Anyway amongst the many surveys and lists we've had on CW in recent times, here's another quick one. I reckon there are 96 overseas-players who've played First-Class cricket for a county this season, be they England-qualified (by residence, marriage, parentage or birth) or not (this excludes Hick, Caddick, Pietersen and Trott, who would qualify if they hadn't played for England, though Pattinson is included as he should never have gotten near England selection).
They fit the following categories:
Overseas-player - player who has no connection to Britain or The UK, and is playing purely because the ECB has decided to allow them to. If this invitation was withdrawn, these players would not be able to play for a county.
EU-passport player - player who the ECB cannot bar from being signed as a pro due to the current EU law (which does not recognise professional sport as any different to any other profession), but who are in no way British.
Kolpak or Kolpak-eligable player - these may soon be a thing of the past, but right now and for the past 4 years anyone with a South African, Zimbabwean or West Indian passport has been able to be employed as if they were British.
British passport of convenience players - players who are in essence foreign, and have learned their cricket overseas, but have acquired British passports and can now be employed as British citizens.
Overseas: Chris Rogers, Danish Kaneria, Jason Gillespie, Marcus North, Shane Bond, Yasir Arafat, Brad Hodge, Mohammad Yousuf, Lou Vincent, Murali Kartik, Adam Voges, Justin Langer, Matthew Nicholson, Abdur Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Mushtaq Ahmed, Mohammad Sami, Chris Martin, Steve Magoffin, Dilhara Fernando, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan.
EU-passport: Michael di Venuto, Paul Wiseman, Ryan ten Doeschate, Nic Pothas, Dirk Nannes.
Kolpak or Kolpak-eligable: Wavell Hinds, Charl Langeveldt, Greg Smith, Dominic Telo, Neil McKenzie, Albie Morkel, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dale Benkenstein, Garry Park, Andre Nel, Grant Flower, Grant Hodnett, Mornantau Hayward, Rory Kleinveldt, Imran Tahir, Sean Ervine, Martin van Jaarsveld, Justin Kemp, Ryan McLaren, Francois du Plessis, Boeta Dippenaar, Hylton Ackerman, Claude Henderson, Jermaine Lawson, Dillon du Preez, Garnett Kruger, Jacques du Toit, Vernon Philander, Johann Louw, Andrew Hall, Lance Klusener, Nico Boje, Johannes van der Wath, Riki Wessels, Ashwell Prince, Andre Adams, Zander de Bruyn, Craig Kieswetter, Alfonso Thomas, Charl Willoughby, Pedro Collins, Murray Goodwin, Corey Collymore, Monde Zondeki, Morne Morkel, Jacques Rudolph, Gideon Kruis.
British-passport of convenience: Mitchell Claydon, Callum Thorp, Gareth Berg, Andrew Crook, Steven Crook, Murtaza Hussain, Stewart Walters, Chris Jordan, Ryan Harris, Raghab Aga, Ant Botha, Neil Carter, Tim Groenewald, Hamish Marshall, Azhar Mahmood, James Allenby, Darren Pattinson, Saqlain Mushtaq, Dawid Malan, Neil Dexter, Stephen Moore, Matthew Mason. Craig Spearman, Stuart Law.
The big trouble here is the number of third-rate players in the one category which the ECB has no power to remove. Of those who have British passports, only Hamish Marshall, Azhar Mahmood, Allenby, Pattinson, Saqlain Mushtaq, Malan, Dexter, Moore and Mason really do much if anything for the standard. The other 15 we could quite happily do without, including Spearman and Law who surely can't have long left.
doesn't quite show it right like.