by Tony Cozier

Denesh Ramdin needs to pay serious attention to his mobility, says former West Indies wicketkeeper Jeff Dujon © Getty Images

Once rightly regarded as the West Indies' next run-scoring wicketkeeper, and even spoken of as a potential captain, Denesh Ramdin is fighting for form and his place in the team. Six weeks away from the first World Cup to be staged in the Caribbean, his struggles in both departments and the dearth of realistic alternatives are major causes for concern.

He committed more errors than is acceptable during the series in Pakistan late last year and has again lapsed in the ongoing Pepsi Cup against India while he has been repeatedly out to indiscreet shots. It is a frustrating decline for a cricketer of genuine promise.

In West Indies age-group teams at the Under-15 World Cup in England and the Under-19 version in Bangladesh, when he was captain, Ramdin was so impressive he went straight into the senior team, aged 20, once Ridley Jacobs departed after six solid years in the position.

He was outstanding with both gloves and bat in his initial series with the strike-hit team in Sri Lanka in 2005 and again in three Tests in Australia later that year but his standards have markedly fallen since. The selectors alternated him with the diminutive Jamaican, Carlton Baugh, in the last six ODI series but neither has seized the opportunity to claim the position as exclusively theirs.

The only other practical option is the West Indies A team keeper, Patrick Browne of Barbados. But he has been short of runs in the current domestic season and out of the Barbados team in the current Carib Beer Cup match against Jamaica.

Jeffrey Dujon, the most capped West Indies keeper with 81 Tests and 169 ODIs between 1981 and 1991, believes Ramdin might have slipped into a "comfort zone" after his early successes. "I sense that he hasn't appreciated the intensity needed at the highest level," said Dujon, who followed Ramdin in series in West Indies, India and Pakistan as television commentator over the past nine months.

"He's got to take his work ethic to another plane," he added. "He's got to pay serious attention to his mobility. For someone of his physical build, his foot speed is sluggish. He's trusting his hands more than he should."

Dujon revealed he had spoken on the matter with assistant coach David Moore, himself a former New South Wales wicketkeeper in Australian state cricket. "He accepted my comments and told me he was working with Ramdin to iron out the problems," he said. "What he needs is a set programme to be strictly followed."

Dujon also had doubts about Ramdin's fitness. "As the game wears on, I notice he's not staying down long enough, a sure sign of weariness that leads to elementary mistakes.” What bothers Dujon is that, on all the early evidence, Ramdin possesses the ability to maintain the legacy of West Indian wicketkeeper-batsmen such as Gerry Alexander, the Murrays (Deryck and David), himself and Jacobs over the past 40 years.

Ramdin's story is symptomatic of so many young West Indians of recent times who have made an immediate impression at Test level only to just as quickly deteriorate. It might well be that it all comes too easily, too early and they take success for granted.

Ramdin turns 22 next month, so there is plenty of time left for him to get back the groove again. It is up to him. The final match in the Pepsi Cup tomorrow would be a timely starting point. An unblemished day behind the stumps and some valuable runs would do wonders for his confidence and settle a place in the World Cup squad that remains open.

© Trinidad and Tobago Express

Martin Williamson

Kenya's Steve Tikolo and Bermuda's Irvine Romaine get the World Cricket League underway. Both countries field home-grown players ... but not all those participating can say the same © ICC

With the exception of Bermuda, cricket is not a mainstream sport in any of the participants. And yet it survives, and in some instances thrives, despite the lack of attention and a relatively small number of enthusiasts.

The ICC, who do sterling work in supporting the game's second and third tiers, will rightly use the event to highlight that cricket is not just about the Indians and Australias of the world.

But there remains a nagging worry. The ICC boasts that the game is spreading across the world. But is that right? Is it taking root or is it surviving because more people from its hotbed - south-east Asia - are emigrating and keeping it alive for the duration of their careers?

In last year's Wisden Almanack, Matthew Engel raised this very issue. "Overwhelmingly, the game in non-traditional countries is played by expatriates, mostly South Asian. Journalists were kidded into believing that cricket was about to burst on China, on the basis of some warm comments by civil servants and a couple of coaching courses. I have seen not one shred of evidence to back this up. Are the kids playing with tapeballs on the streets of Shanghai? Are they heck!"

Take Canada. Of the squad in Nairobi at the moment, only three were born in the country, and two of those are over 35. Of the rest, five come from the Caribbean, four from India and each from Pakistan and Uganda. Whereas other Associates have a smattering of expats, Canada are utterly reliant on them.

Engel's comment attracted fierce criticism from those who either argued that England had more than their share of "imports" or that the game only spread in Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Caribbean through expats playing it in the first place.

The worry in some countries is that rather the game is not being continued by the second and third generations but is only being maintained by a steady flow of new immigrants

The worry in some countries - and again I come back to Canada - is that rather the game is not being continued by the second and third generations but is only being maintained by a steady flow of new immigrants. Canada's cricket heritage is rich but there is little sign that it has been built on. This is best underlined by the selection of former West Indies international Anderson Cummins. Forty years old and without a major match to his name since 1995-96, he made his debut in Mombasa last week. What message does that send out about the strength in depth of cricket in Canada?

It's not just Canada. Look at the USA, whose 2004 Champions Trophy side was a collection of ageing expats whose performances verged on the disgraceful. And the UAE, which is almost entirely dependant on its ex-pat workforce to keep the game alive.

Cricket's expansion should not be about filling teams with expats and expecting the locals to get excited about it. The only way cricket can gain a foothold in emerging countries is by actually getting the indigenous population to embrace the game, and two excellent examples where this is happening are Nepal and Uganda.

Anderson Cummins of Barbados, West Inbies ... and now Canada © Eddie Norfolk

Cricket is in trouble in its traditional homes in Africa - Zimbabwe are hell-bent on destruction and South Africa seems to be falling out of love with the game. So efforts should be made in Uganda . And in Asia, which everyone accepts is the game's stronghold, a side like Nepal should really be given the leg up. It's about targeting rather than a scattergun approach.

In fairness to the ICC, they have a tough time and a lot of countries scrambling for a share of the spoils. It's about weeding out the weak and really looking to grow the game in areas where it has the best chance of taking root. It's an almost impossible ask. Look at the repeated failure of American Football to crack Europe ... and if football itself still battles for acceptance outside expats and schools in the USA, then the size of the ICC's task becomes clear.

Of course expats have a key role to play in expansion. But if the game is basically played by them, is it the game spreading or is it more about diehards clinging to the traditions of their homelands? In the UK there are baseball and American football sides, but they are almost all expat Americans and so few would seriously claim the games have taken hold. However, basketball and ice hockey are widely played by locals, boosted by some imported players and expats, and, crucially, the national side can stand on its own two feet. That's the difference.

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan

Without games on the domestic circuit to prove himself, Virender Sehwag tries to regain his touch through practice games © AFP

Three one-dayers, three openers, three half-centuries - a triumphant 98 for Sourav Ganguly, a confident 69 for Gautam Gambhir, and a ferocious 41-ball 70 for Robin Uthappa. All three, curiously, batting on the comeback trail. What it adds up to is problems for Virender Sehwag, who, having fallen from the heights of vice-captaincy to the depths of discard in the span of three months, finds himself in a world of quiet introspection.

Not so long ago the most destructive batsman in world cricket, Sehwag has been passed over both times the squad for the current series was chosen; his existence on the fringes has prompted the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association to organise practice games for him. Without games on the domestic circuit to prove himself - barring a solitary Ranji one-dayer against Jammu & Kashmir on February 10 - that's all he can fall back on.

