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It is darkest, they say, before the dawn, and as the picture could not be darker, maybe first light is not too far beyond the horizon. In the old days, MCC teams were greeted with the evermemorable sight of Table Mountain rising out of a misty dawn as the ship approached harbour: perhaps British Airways can provide a similar analogy for Nasser Hussain's team.

Such airy euphemism aside, the reality is that the party for South Africa will be announced next Tuesday. In fact, there will be two parties, one for the Test series, the other allowing for some flexibility on the grounds of current form for the onedayers.

The field is large and, as ever, there will be surprises. What I plead for is that the critics hold their spleen, and give those selected at least a civilised reception. Strong criticism within limits has been deserved this summer and to both selectors and players. Some of it, however, from respectable quarters has been so unbalanced and immoderate as to destroy faith in the writers' judgment. If poorish days are rated dreadful and then a truly discreditable one follows (like, for instance, the third day at Lord's), the cricket writer has no language left to berate it. He has used it all.

Anyone who has played the game with any distinction knows, especially with batsmen, how narrow can be the margin between success and failure. That is part of the game's allure. One of the standard cliches after the ball had beaten the bat used to be ``Hobbs would have been good enough to touch that one''. How many men reach fifty without enjoying a slice or two of luck? The answer is scarcely one.

Lord Hawke, captain of Yorkshire and the great Panjandrum, was the first chairman - naturally. Mostly, the selectors were county captains, current or past, many of whom had played for England. There have been, however, several good selectors who have never won a Test cap. What is needful next year is for David Graveney and Duncan Fletcher to be provided with at least one further retired player willing and able to watch and listen and so evaluate candidates in all respects.

The degree of influence a Test captain should have on the choice of the team he is due to lead is one on which those most closely concerned are apt to hold strong, divergent views. They range from that of giving the man who has to do the job the major say in whom he wants, to the other extreme of allowing him no part in the process. This has always been the Australian practice, indeed with them a matter of principle.

The most successful of all their captains, Richie Benaud, has always maintained that he wanted the chosen side to know that he had had no hand in the matter. In the present instance I trust that, if only for his own sake, the captain does not press his preferences too hard. As I wrote in these pages on Monday, let us hope that the selectors go for men of orthodox method, with heart and ambition to match.

Where are first-class cricketers to come from if not from the counties? What is to be the day-to-day focus of interest and loyalty? Is this perhaps the fanciful notion of men of business on the fringe of the world of cricket ignorant alike of the complicated economics of the game, to say nothing of the affections of millions?

There is indeed the need for some revision of the England and Wales Cricket Board's governing philosophy. The healthier the county clubs become, the more challenging the cricket they play, the wider the field from which they draw the best players to the top, the stronger in the long run will be the England XI.

The more that television and sponsorship money postulates increased international cricket, the more delicate the balance between that and county cricket. The counties, financed by the board - which is themselves - must bring out the cream of talent as they have been doing for upwards of a century. Let us pray that a genius or two make their mark pretty soon.