He writes: "Can you imagine the hoo-ha if the England captain had not arrived with his team? The end of amateurism was supposed to put a stop to all that.
"How do the rest of your boys feel? A little jealous? It's not as if you could say, 'We're all in this together boys' with a straight face. A captain should not ask his players to do anything he is not prepared to do. Such as turn up on time."
Atherton questions whether Taylor, who has scored 26 runs from his four first-class knocks against Essex and the England Lions, has come to terms with English conditions and if pace bowler Mills has had time to get used to the Duke ball, given he has had only one outing here so far.
Atherton concludes: "You did not have to accept the captaincy of your country. But to accept and then turn up with just over half a team is downright rude."