One such match was at the Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi on Monday; playing for Delhi A, on a sluggish pitch where stroke-makers struggled for timing, he scored 49 off 46 balls, finding the meat of the bat often enough to penetrate a packed off-side field. He didn't open but walked in at No.3 and was confident through his 58-minute stay. He was given one life on 19 but also hit six boundaries, including one straight drive in his typical stand-and-deliver style, before holing out trying to loft over the extra-cover fielder standing at the edge of inner circle.

Sehwag's last competitive outing was on January 10, when, having returned from a forgettable trip to South Africa, he cracked a finely-paced 106, from the middle order, against Haryana at Rohtak. Two days later he was dropped from the Indian team - the only other time he was axed was since his miserable ODI debut against Pakistan at Mohali. Dileep Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, hoped he would "go back to the nets and sort out his cricket, his batting basically".

Nobody can argue with that. Since the start of this season he's averaged 14.8 in ten matches, with just one fifty. He's gone through lean patches in the past - some may even argue that he's hardly attained any consistency in one-dayers - but the phase that comes closest is probably early in his career in 2001. He averaged 11.4 in eight innings before bouncing back with a mind-blowing century against New Zealand in Colombo. This time there was no such innings, just a forced break instead.

So what's he done over the last few weeks? He's gone back, lost weight, grown a French beard, returned to the Government Boys Senior Secondary School at Vikas Puri, studying videos of his dismissals with AN Sharma, his long-time coach

So what's he done over the last few weeks? He's gone back, lost weight, grown a French beard, returned to the Government Boys Senior Secondary School at Vikas Puri - his alma mater - and gone back to Batting 101, studying videos of his dismissals with AN Sharma, his long-time coach.

Sharma points out the two major focus areas: analysing his dismissals and trying to bat long periods. "We asked him to see his videos - how he's been getting out recently", Sharma told Cricinfo. "The aim was to find out what he wasn't doing correctly."

After seeing the videos, Sehwag would have a turn with the bat and Sharma would try and ensure the mistakes weren't repeated.

For example, in South Africa he was regularly getting out by slashing over the slips to third man - the prime example being in the third ODI at Cape Town, when he was out for a duck, caught by Andrew Hall in the deep off Shaun Pollock, in the very first over. " We worked on that.
"Secondly we worked on his focus. We gave him a challenge - in 60 minutes of batting, even though it was only against amateur bowlers, don't get out at any cost. He had to stay at the wicket and play his natural game without getting out even once."

But wouldn't it have helped Sehwag if he'd more time in the middle? Vijay Dahiya, the former Indian wicketkeeper and a close friend of Sehwag's, doesn't think so. "He's got a much-needed break," says Dahiya. "While playing constantly you don't realise what's going wrong with your game. He's had a chance to think about it. I've met him in this period and chatted with him.

"It's tough to gauge Veeru's confidence levels by talking to him - he's the same irrespective of what - but he likes to have long talks with his close friend. He keeps asking you questions - 'What's happening, what are you noticing, what am I doing wrong etc'. I think it's helped."

The selectors won't get to see much of Sehwag before they sit down to pick the World Cup squad. Maybe two games against Sri Lanka - if he's picked - or it will have to be just one Ranji ODI. They'll either have to go by past record - he was India's highest run-scorer in the ODIs in West Indies last year - potentially explosive quality, and allround value or decide to take the drastic step of leaving him behind. The first is almost a given, the second almost unthinkable. Almost.

Herschelle Gibbs: will miss one Test, one Twenty20 and one ODI © AFP

Telford Vice

There are times when the International Cricket Council deserves nothing so much as a smack around the head. The ICC's handling of the Gibbs saga was not one of those times.

Of course, the suits can't be expected to get everything right, and there was some messiness in the form of Gibbs' ban being tweaked to include a Twenty20 game in the guise of a one-day international.

But the dismissal of his appeal should engender confidence in all who care about the game - and about its place in the modern world - that the ICC is capable of making the right decision on important matters.

Might Gibbs have appealed at all had his offence not fallen under level three of the code of conduct, which brought race into the equation? Part of this regulation governs "any language or gestures that offends, insults, humiliates, intimidates, threatens, disparages or vilifies another person on the basis of that person's race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethic origin".

Quite how Gibbs and his representatives came to the opinion that calling Pakistani supporters a "fucking bunch of fucking animals" and telling them to "fuck off back to the zoo" was not a violation of the above would surely boggle greater minds than mine.

Richie Benaud saw matters differently to Gibbs and the original charges stuck. Just as importantly, Benaud took pains not to brand Gibbs a racist. Which would seem to mean that it was Gibbs' crime - and not Gibbs himself - that was the target of the action the ICC took.

Semantics? Not if you have, as Benaud would seem to do, an understanding of South Africa's murky race politics. For a start, some South Africans would describe Gibbs as black. Others would call him coloured, which is probably what he calls himself.

Still others will label him a Khoisan, and another bunch will refuse to classify him. The truly weird will refer to Gibbs as a so-called coloured, and make little quotation marks in the air with their index fingers as they do so.

But Gibbs' race is irrelevant in all this. It's the race of the target of his words that matters, and they were plainly Asian or of Asian descent.

In those terms, who can be surprised that Gibbs' epithets pushed all the wrong buttons of the people who heard them when they were broadcast live courtesy of the stump microphones?

Speaking of which, Benaud, of course, has an intimate knowledge of cricketing life on both sides of the mike. "If you do not use the words they do not get to air," was his bulletproof advice. If this needs reinforcement, and it shouldn't, here it is: the stump mike did not say anything, Herschelle Gibbs did.

Take a bow, Mr Benaud. Not forgetting Chris Broad, the match referee whose findings were vindicated. Amazing, isn't it, what a couple of sensible blokes can achieve.

Andrew Miller

Where it all began .... the scars of the 1992 World Cup final defeat still exist © Getty Images

There was Alec Stewart, worth his place for his strokeplay alone but utterly invaluable as a wicketkeeper and second-in-command to Gooch. There was Allan Lamb, as bristling a middle-order batsman as has ever existed, and a man who once stole an ODI for England by slamming Bruce Reid for 18 in the final over. And propping up the lower-middle order there was a quartet of genuine allround talent in Chris Lewis, Phil DeFreitas, Dermot Reeve and Derek Pringle.


It's the sort of multi-dimensional line-up that Duncan Fletcher has spent seven fruitless years trying to emulate. Even the No. 11, the job-a-day left-arm spinner, Richard Illingworth, had four first-class centuries to his name. Oh yeah, and then there was whatsitsname ... you know, thingummy ... that bloke who opened the batting and chipped in when needed with his portly medium-pacers. When the mighty Ian Botham is the weak link in your eleven, then you know you've got it sussed.

Graeme Hick was part of England's best one-day team © Getty Images

A fit Kevin Pietersen could change England's fortunes, but it's a big ask © Getty Images

Bob Woolmer

'Inzamam-ul-Haq created probably the defining moment of the game, an innings which proved that experience is something you cannot just buy off the shelf' © AFP

A thesis I have been reading recently reveals a statistic that says Pakistan had a 5% chance of winning a Test match in South Africa, while South Africa has a 56% chance of winning a Test in Pakistan. Statistics do tell a story though they sometimes don't tell the whole story: as luck would have it, Pakistan has now increased the percentage of winning in South Africa.

