All very true, but sadly not fully thought through. The problem with refereeing standards in this country is not that they don't get paid properly. It's about the kind of people they are. For getting things right, that is. So just paying Graham Poll 50 grand a year won't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.
More imagination is needed than that.
Part of the deal would be that they help train the next generation of domestic officials. English cricket has had all kinds of problems, but poor umpiring is never cited as one of them. No one with a serious interest in football has a good word to say about the current crop of Premiership whistlers. So right diagnosis, Frank, but wrong remedy. Now here's a funny thing.