happy environment for the players to blossom in can breed success out on the field.
It's great to Ole's approach working so well at Old Trafford - long may it continue!