Include India's win at the Wanderers and there is definitely an effort from the subcontinent to improve their cricket on the harder, bouncier pitches of the Southern Hemisphere. One swallow doesn't make a summer but two means getting there.

Pakistan's terrific team effort was a truly special win, one that rewarded hard work and application, one that included some strong individual efforts and one that had a great team spirit about it, when it was really needed. Such results are built on key moments. Here are mine.

Flipside of the coin

The toss proved a good one to lose. The pitch looked good and both sides would have batted, but there was bounce in it. Some of the dismissals looked poor and some South African batsmen might have thought they were unlucky. Hashim Amla was caught behind down the leg side, AB de Villiers edged a wide bouncer and Graeme Smith was caught at slip off the keeper's gloves. Still, it was difficult to see how people were getting out. Admittedly, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Sami bowled really well and Danish Kaneria had a strong breeze to help his leg-spinners curve and dip as well. Getting them out for only 124 was the key.

The strike back

As expected, South Africa fought back with the ball. Younis Khan and Kamran Akmal were both fighting hard at the end of the first day, but of the 16 wickets that fell, the two most crucial appeared to be that of Younis and Kamran both falling, within minutes, in the day's last two overs. That was 1-1 for the day: I asked Jacques Kallis at the end of the day how he assessed the day and the pitch. He replied simply, "Bob, the game is going forward." Go forward it did.

The Masterpiece: as scripted by Inzamam-ul-Haq

The second day witnessed an absolutely magnificent exhibition of batting with the tail, of farming the strike. With his unbeaten 92, Inzamam-ul-Haq created probably the defining moment of the game, an innings which proved that experience is something you cannot just buy off the shelf. Inzi calculated it beautifully and only with Mohammad Asif did he really begin protecting him. In most of the 20 overs they batted, Asif had to face a maximum of two balls, Inzi not only controlling the strike but also playing some fantastic shots. The lead he got eventually proved vital.

Murphy's Law inverted: A good one from Kamran Akmal was due, especially after some serious lapses behind the wicket © AFP

A long way from Faisalabad

When South Africa batted again they were buoyed by the fact that Shoaib was unfit to bowl. It was a defining moment for South Africa. It was also one for Pakistan for it meant someone had to stand up and be counted in what was a three-man attack. Sure enough, they all responded and Asif was exceptional, along with Kaneria and Sami as all went beyond the call of duty.

On a day of twists, their contributions were vital: South Africa played well, with Kallis and then Mark Boucher and Shaun Pollock taking the game away from Pakistan. But just after each session break, we struck, Asif getting Herschelle Gibbs and Kallis after lunch and then Kaneria dismissing Pollock just after tea. Even then Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel's bravado meant Pakistan were faced with an interesting total. I saw Pollock at the bar that evening and he reminded me of Faisalabad in 1997-98, when South Africa bowled out Pakistan for 92, chasing only 146. I said there are two differences: one, I was South Africa coach at Faisalabad and two, we're a long way from Faisalabad.

The Endgame

The final moment came when Inzi was undone by a ball that did not bounce and was adjudged leg before off Ntini while chasing the target. Immediately, visions of Faisalabad swirled in my head. But there was a nagging, positive thought at the back of my mind: Kamran Akmal, who had been criticised for a missed stumping (extremely tough) and for two dropped chances might make amends with the bat. He started fortuitously, but the secret of captaincy is always to put the fielders in the gaps. After it, he was fantastic, batting with the Pathan tiger, Younis, who fought like only a tribesman from the north of Pakistan can fight. Ironic that their 99-run partnership ended the game, as it was those two who had been involved at the end of the first day too.

It is of small consolation to the losing side, but it capped a very fine Test match, one that offered the connoisseur everything. It was tense on the last afternoon but in the end the difference was that cameo of pure genius by Inzi. Deservedly, he was presented with both "his best win" and the match award.

Tim de Lisle

Shane Bond: very fast, very good...very alone © Getty Images

As Bob Dylan observed in a song a few years ago, Things Have Changed. For the first time in perhaps 35 years, there is no outstanding attack in world cricket.

Since the turn of the millennium, there had been no doubt about who had the heaviest arsenal: it was Australia. They were the only country with a great fast bowler (Glenn McGrath) and a great slow bowler (Shane Warne). Both were big wicket-takers who also kept the runs down - a pair of captain's dreams. But now they have gone, leaving a thousand-wicket hole.

Brett Lee is pacey and watchable, but erratic and hittable. Stuart Clark has made a phenomenal start - on the list of all-time Test bowling averages, he is in the top ten, ahead of practically every bowler you've ever heard of - but he is a nominee for Best Supporting Actor rather than a leading man. And he has played only one Test, and taken only one wicket, outside the bouncy tracks of home and
South Africa.

Lee and Clark will presumably be joined by Stuart MacGill and AN Other. MacGill is a fine, sparky legspinner, but the only times he has looked in Warne's class have been when Warne was in the same team, which seemed to spur one of them on, while putting the other's nose out of joint.

The fourth man could be an instant hit like Clark: Mitchell Johnson, the regular understudy, has been auditioning well. Equally, it could take him 10 or 15 Tests to settle at the highest level. He will certainly be targeted. Throw in a bit of Andrew Symonds' allsorts and Michael Clarke's amiable slow left-arm, and what have you got? A testing but not daunting attack.

Not that the other countries have much to write to Australia about. South Africa have the strongest seam attack now that Shaun Pollock has found his niggardly old mojo, but they still haven't discovered the existence of spin: even when he desperately needed fourth-innings
wickets yesterday, Graeme Smith barely used Paul Harris.

England had a fine seam attack for two years, but when the feisty fourth seamer, Simon Jones, got injured, and their coach Troy Cooley left, the unit fell apart. Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff are dependable, Steve Harmison has forgotten how to take wickets overseas, and everybody else is either shunned (Jon Lewis) or growing up in public (Jimmy Anderson, Saj Mahmood, Liam Plunkett).

Mitchell Johnson is Australia's man in waiting, but will he be an instant hit? © Getty Images

India have the best spin attack in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, but Greg Chappell doesn't like playing them in the same team, which must be a relief to most of his opponents, even if Harbhajan has not been at his best lately. Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth are on their way to being a fine seam attack, but they are merely handy at the moment.

Pakistan have probably the best attack in the world on paper, but in practice ... well, if they were all fit, not banned, and speaking to the captain and the coach, they'd be terrific: Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif to open, with Mohammad Sami or Umar Gul in support, a bit of Abdul Razzaq or Shahid Afridi ... but then a weakish link in Danish Kaneria. New Zealand have Shane Bond, who is very fast and very good, but nothing else to frighten the horses. Sri Lanka have one genius, one yeoman, and one interesting slinger. West Indies? Well, their one-day
bowling is promising.

They all seem much of a muchness. One way of distinguishing between them is to use the LG ratings. Australia's top four bowlers are Clark at 7, Lee at 12, MacGill at 21 and Jason Gillespie (my dear old thing!) at 22. Total 62. I wondered if any other country could do better. Here
are the results for the main teams, taking their top four bowlers and using the ratings as they stood yesterday.

