THE Worcestershire opener Steve Moore says he is frustrated at the lack of opportunity for new players to break into England’s top order. And he has a good point.

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Though Moore, 28, was no doubt pleased to be selected for the recent England Lions tour of New Zealand through his eye-catching 2008 county season, England's senior batting line-up remained firmly set, if not quite in concrete. The dropping of Ian Bell for Owais Shah in the West Indies seemed a seismic change after so long with the same faces.

Interviewed in the April issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine Moore talked about the lack of England success. "I think quite a few of us now are scratching our heads at some of the selections that are being made," he said. "There are definitely guys around, saying, ‘Well, we’re not winning many competitions, we’re middle of the table in world cricket and we’re not seeing new faces and others being given an opportunity. That is frustrating."

After giving the interview Moore would have been please that Steve Davies, Ravi Bopara and Amjad Khan were summoned from the England lions to the West Indies, where Bopara and Khan made Test debuts. The fact that Bopara hit a century on debut reinforced Moore's case.

Moore, the championship's leading run-scorer last summer with 1,288 runs at 53.66, added: "One of the most important things selectors can do is make people believe that the opportunity for the next step, to play for your country – which everyone playing county cricket should be trying to strive for – is available.

"It’s only going to be available to you if you perform at a superior level to other people in county cricket and put pressure on England players. But, if I sat here and said we we’re all happy with the situation, I’d be lying. Of course we’re not. That hasn’t changed. We’re not winning Test series. Guys aren’t averaging 50-plus."

Moore, 28, said his main hope was for English success, but asked: "Where does England see itself? What sort of cricket side does it want to be? It’s about giving guys the opportunity to perform at Test level and, if they’re not performing, then giving others the chance."

The New Zealand selectors decided to promote seamer bowler Brent Arnel, 30, to their Test squad against India for a possible debut on the basis of his form against the Lions. Last summer he played club cricket for Beckenham, Rob Key's old club.

CHARLIE SAYS: I have just returned from covering the England Lions in New Zealand, a tour shamefully ignored for coverage by the national daily newspapers, even though there was interaction with the senior Caribbean party -- not to mention the deselection of Samit Patel from the West Indies one-day series for fitness reasons.

Though Moore immpressed as a character and strong back-foot player, he did not score the runs he shoud have. His scores against New Zealand A in the two drawn four-dayers at Queenstown and Christchurch were 43 & 11, 22 & 41. Nevertheless he looked good enough for Test cricket to me.