The England cricket team today begin their quest for victory in the fifth and final test match of this year’s Ashes series, fronting a new-look lineup and a big gamble in the form of Warwickshire right-hander Jonathan Trott. Earning his first cap for England, Trott joins some other new faces: Ryan Sidebottom, who hasn’t played so far in this series (and probably won’t unless conditions favour swing bowling), and Andrew Flintoff, who returns from injury to play the last test of his career.Back in the legal world, there has been another team change, with 13 new appointments to the SRA board. Interestingly, among the seven solicitor appointments are four partners from the UK’s biggest commercial law firms: Linklaters, Slaughter and May, Norton Rose and Denton Wilde Sapte. Could this signal a change in tact from the SRA as we head towards the Legal Services Act era, with all its potential for private equity firms taking stakes in big law firms?

To be honest, it’s all too much of a grey area. There’s about as much logic in predicting what will happen with alternative business structures as there is in predicting how England captain Andrew Strauss will arrange his field. But, as lawyers return from their summer holidays, it may dawn on a few that in four months’ time, the ball will start to roll – and at some pace, should the Legal Services Board continue to throw its weight around (see, for example, its plans to fine regulators millions of pounds, which will come into force in January).

The SRA remains the likeliest candidate to take on the bulk of ABS regulation. Throughout 2010, interested parties will have the ability to influence the eventual framework for ABS regulation, which is likely to be implemented at the start of 2011. This strong City presence on the SRA board could prove to be highly influential.