England 65

Hoggard 6, Flintoff 8, Harmison 18, Panesar 33

Pakistan 58

Shoaib 9, Gul 15=, Kaneria 15=, Asif 19

India 67

Kumble 3, Pathan 14, Harbhajan 24, Sreesanth 26

Sri Lanka 74

Murali 1, Vaas 11, Malinga 30, Fernando 32

South Africa 48

Ntini 2, Pollock 4, Nel 17, Kallis 25

New Zealand 62

Bond 6, Franklin 13, Vettori 20, Martin 23

West Indies 118

Collymore 10, Collins 29, Edwards 39, Taylor 40

And the winner is ... South Africa. (Although they still don't have a spinner.) The ratings are not, of course, gospel. They are too swayed by recent form, as if reacting against career averages, which are not swayed enough by it. But they are not crazy either. And by their reckoning, Australia now have only the third best attack in the world, equal with New Zealand. By the time of their next Test, in November, they will be even lower, because Johnson, or whoever, will start with a much lower rating than the one Gillespie is clinging onto. Test cricket is about to become more interesting.

Half the cricket world - England, South Africa, Pakistan - could watch India take on West Indies on January 21, but more than half in India couldn't © AFP

The Indian cricket fan's anxieties will have lessened following the compromise brokered by the Delhi High Court allowing Doordarshan, the state-owned free-to-air channel, to telecast - with a seven-minute delay - the second one-day international between India and West Indies on Wednesday. That is in addition to the telecast by Neo Sports, the pay channel promoted by Nimbus Communication, which owns the global television rights to Indian cricket.

It was inevitable - the stakes were just too high for it not to happen - but experience suggests that this is merely a temporary reprieve. The bigger question is how and why it was allowed to come to such a pass. The issue was hardly new, nor was this the first time that the courts had been called on to broker a solution. Yet, none of the stake-holders - Doordarshan (DD), Nimbus Communications, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) - chose to act in time. Perhaps each was waiting for the other party to blink.

As a game of brinksmanship, it was both disastrous and farcical. Half the cricket world - England, South Africa, Pakistan - could watch India take on West Indies on January 21, but more than half in India couldn't.

The facts of the case are clear: Nimbus Communication refused to provide DD - the sole broadcaster to half of India's 100 million television homes - the live feed for the match unless DD agreed to encrypt its feed. The national Information and Broadcasting Ministry called the decision "unpatriotic" and said it was contemplating a law ensuring that rights holders share the cricket feed with the state-owned channel. No doubt, the move has popular support.

It's a similar situation in England, where the decision by the England and Wales Cricket Board to award exclusive rights for the telecast of home cricket, both international and domestic, to Sky Sports, a pay channel, drew wide criticism from cricket fans used to watching domestic cricket on BBC and home Tests on Channel 4, both free-to-air channels. The deal, worth ₤220 million, made live cricket inaccessible to nearly 70% of television viewers in the UK and the ECB was roundly vilified for compromising the wider interests of the game. Yet, the board was left with little choice because the bid from Channel 4 was far less than the Sky offer, and the ECB's primary stake- holders, the counties, backed the highest bid.

Most of all, though, the Indian government cannot claim to champion a free-market economy while abusing its basic principles by seeking to bully a rights-holder in the name of public interest

The difference in India is that while the ₤35 monthly fee for the Sky package is considered exorbitant by many consumers in England, paying for TV isn't even an option for India's rural millions. To that extent, the government is justified in trying to protect the interests of the public, because cricket, it can be argued, is not strictly a private event even though it is conducted by the BCCI, which is a private body.

But Doordarshan's case with Nimbus isn't strictly about public interest. At the heart of the dispute is the battle for eyeballs that ultimately translates into advertising revenue. Nimbus paid a hefty $612 million for the rights and is entitled to fight to protect its territory. Doordarshan has paid nothing, and has nothing to lose. Every rupee it can earn from televising the matches is a bonus. Yet it has chosen, either through sheer negligence and incompetence or because of arrogance and greed, or quite possibly a mix of all the above, not to comply with a reasonable request to encrypt the live feed to ensure that it isn't freely available for redistribution by cable operators in India and other satellite networks abroad.

Doordarshan's argument is that encryption is beyond its technical means. If that indeed is the case, and it sounds suspiciously like crying wolf, then it is obliged to get its act together. It is not the first instance that Doordarshan has come into conflict with a rights owner. In fact there is a pattern to this - ESPN and Ten Sports have already fought court cases against Doordarshan - and it does raise the question of whether Doordarshan is dragging its feet on encryption because it wants to retain its market share in cable homes as well.

In the past, there also have been disputes over the nature of the feed. During India's tour to Pakistan in 2005-06, Ten Sports, the rights holder, refused to give in to Doordarshan's demand for a clean feed (without advertisements) on the grounds that its financial interests would be compromised. In this case, Nimbus has agreed to a 75:25 share of the advertising revenue in their favour, which is a fair deal considering Doordarshan haven't paid a penny for the rights.

The blackout of the first match was a discredit to all, not the least to the BCCI which, as the custodians of Indian cricket, is morally responsible for ensuring the widest possible coverage for the game. It is impossible to ignore the fact that the BCCI is currently headed by a man who is an influential member of the Indian government.

Most of all, though, the Indian government cannot claim to champion a free-market economy while abusing its basic principles by seeking to bully a rights-holder in the name of public interest. As India's true national sport, cricket must be made accessible to everyone who wants to watch it. And a straightforward solution is available. This is a matter that warrants closure.

Andrew Miller

A whole new ball-game? What a good idea © Getty Images

Anyone who claims that cricket journalism is an easy lark has obviously never had to sit and watch England make perpetual fools of themselves in the one-day arena. It really is the most soul-destroying of occupations. Day after day after day, the same old rubbish is served up for our delectation, with lashings and lashings of the same old failings and a side-order of the same old excuses, and we poor mugs try to turn this into the purplest of prose, trying to kid ourselves that we, they, you ... anyone ... actually gives a stuff.

As Andrew Flintoff might put it: "We're trying, we really are." So, deep breath, here we go for the umpteenth time this month.

"Today's pitiful batting performance at Adelaide was the most disgraceful showing by an England one-day team since ..."

Since, well, whenever. Whatever. Who cares? Not the England team, that's for sure, and therein lies the problem. Perhaps it's just the latest Machiavellian trick to emerge from those conniving spin-merchants at the ECB, but suddenly the team's 5-0 Ashes drubbing - their first whitewash against Australia for 86 years - seems like the high point of a miserable winter's campaign. It really has been that desperate.

Somehow, there is always a stigma attached to English defeats against New Zealand. England's farcical Ashes campaign in 1990-91, for instance, became even more embarrassing when they failed to overcome the Kiwis in both the Benson & Hedges World Series, and the subsequent three-match one-day tour.

And if that's the case, then today, the team took a significant stride towards completing their most ignominious tour of all time. But England better get used to the feeling. On March 16, in less than two months' time, their World Cup campaign gets underway against the same opponents in St Lucia, and on this evidence, they'll be lucky to put even Kenya, the former semi-finalists, and the John-Davison-powered Canada in their place.

In the meantime, the CB Series is providing quite enough spleen-venting among the press corps. One-day cricket brings everyone all out in a rash of adjectives. A quick scour of the wires reveals that, on other pages, England's latest performance has been described as "woeful", "desperate", "shambolic", "pathetic" and "flaky", as they were "hammered", "blitzed", "trounced" and "destroyed" by the "rampant", "buoyant" and "determined" Kiwis.

