Dad's Army repeats wearing thin for England

England's cricket selectors reacted with almost embarrassing haste to the mind-boggling howler they committed at Lord's. Not only did they pick a specialist spinner, Ashley Giles, on a pitch at Edgbaston where, at the start of the match, it looked as if he would be of less use than he would have been on that badly misread surface at Lord's.

Not only that, they played him in place of one of the 30-year-old Dad's Army brigade they had summoned for the first Test, John Crawley, and Nasser Hussain brought him on to bowl the 12th over of the match.

One of the great joys of any summer, home or away, is to listen to captains, coaches and selectors justifying their selections or trying to rationalise decisions that soon turn round and bite them. Hussain, in his dismissive and slightly superior way, is a dab hand at this; the rather remote Duncan Fletcher seems to regard media criticism as ill-educated and unjustifiable intrusion, while there is no corner of selectorial whim out of which the chairman, David Graveney, is unable to charm himself.

Although there must be doubts that Crawley has the temperament or the ability – especially on or just outside the off stump – against the big battalions – he has, this time, good reason to feel that he has been unfairly treated. Having decided that he had been satisfactorily reinvigorated by his acrimonious move from Lancashire to Hampshire – for whom he has been scoring runs by the sackful – the selectors felt he was worth another try. He was last out in England's first innings at Lord's for 31 and was 41 not out in the second when the match ended.

There is no doubt that some players acquire a second life in county cricket and a change of county is often the reason. Crawley's enthusiasm for life with Hampshire may only come second to his passionate desire to leave Lancashire which, traditionally, seems to have one of the unhappiest dressing rooms in the country. Having written that, I can see a first-class stamp being stuck on a letter at Old Trafford.

He was recalled to England's colours to fill the place which appeared to have been earmarked for Warwickshire's Ian Bell, whom they quite reasonably decided had been rather too short of early season runs. One hopes this state of affairs will not last for long for Bell is just the sort of young batsman this England side needs.

This leaves one wondering whether the selectors simply react subjectively to every eventuality or whether they are following a thought-out plan of campaign. Dominic Cork, who took three wickets in Sri Lanka's first innings at Lord's, is another who will no doubt he harbouring a grudge after being left out at Edgbaston for Alex Tudor, ahead of whom he had earlier been preferred.

His was not a sensible selection for Lord's by a bunch of selectors whose heads often seem to be in the clouds – when they are not in the sand. It would be absorbing to be privy to the discussions that go on when they are in conclave. It would be interesting to know which are the voices that count. The dramatis personnae at these meetings are Hussain, Fletcher, Graveney and Geoff Miller, the old Derbyshire and England off-spinner.

It would be surprising if the latter two, even though one is the chairman, had that much of a say when push comes to shove. Hussain has turned, dangerously perhaps, into a Douglas Jardine-like figure both on and off the field. He is an astute captain, but his increasing arrogance, revealed the other day most disappointingly, one hears, in an exchange with two county cricketers who both hail from South Africa, is a worry. Jardine was the master of the haughty silence.

The evidence suggests – and I know nothing that is not available for public consumption – that there is an arrogant autocracy at the top of England's cricket which could well become increasingly counter-productive. The immediate problem is that the choice of the Dad's Army brigade for Lord's has left the selectors in a predictably uncomfortable quandary.

All three – Crawley, Cork and Alec Stewart, behind the stumps – have performed well enough to be kept in the dressing room. With an Ashes series in Australia coming up this winter, the need is for the young cricketers who did so well with Rodney Marsh during the winter at the academy in Adelaide to be given a good go in the England side this summer, so that when they arrive in Australia they will at least have cut their teeth at this level.

But with Dad's Army showing such adhesive qualities, it may well be that we will be at least three Test matches into the summer before these promising academic graduates are given a chance. Almost half the selectors' room and time for manoeuvre will have been wasted.