THE organisers of the Yorkshire v Lancashire Legends match have assembled some great names on both teamsheets for the clash at Headingley on August 30.

A Lancashire team featuring Paul Wellens, Martin Gleeson, Sean Long, Tommy Martyn, Adrian Morley and Denis Betts takes on a home side featuring Keith Senior, Jamie Peacock, Lee Gilmour and Lee Radford.

There are certainly some international caps, Challenge Cups, Grand Final rings, Lance Todds, Man of Steels and Harry Sunderland Awards among them.

It should be interesting.

You never know it may rekindle a bit of the old inter county flame.

The lack of representative rugby at county level is a big hole in my book.

The game always had a low key County Championships involving Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumbria - usually sparsely attended - but nevertheless caps were coveted.

In the 80s they tries to revitalise it as War of the Roses and then in Super League they had another throw of the dice with Origin.

The crowds were reasonable, but the gates and fervour did not match that of the State of Origin games in Oz.

Perhaps they should never have been judged against those fixtures.

But every time we have a good Origin series, the question is always raised.

Why can’t our County game capture the same amount of fervour?

But there should be another question, why should it have to?

County football should be the first step up to international honours.

It should be a competitive fixture in its own right.

Surely it would give players something to aim for away from their club team.

The international selectors could have a good look at players in a different environment rather than concocting internationals to do that job.

The first problem we tend to have this side of the Pennines is people feeling that they are still Lancastrian.

They have no such issues in the four Ridings of Yorkshire, but over here we struggle to come to terms with the false administrative boundaries that have been foisted upon us.

Do you remember the old quiz question in the late 70s? Who is the only Lancashire team left in the Lancashire Cup?

(Answer is at the foot of the column.)

But we are all still in the County Palatine of Lancashire - just as Liverpool and Manchester are.

However, the biggest hurdle we would face is clubs wanting to release players.

But once again this comes back to an overcrowded Super League programme and a system that has left us with 30 league games plus semis.

We should find space in the calandar for County rugby, build it it into something, give it respect and time to grow not just mess about with it and then ditch it like they have done with all the other gimmicky projects.

And on the day they could throw in a Cumbria v the South/Midlands game too to make it a double header.

Ps: The answer was Blackpool Borough.