And to that, England might be expected to respond: "Bovvered?" Their attitude to one-day cricket is as fickle as the entourage of WAGs and infants that has been trailing around in the team's wake all winter, although - tellingly - there has been no-one in the set-up willing to have a good old-fashioned tantrum. A combination of Duncan Fletcher's impassivity and Andrew Flintoff's banality has seen to that. "The lads are trying their damnedest to win games," was Freddie's latest variation on the same soundbite, another infuriatingly deadpan response to a flatlining tour.

And when the cameras panned in on the dressing-room, Fletcher's hangdoggy-in-the-window expression was, to the average long-suffering England fan, every bit as slappable as Ricky Ponting had found it to be at Trent Bridge in 2005. Quite how the shunned Chris Read, sitting in fulminating silence beside him, resisted the temptation, no-one will ever know.

Last year, Fletcher infamously claimed that he knew "ten of the eleven players" whom he would like to have playing at St Lucia on March 16 for the opening match of the World Cup. For all we know, he still moans "Jonesy" and "Tresco" in his sleep to this day. But it's time to wake up and smell the coffee, Duncan. Those boys are gone, and they ain't coming back.

It's quite an irony, given the disparaging comments that Fletcher has long been making about county cricket, that three of the key figures as England claw their way to the start of another World Cup campaign, are Jon Lewis, Paul Nixon and Mal Loye - thirtysomethings one and all, and men who owe their very livelihoods to that maligned county treadmill. It's certainly not how England would have planned their winter. But seeing as they didn't actually bother to plan it in the first place, it seems about fair.

But enough pontificating about the same old spiel. It really is too depressing. Perhaps, in the spirit of this bloated, corporatised era of the game, it's time to automate our reports on these abominable contests. In fact, why wait for the technology to catch up? There is already in existence a handy 'bullshit generator' that, with a couple of quick tweaks, could easily churn out 700 words for next Friday's 252-run defeat against the Aussies.

I've been playing with it for the last five minutes and the machine has already identified three of Team England's key requirements, which is three more than any of Flintoff and Fletcher's press conferences have so far managed. Three quick clicks reveal that they need to "engineer robust partnerships", "target seamless channels" and "unleash next-generation models". Over to you Mr Ken Schofield and the ECB Review Committee. Let's see if you can better that bull, on and off the pitch.

Ian Chappell

'The fact that Gibbs has admitted to his wrong doing but is still appealing, suggests he is unaware of the enormity of the issue' © Getty Images

And another one bites the dust. Try telling Herschelle Gibbs that; "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."

Gibbs has been suspended for two Tests (now under appeal) for calling spectators at Centurion Park a few choice names. The fact that Gibbs's comments were captured by the stump microphones has caused much rancour and opinion is divided upon whether the penalty meted out to Gibbs is fair. In the end the short answer is probably the one I gave a television director who was apologising for allowing a few "unmentionables" I'd uttered, to go to air; "If I hadn't said them," I explained, "the words wouldn't have gone to air."

As a general rule if you don't use certain terms in your everyday language then they won't slip out in moments of anger.

Gibbs's suspension has brought into sharp focus an ugly trend that has been shadowing the game now for a few years; players being excessively abused by spectators. I'm not referring to the usual "can't bat", "can't bowl" or "'ave a go you mug" type comments that have been around for ages but strident personal abuse.

The administrators have been their usual selves; jumping up and down and wringing their hands about the offensive nature of these taunts and threatening to have offending spectators fined and ejected from the stadium. Meanwhile, have they done enough to ensure their own house is in order?

No.

For a number of years the amount of chatter on the field has escalated from the odd, "I'll knock your adjectival block off," the occasional, "Well bowled, now give him another one," and a rare bit of clever gamesmanship, to an incessant stream of inane comments prior to and following each ball. Watching the recent triangular tournament out of Malaysia I was struck by the excessive amount of on-field comment heard through the microphones and not just from those players standing near the stumps.

It drove me mad sitting in the lounge room 4000 kilometres away from the game but no player or umpire did anything to put a stop to this rubbish. If I'd been in the batting side I would have started talking to the bowler from the non-striker's end, while he was running up to bowl. It wouldn't have been appreciated and would have drawn a rebuke from the umpire but it would have got the message across that talking rubbish isn't the sole domain of the fielding side.

Watching the recent triangular tournament out of Malaysia I was struck by the excessive amount of on-field comment heard through the microphones and not just from those players standing near the stumps. It drove me mad sitting in the lounge room 4000 kilometres away from the game but no player or umpire did anything to put a stop to this rubbish.

A batsman is entitled to some peace and quiet out in the middle. If a batsman is subjected to a barrage of comments the contest is heavily weighted in favour of the bowler as he has more team-mates supporting him and the willow wielder generally only has one chance to succeed, while the leather-flinger has many.

Then there is the more important matter of incessant chat leading to something personal being said at the wrong time and an ugly incident erupting on the field.

In addition, it could be that fans are seeing and hearing what is going on and have decided they can be "part" of the contest out in the middle by wading into the opposition from the other side of the fence.

The players have also started doing a lap of honour after a game to thank the fans for their support. This may have seemed like a good idea at the time some marketing guru proposed it but I recall thinking when I first saw it happen at soccer matches many years ago, "It's not smart to thank fans excessively, because they'll start thinking they actually have an influence on the result of a game."

There was nothing wrong with playing good cricket and occasionally doffing your cap as a way of thanking fans for their applause and it wouldn't be a bad time to return to that principle.

The fact that Gibbs has admitted to his wrong doing but is still appealing, suggests he is unaware of the enormity of the issue.

Cricket can't bring an end to abusive behaviour; it is a public problem that can only be addressed by improved education and everybody resolving to do better. However, cricket can do more to ensure its own house is in order, because as we've just seen in the "Gibbs affair" words can be offensive and they do hurt.

A handcuffed Mark Vermeulen arrives at court in Harare with his solicitor © Getty Images

Telford Vice

Are you my bag?" Mark Vermeulen didn't seem to be trying to humour himself or those around him amid the humdrum of another day, another airport. In fact, he sounded entirely serious "You aren't my bag!"

Yup, he was talking earnestly to the luggage as it trundled past him on the carousel. "Why aren't you my bag?" Odd. Just like his behaviour in an interview after he had scored a Test century against the West Indies. As keen as Vermeulen was to discuss his innings, he was prevented from doing so by his own over-riding obsession with the reporter's recording equipment. "What's that button for? What happens if you push it twice? Where do the batteries go?"

Sadly, that fine 118 in Bulawayo three years ago could prove to be Vermeulen's only Test hundred in the wake of his trial for arson after the Zimbabwe academy premises in Harare was destroyed in a fire that raged late on Halloween night.

"He's always been a little ... what's the word, different," says Alistair Campbell, who captained Zimbabwe when Vermeulen made his Test debut in 2002. "He's never reacted that well to authority or to adversity, and some of his actions in those situations have not been those of normal people. Everyone is allowed their idiosyncrasies and professional sport is full of oddballs. But they don't go around burning down buildings." That's the difference between being considered a harmless madman - someone like Merv Hughes - and being confirmed as a total loony.

Vermeulen, it seems, has long been a grenade without a pin. His past is littered with incidents of poor discipline and irrational conduct and while action was taken in several instances, it seems he never managed to curb his wilder ways.

But Campbell also remembers, between the rough spots, a talented, easygoing youngster who did show others the necessary respect. "In his calmer moments he was like a kid with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) who took his medicine," Campbell recalls. "When he had proper guidance - when the Flowers and other experienced players were in the team - then he did take direction. But I think when everyone left he fell apart. Perhaps his ambition was to play with those guys.

