ANDREW Flintoff is being labelled the world’s first freelance cricketer after his decision to open himself up to offers from all around the world for his services.

Should he recover from injury, he hopes to play in different limited-overs competitions for different clubs, states and districts.

But a quick glance around the county cricket scene shows the sheer number of players who turn out for the counties for stints as short as a few weeks.

They, too, are virtual freelancers.

So far this season, Lancashire have fielded Ashwell Prince, Simon Katich, Nathan McCullum and, very soon, Shivnarine Chanderpaul will take over the mantle.

To be fair to the Red Rose side, none of the aforementioned players are mercenaries and all have played their part on the pitch.

But, while Lancashire are able to attract top-notch overseas stars, some of the other counties have brought in distinctly average players.

Just over the Pennines, Tino Best is turning out for Yorkshire while Albie Morkel has proved an expensive disappointment at Durham.

There was a time when every county had a world-class performer who was synonymous with the club.

Lancashire had Wasim Akram, Viv Richards turned out at Somerset and Courtney Walsh at Gloucestershire. The list was endless.

The increase in volume of cricket around the world makes it difficult to bring the crème de la crème over summer after summer. But in their desperation to find quickfire success, counties are splashing the cash on players who have no attachment to the club and are in and out before their huge cheque has cleared.

They and the dozens of average Kolpak players who flood into our domestic game – many of them chasing a quick buck after being put on the scrapheap by their national team – are hindering the development of England’s next generation.

We are well stocked at the moment, but the production line quickly dries up. Employment laws make it difficult to ban Kolpak players, but stricter measures should be brought in to prevent counties spending good money on players who are not of genuine international standard.

Maybe the ECB should start offering incentives for producing homegrown talent.

Rubbing shoulders with the Wasims, Waqars and Warnes is invaluable for aspiring county players. But what is to be gained from their route to the top being blocked by the lesser lights – players who can’t get into the West Indies, South Africa and New Zealand teams?