There was a time when I really didn’t mind seeing England lose at sport. I didn’t wish English teams ill, but detachment engendered a certain cynicism. And then there was enjoyment of the always disproportionate, always amusing row that ensued as tabloids reflected that recurring surprise that we might ever lose at anything. Now the tables have been reversed. Now that we don’t win so much, I desperately want us to win.

Especially at football. I like the fact that the England team looks more and more like a snapshot of modern Britain. No Asian players, it is true. Football will have to find out why none of the young British Asians I see playing football in the street get picked up by scouts or make their way through the club system. But in terms of diversity, there has been huge change, on the pitch and on the terraces. Viv Anderson became the first black professional to play for England in 1978. He really started something.

A starker problem is cricket. According to Lawrence Booth, the editor of the cricketers’ bible Wisden, it is estimated that at grassroots level, 30% to 40% of our cricketers are non-white, most south Asian. But playing first class cricket, just 6% are non-white. “At some point, south Asian cricketers are starting to feel that English cricket is not for them. That perception has to change.” Booth told BBC Radio.

Writing in the 152nd edition of the Wisden yearly almanac, he was even more pointed. For the result of failing to exploit homegrown talent is that we voraciously seek out replacements from abroad. “It is perverse to be so reliant on (white) southern Africans and smash-and-grab raids across the Irish Sea, and so ignore the more natural solution on our doorstep.” Yes, isn’t it.

This is not news to the English cricket authorities. Last year – to its credit – the England and Wales Cricket Board announced a strategy to deepen engagement with south Asian communities: more money, schemes, investment, publicity. All of which is welcome. But a look at the archive also reveals that back in 1999, the ECB introduced revamped scouting, more schemes, anti-racism monitoring and new regulations: then, as now, an impressive package to address the same problem.

Which suggests Wisden is on to something. If we are all to cheer for English cricket, the authorities must get to grips with this.