"Even now when I see him, he comes up to me and says, 'Let's make a comeback, lets go to the World Cup'.

Maybe the turnaround of things, when he realised he couldn't play with the best anymore, wasn't good for him. He didn't mind taking direction from people who knew what they were talking about. He always had a mad streak in him, but it was never as pronounced as it was after the old guard left."

Vermeulen made his Test debut in a team that, besides Campbell, included Grant Flower, Andy Flower, Tatenda Taibu, Andy Blignaut, Ray Price and Henry Olonga. For much of his international career of eight Tests and 32 one-day internationals, he was captained by Heath Streak.

These days Zimbabwe can only dream of fielding a side studded with cricketers of that level of skill and experience. Player strikes and rebellions, contractual disagreements, and the sheer daily strife that comes with living in one of the most economically, politically and socially dysfunctional societies in the world have ripped the heart out the game.

Did Zimbabwe's systems fail Vermeulen?

"Vermeulen is not the first player like this," Campbell says. "The difference with most of the others is that they were in a system where, if you behaved like that, you just didn't play cricket. You were ostracised. Here, guys like that tended to get away with a lot more. If there had been a system in place with counselling, and if things like this had been taken seriously, it might have been different." But in Zimbabwe, with its tiny player base and generally impoverished cricket structures, there was no safety net for Vermeulen.

Vermeulen is 27 years old, which in better circumstances would mean he should have another 10 years of playing cricket at a decent level to look forward to before having to consider other ways to earn his keep. That his career is probably over is due in large part to the events of September 10 in a Central Lancashire League match between Werneth and Ashton. Vermeulen, a professional for Werneth, reacted to a spectator's verbal suggestion that his bowling might improve if he removed his sunglasses by throwing a ball in the crowd's direction. Then he grabbed a boundary marker, which had a steel spike attached to it ...

Before Vermeulen could add to his woes he was frogmarched off the ground - effing and blinding all the way - and out of English cricket. That much was confirmed when he was banned for 10 years from all matches played under the auspices of the England and Wales Cricket Board. The ban was subsequently cut to three years, of which the last two were suspended.

But how many clubs would be able to see past such a significant blot and hire him to play for them? "We are pleased that the board have clearly recognised the substantial mitigation put forward on Mark's behalf," Vermeulen's legal representative, Andrew Fitch-Holland, said at the hearing at which the sentence was reduced. "However, we are disappointed that Mark remains subject to an effective 12-month ban. Mark is totally focused on fighting for a place in Zimbabwe's World Cup squad and is obviously concerned as to how this outcome will be viewed."

After Irfan Pathan's bouncer smashed into his skull, Vermeulen came out of surgery with steel plates in his head. Another such injury would have serious consequences to his well-being © Getty Images

It was under this heavy cloud that Vermeulen returned to Zimbabwe determined to resurrect his career. "When he came back and said to Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), 'I want a contract and I want to play for Zimbabwe again', they quite rightly told him he had this thing hanging over his head in England, which was not ideal, and to go play league cricket and prove himself," Campbell explains. "But to fob off someone who's already unstable was just asking for trouble. There was absolutely no support base for a guy like him, there was no system to fall into. That was a recipe for a bomb going off, which is basically what happened.

"You'd think he might try and knock out the chief executive or something. But to do what he did - if, of course, he's guilty - you've got to realise there's a serious problem. Put yourself in his position: 'If I come back at least I can play cricket again. But now I can't do that. In fact, I've got nothing. Now what do I do?' It's a scary scenario."

Even players who did not face Vermeulen's personal challenges were shaken by their first cold blasts of reality, Campbell says. "Playing professional cricket is a pampered lifestyle. You're not really aware of the outside world, and when you're dropped into it it's a bit of a story. Teams these days have fitness coaches and dieticians and all sorts of things, but not enough of an effort is made to assess players' mental strength and aptitude to play at international level - what it takes out of you and what it creates inside you.

"Playing for Zimbabwe was never about making money, it was all about fun on the road and having a good time. Suddenly that's taken away from you, and you're not staying in nice hotels and you have to pay a few bills."

Presumably, Vermeulen had similar topics on his mind early in October when he apparently walked up to Robert Mugabe's front gate and demanded to see "the patron" to "talk about cricket". Zimbabwe president Mugabe is indeed the patron of cricket in the country. The walls surrounding his residence in Harare bristle with razor wire and men armed with bayonets, AK47s and notoriously short tempers. This time they didn't shoot, and Vermeulen was simply arrested. Upon his release, he went back at the gate and restated his demand. Somehow, he survived again.

In the days before the fire, the Zimbabwe squad played practice matches at the academy ground in preparation for their tour to Bangladesh. "He tried to stop one of the matches at the academy; he was throwing boundary boards and bricks onto the field," says Zimbabwe coach Kevin Curran.

A source claimed Vermeulen "went into the gym at the academy and poured whisky all over himself, and told people about what he was going to do". A fire was extinguished before it took hold in the ZC boardroom on October 30. The next night the academy building, a handsome two-storey thatched structure, was razed. Vermeulen was seen leaving the scene even as the flames leapt into the darkness.

The remains of the Academy. Vermeulen was seen leaving the premises as the fire engulfed the building © Cricinfo

He was arrested and charged with two counts of arson, and he appeared in court in Harare on November 3. He was granted bail of US$2000, but his passport was confiscated. Vermeulen's lawyer, David Dhumbura, said his client had been compelled to "make indications to the police without the presence of his defence team" - legalese for claiming a confession had been wrung out of him. The trial was set for December 6, but it was adjourned until February 7 because the police had not yet furnished the defence with a copy of video evidence in which Vermeulen had, again according to Dhumbura, "made indications" to the police.

Dhumbura might also consider the rest of the evidence in Vermeulen's dossier. While batting for Prince Edward School in 1996, Vermeulen was given out lbw. He was adamant that he had edged the ball onto his pad, and he made plain his displeasure by ripping the stumps out of the ground and locking himself in the dressing-room. There would seem to be more to this incident, because he was suspended from school, axed from the Mashonaland Schools team, and barred from playing for Old Hararians, which had an arrangement with Prince Edward to include boys from the school in its club sides. It took the intervention of Bill Flower, the immensely respected father of Andy and Grant, to earn Vermeulen a return to cricket the next year.
In June 2003, Vermeulen was sent home from Zimbabwe's tour to England after he defied an ostensibly reasonable instruction that he travel on the team bus from Chester-le-Street to the squad's Durham hotel. "Mark has been warned about his conduct on a number of separate occasions during the tour but unfortunately has not heeded that advice," manager Babu Meman said at the time.

Vermeulen's bad mood might have been prompted by the fact that he had become just the 13th player in Test cricket to record a pair on the same day. But he couldn't have been too bleak earlier in the tour at Hove, when he scored 198 against Sussex and then refused to field a ball because "it's too cold".

Four months earlier during the World Cup Vermeulen's skull was fractured by a delivery from team-mate Travis Friend in the nets in Bloemfontein. Just 11 months after that calamity, Irfan Pathan smashed Vermeulen's skull again in a one-dayer in Brisbane. This time he emerged from three-and-a-half hours under anaesthetic with steel plates holding his head together. Another such injury, the doctors warned, could have serious consequences for Vermeulen's future well-being.

