Don't cut me off at this point. I have a solution to England's batting problems.

Wisden have just named Claire Taylor as one of the five cricketers of the year and there are plenty of good judges around who think she may be the finest woman batter of all time.

The next step requires such a lot of lateral thinking that I know it will be automatically rejected by even the most liberal of cricket logicians.

"Of course she cannot play in the men's Test team: she will be out for nought every time/killed by the first bouncer/bring the game into disrepute/make me a laughing stock at the golf club."

There will be a licking of his pencil stub by Disgusted of Doncaster, a rubbing of hands by some Health and Safety jobsworth intent on keeping the world secure and a whole raft of MPs will break off from fiddling their expenses for a full minute to draft a bill that requires every England batsman to be male, more than fifty per cent masculine and, er, a man.

All right, I give in. I do not really expect that prolifiic run-scorer and elegant stroke player Ms Taylor to be called up for the first Test against West Indies at Lord's on May 6. But one day an England woman will play in a full Test.

Remember it is only 50 years since women were allowed to race more than 800 metres and now their times for the marathon compare favourably with those set by their supposedly stronger, faster and more durable brothers.

Stick around 50 years and you will see I am right. Of course by that time the first Test will be against China, consist of 10 overs a side, fielders will wear baseball mitts, batters will be forced to wear full body armour and the ball will be made of cotton wool.