"I do think that it is very important to recognise that there's been a lot of really good work done by the ECB and their support team, as well as ours at Warwickshire.
Astonishingly, ECB chairman Jean-Claude Trichet said in a press conference on Thursday that the central bank had to stick to its "doctrine" – a word closer to strict Catholic rule than to the ever changing financial markets.
"The Greek government gambled that if it negotiated with us, the ECB would open its cashier windows, relax the rules," the Dutchman said in a television interview.
The last time this debate reared its head, when the much-lauded incoming ECB chairman, Colin Graves, suggested there may be a route back for Kevin, I see I remarked that none of us should rule out the argument being the last thing we heard before we died, even if that expected departure date was decades away.
Related: Alastair Cook hits out at ECB for sacking him as England's one-day captain Now, with the intention to shore up English cricket following a chastening World Cup campaign – and gain revenge for a 1-0 defeat suffered on their last trip to the Caribbean in 2009 – the selectors have once more turned to the experienced right-hander, with the first Test starting in Antigua on 13 April.
"With his vast experience inside the ECB [England and Wales Cricket Board], he is uniquely placed to offer advice when called upon in our quest to produce a future England player".
A deal with its creditors – the European commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – on moves to liberalise the economy would give it access to the remaining €7.2bn from a €240bn bailout.
As the England side ossified in the way that all great teams do unless they pull off the rare trick of renewal from within – see the All Blacks or Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United sides for rare examples – so the ECB seemed to become warped out of shape.
On the other hand, if the core of a youthful, swashbuckling new side emerge over the course of the summer and the new management team set a course for a more enlightened era in which the ECB is able to look over the next hill rather than down at its feet as it stumbles from crisis to crisis, then they might yet be able to arrest the malaise.
With rival councils in the county – South Derbyshire and Chesterfield – interested in relocating the club, a £1.7m ground development grant from the ECB remains in the bank.
He added a note of caution, however, for anyone expecting ECB support for Greece and its banks to be unlimited.