Vermeulen is not the only Zimbabwean cricketer who lives a troubled life. Another Test player, well respected and admired, has fallen victim to self-mutilation and slashes his arms with a razor blade. Still another player, who is easily counted among Zimbabwe's greatest, punishes himself for a poor stroke by refusing fluids and running long distances.

Sometimes cricket is not at all a funny old game ...

This round to the leggie: Warne gets Pietersen bowled around the legs on day five of the 2006 Adelaide Ashes Test © Getty Images

Gideon Haigh

A game consisting of clearly delineated individual contests, cricket seems to contain huge potential for the creation and maintenance of personal rivalries. Most of them, however, are low-key and intimate, lost in the corporate struggle. Who remembers who dismissed or punished whom last time, or the time before? Only, generally, the opponents themselves; even then, the game's structure tends to the complex, and competition to the diffuse.

Yet when Shane Warne bowls to Kevin Pietersen, their rivalry is unmistakeable. On occasion, as at Lord's on Pietersen's debut, or as most recently at the Adelaide Oval, it is almost as if the match has been suspended around them while they work through their differences - and their similarities. For these are, if not quite peas in a pod, men cut from similar designer cloth, with their partying instincts, playboy lifestyles, and look-at-me attitudes. Plus, of course, they've played more cricket together than apart: it was Warne as captain of Hampshire who lured Pietersen from Nottinghamshire, who talked up Pietersen's potential to play Test cricket, and who deals with a mingled sense of vindication and frustration at Pietersen's successes.

This is a model for Warne's cricket friendships, which have tended to be with players and individuals like him, from Ian Botham to Brian Lara, because these tend to validate his own personality. In his introduction to Pietersen's new autobiography, Crossing The Boundary (2006), Warne describes his mate as "a kind and generous guy who just wants to be liked and play cricket": he would almost certainly settle for a similar description of himself.

Pietersen reciprocates with testimonials still more lavish, and heartfelt - and the friendship suits him too. He needs to feel appreciated; his relations with South Africa and Nottinghamshire soured when he did not feel so. Warne's endorsements when he arrived at the Rose Bowl were a tonic to his system. Warne's presence as a bowler when he made his Test debut, he has explained, made all the difference: "It helped that we were mates. It relaxed me out there and helped me to be positive against him... I really enjoyed facing him." Pietersen made 57, including a huge six off Warne into the second tier of the Grand Stand at Lord's, and 64 not out; Warne claimed six crucial wickets in a winning cause, including Pietersen caught in the deep. Honour was satisfied: in individual terms their matches could hardly have been better balanced. In the spirit of two other great cricket friends-cum-rivals, Keith Miller and Denis Compton, they spent the night of the climactic day out on the town.

Rivalries, however, cannot always be so satisfying to both protagonists. Methinks that sometimes Warne and Pietersen protest their mutual admiration too much. Their first meetings on the county circuit were actually inauspicious. When Hampshire hosted Notts in June 2004, going down to a two-day defeat, Pietersen impressed Warne with his poise and footwork in an innings of 49 from 88 deliveries. In his introduction to Crossing the Boundary, Warne takes up the story of when they met again, seven weeks later at Trent Bridge: "When he came out to bat I stood at the top of my mark and gave him some serious verbals. I wanted to see how he would react. And it was just how I thought he would. When I was coming in to bowl, KP pulled away, and, well, it really started then. I gave it to him again verbally and then, second ball, he was out, caught at bat pad. Nothing needed to be said." Nothing is, for Pietersen does not give his own version of the encounter - an intriguing omission.

'Savour this moment'. There might not be many more ahead © Getty Images

Warne wasn't about to give Pietersen any gimmes in Test cricket either. He bowled for much of the 2005 Ashes series with a fielder at deep midwicket: Pietersen's long reach and loose wrists enable him to slog-sweep deliveries that others would push to cover. Warne teased him: "Why aren't you taking me on?" Pietersen protested: "Bring your cow corner up and I will hit you." Warne did it cleverly at The Oval, posting the cow corner at three-quarters of the way to the boundary to tempt the shot, but only if Pietersen could be sure of hitting it cleanly. Pietersen shaped to play and aborted three or four times, finally changing his mind too late and being bowled. Warne might then have cut Pietersen's Test career short in the second innings, having him missed, at slip, and famously missing him personally, also at slip, before his mighty 158 was underway.

Even then, Warne gave little away deliberately. He is a generous opponent - but not at his own expense. There was admiration but no concession in his response to the innings. When Jack Dempsey went down to Gene Tunney in the epic "Long Count" fight 80 years ago, he immortally conceded: "You were best. You fought a smart fight, kid." Warne crossed to Pietersen as the batsman walked off, and advised: "Savour the moment." Good advice, but not without a tincture of "enjoy it while it lasts". Warne's opinion of Pietersen in My Illustrated Career (2006) is likewise seasoned: "He has a good temperament and whatever happens against us, I think he has a great future, as long as he doesn't get carried away with off-field stuff, and keeps his feet on the ground." Again, not without a hint of "do as I say, not as I do."

In the current series, Warne has been more minatory still, going perilously close to losing his cool, especially in his importunings of umpires. It evinces both how much he cares about the series, and also how he fancies it will be won - by the same kind of relentless aggression as Australia were submitted to in 2005. An incident at the Gabba suggested that this was causing tensions between these best of friendly enemies. A waspish throw from Warne to Adam Gilchrist passed too close for Pietersen's comfort; he curtly bunted it away, and responded with a couple of words, the second of which was "off".

At Adelaide their rivalry took a new turn, Warne seeking to smother Pietersen in the first innings by coming round the wicket and pitching endlessly into the footmarks from the second day; the batsman stepping out with pads like a man scotching a spider. It was not great bowling, but it was the work of a great bowler: only a bowler completely secure in his game and name would have dared lay down such a creeping barrage. Pietersen had magnificently the better of this contest, compiling another 158, but Warne conclusively the better of its sequel on the last day, when he reverted to over the wicket and bowled Pietersen behind his legs with his first ball. It was, in truth, a nondescript ball, and not even Warne could spin it into an anecdote. Asked at the press conference afterwards whether it had been part of a plan, he wracked his brain before giving up: "Uuuuuuummmmm... no."

On reflection, though, Warne may be being too modest. Their interactions over the last two and a half years now shade all their contests, each man trying to assert himself - Warne to fortify his reputation, Pietersen to build his. Each, therefore, is a little ahead of himself, letting the analytical give way to the emotional. Pietersen in his book, for instance, had already discounted the possibility of Warne ever bowling him round his legs: "I know he has got people out like this, but not me, I'm sure of it." Oops.

It will be interesting to note how Pietersen carries on in Test cricket in the absence of Warne © Getty Images

This is dangerous territory for both men. In his autobiography Serious (2002), John McEnroe describes how his rivalry with Bjorn Borg turned on those moments when one or the other lost focus. When he won that immortal 34-point point fourth-set tiebreaker in the 1980 Wimbledon final, McEnroe thought he was about to break Borg's incredible four-year hold on the tournament. Borg fought back with such unexampled ferocity that McEnroe became upset: "Come on, isn't enough enough?" The momentary distraction was enough to finish him.

Later that year, however, they met again at Forest Hills, where Borg was the pursuer, seeking his first US Open title. This time Borg seemed to be storming home, taking the match into a fifth set, a vantage from which he was almost unbeatable. But sensing that his opponent was thinking about the title already rather than the match, McEnroe rallied and won. "When we shook hands," recalls McEnroe, "I could see that he was devastated." When McEnroe beat Borg again at Wimbledon the following year, he fancied him "oddly relieved".

