You make good points, Oakie (as always)

And, yes, it was a major problem this year that none of our other players really stepped up in the other grass events and staked their claim for a card. I agree it left the door wide open.

But the fact that Kyle had one (and indeed Marcus ) does not convince me.

The vast majority of top players did not have quali wildcards when unranked/very lowly ranked 16 year-olds. They don't come from Grand Slam countries and could not have. And it did them no harm at all

My problem with the 'new' approach is that it reinforces the whole LTA ethos which is always (it seems to me) to throw everything at the child whilst a child - and then drop them like a hot potato when they can legally vote and buy alcohol in a pub. And this in a sport where you peak at 28. From my understanding, Finn and Jodie were heavily favoured and now seem on the periphery only one year later. Will Anton and Jack etc. feel like failures if they don't get a wildcard next year? Or the year after when they become adults? Given it's rare for any 18 year-old man to make the top-200 as of right. Or does that mean they now have to have wildcards so they don't fell like failures?

But, yes, the lack of other alternatives was an issue, I do agree, and for that the players have to look to themselves (as nearly all GB players do, indeed, unfortunately........)