England’s professionals may be riding high in the cricket world, but the same can’t be said for its solicitors. The Lawyers Cricket World Cup is set to go ahead later this year without the England solicitors team, which is apparently suffering from a shortage of numbers, Obiter hears. Quite what has deterred the nation’s finest from a two-week tournament in balmy Barbados we’re not too sure. Tumbling fee rates perhaps?

Home interest is nevertheless assured, courtesy of the bar. A squad of 14 barristers, captained by Quinton Newcomb, has now been selected for the third staging of the event in August.

Australia will hope to retain the title it won back in 2009, with teams from India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the West Indies also vying for the coveted crown of champions.

If any solicitor would like to put together an England team for a late entry, they should contact tournament organiser James Cartwright through the Lawyers Cricket World Cup website.