The array of OpenLayers elements is empty

I have a map that displays a KML vector layer with some markers. When you click on the marker, a popup window appears with information. I want to be able to automatically pop up an information window based on the parameter passed to the page. I think I need to do this using getFeaturesByAttribute () to find the name, however the array of functions always seems empty. (Although I can see the contents when I use FireBug)

What do I need to do to get the elements in an array?

The code:

function init()
{
        var options = {
            projection: new OpenLayers.Projection("EPSG:900913"),
            displayProjection: new OpenLayers.Projection("EPSG:4326"),
            units: "m",
        };
        map = new OpenLayers.Map('map', options);
        var mapnik = new OpenLayers.Layer.OSM("OpenStreetMap");
        var gmap = new OpenLayers.Layer.Google("Google", {sphericalMercator:true});
        var gsat = new OpenLayers.Layer.Google(
            "Google Satellite",
            {type: google.maps.MapTypeId.SATELLITE, numZoomLevels: 22}
        );

        groups = new OpenLayers.Layer.Vector("Groups", {
            projection: map.displayProjection,
            strategies: [new OpenLayers.Strategy.Fixed()],
            protocol: new OpenLayers.Protocol.HTTP({
                url: "http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=210450558816094618535.0004bd79ceb30e9acb9da&output=kml",
                format: new OpenLayers.Format.KML({
                    extractStyles: true,
                    extractAttributes: true
                })
            })
        });

        map.addLayers([mapnik, gmap, gsat, groups]);

        select = new OpenLayers.Control.SelectFeature(groups);

        groups.events.on({
            "featureselected": onFeatureSelect,
            "featureunselected": onFeatureUnselect
        });

        map.addControl(select);
        select.activate();   

        map.addControl(new OpenLayers.Control.LayerSwitcher());

        var center = new OpenLayers.LonLat(-2.58789,51.52283).transform(map.displayProjection, map.projection);
        var zoom = 12
        map.setCenter(center, zoom);

        alert(groups.features.length);   // is always 0

    }