McEnroe then illuminates the other problem area of a great rivalry: that moment when the roles shift. The best years of his career, McEnroe considers, were those when he was in Borg's shadow. He enjoyed the tennis, the tour, the pursuit of his potential, the thrill of the chase: "I loved being the lone gunfighter, working my way up the ranks, but still not being the guy." But when his great rival quit, the top on his own was a lonely place: "Borg's leaving tennis was... a huge blow to the sport and for me personally... I had a very tough time motivating myself and getting back on track."

Warne v Pietersen is a relationship conceived on the lines of sorcerer and apprentice. How will they deal with capabilities closer to parity? How will Pietersen find life on his own? Watch this space - even if it is two feet outside leg stump.

Gideon Haigh is a cricket historian and writer based in Melbourne

80 Tests in charge and still going strong © Getty Images

Tim de Lisle

Being an international captain is a less perilous business than it used to be. Most of the current incumbents of the major nations have been there a while. Stephen Fleming is the daddy of them all, with 80 Tests in charge dating right back to February 1997: rare is the captain who gets to decide whether to have a 10th-anniversary party. Brian Lara gets sacked or resigns every so often, but never for long: he is now in his third stint, spread over nine years.

Ricky Ponting is wearing the crown easily again after holding it for three years in Tests and five in one-day internationals (though he should perhaps think about retiring from Twenty20: if you don't like the format, why play it?). Graeme Smith, still only 25, has already been South African captain for four years. After struggling at first, then slowly improving, he may yet break all records. Inzamam-ul-Haq has managed to bring some continuity to the Pakistan captaincy, the closest thing in cricket to the Italian prime ministership.

Rahul Dravid, who found captaincy comfortable at first, has hit a rocky patch two years in, but will surely be given another chance. Sri Lanka went through a spell of not knowing who to have as captain, but now Mahela Jayawardene, who took over a year ago, has made the job his own
with three good series results in a row. Which leaves England.

When England changed their captain at the weekend, it was the seventh time they had done so in just over a year. Michael Vaughan handed over to Marcus Trescothick, who handed back to Vaughan, who handed back to Trescothick, who handed over to Andrew Flintoff, who handed over to Andrew Strauss, who handed back to Flintoff, who has now handed over to Vaughan. At first the changes were enforced, by injury or illness, but the last two have been the selectors' choice.

So far only one has resulted in a series win - when the buck passed to Strauss, who pulled off a good, if Hair-assisted, win over Pakistan. By definition, England have been without key players, and not just captains: Simon Jones may have been missed as much as any of the above.
But the record is still a ropey one, which, since that dismal day in Adelaide, is now verging on the catastrophic.

The selectors' response has been highly unusual. In bringing Vaughan back at this stage, they have in effect picked a specialist captain. Vaughan is a fine, at times scintillating Test batsman, or was, but there is no way that he has proved his fitness yet after a year out with serious knee trouble. He has played three or four gentle warm-ups with a highest score of 27. The only time he made runs in the past year, with a score of 99 for Yorkshire, he ached so much that he realised he needed further surgery. The only time he played for England, his captain (Strauss, standing in for Flintoff in Perth last month; do try to keep up) didn't think it was worth giving him a bat. It's great to see him back in the frame, but there is no doubt about what he has been picked for: his captaincy.

This is something selectors around the world hardly ever do any more. Only two cases in point come to mind from the last decade, both of them batting captains who were allowed to carry on while severely out of form. One was Australia's Mark Taylor, who went through a nightmare run
of 11 Tests without a fifty in 1996 and 1997. It cost him the one-day captaincy, but he clung on in Tests and made a career-saving hundred at Edgbaston, just in the nick of time. Something similar happened to England's Nasser Hussain in 2000-01. Both men were excellent captains:
if they hadn't been, they would have been dropped.

Over to you, Tres. Back to you, Michael © Getty Images

On those occasions, the selectors concerned were letting a reigning captain be. This time, David Graveney and co. have brought one back after a year out, which is more of a stretch. Graveney has been consistent in saying that Vaughan is the England captain, and he is now
cashing in on that investment. It allows him to replace Flintoff without sacking him. England seem anxious not to offend Flintoff (what do they think he will do? Join another country?). This little fiction has allowed them to bring off a bloodless coup.

The decision prompts mixed feelings. Graveney is in a certain amount of denial about the Ashes, refusing to accept that it was a mistake to appoint Flintoff ahead of Strauss. But it's to his credit that England have become a nation reluctant to sack Test captains: in Graveney's
stint as chairman, nearly ten years now, only Alec Stewart has been pushed. It's a big improvement on the bad old days of heads-must-roll. And it's refreshing to find selectors prepared to treat captaincy as a specialist skill, which it clearly is. To play his primary role,
Vaughan doesn't have to be fully fit. Darren Lehmann revealed recently that Steve Waugh had sometimes captained Australia while carrying injuries, by "hiding himself at gully"; and that worked out pretty well.

The problem is that, for the umpteenth time this winter, England are taking a risk on a half-fit player. Waugh, in his dotage, had less to lose than Vaughan. It would be a crying shame if Vaughan's chances of a Test renaissance were scuppered by rushing him into the form of the
game he struggles at anyway. The second problem is that Vaughan himself said he wouldn't countenance a comeback until he was fully fit. And the third problem is that Graveney has refused to say who is now vice-captain, which presumably means it is Strauss: if it was Flintoff,
there would be no awkwardness about saying so. The selectors have made a bold move, but they don't seem to have matched deeds with words. It is all a little too English for comfort.

Graeme Smith averted what could have been a disaster for his team © AFP

A series that began with India supposedly on a hiding to nothing ended on the final day at Newlands with the team wondering how they let a coveted away win escape like sand through cupped fingers. On a pitch that Graeme Smith wished that he'd never see again in the southern cape, India dominated for three days before freezing in sight of the finish line. The batting on the fourth afternoon will forever be a black mark in the annals of the Indian game, and the shabby display in the field on the final day obliterated pleasant memories of four golden days at the Wanderers.

When it came to the crunch, Indian cricket's legends failed it, even as South Africa's key performers carried their team home. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid set the negative tone while batting in slow motion, and the lethargy spread to Anil Kumble, who went wicketless on a fifth-day surface against batsmen not renowned for their ability to combat the turning ball.

The rot had set in at Kingsmead, on a second morning when South Africa's last two wickets added 73 to take the gloss off another strong bowling performance. As at the Wanderers, Sreesanth had led the way, with beautiful use of the seam while swinging the ball at lively pace. With the momentum having shifted, South Africa pressed home their advantage, with Makhaya Ntini's magnificent final-day bowling bringing about a result that hadn't appeared possible as bad light cast a pall over the whole match.

The batting of Ashwell Prince was a crucial part of South Africa's success © AFP

Even without the injured Jacques Kallis, South Africa's batsmen had rebounded after the Johannesburg humiliation, with Ashwell Prince and Graeme Smith at the forefront of the revival. Smith's second-innings 58 turned out to be pivotal in more ways than one, heralding as it did a return to form after a woeful start to the season. At Newlands, in front of his adopted home crowd, he was once more the intimidating leader, muscling strokes in every direction on his way to two priceless half-centuries.

India's answer was a whimper. A year ago, Virender Sehwag was the most feared opener in the game. But after a series where his highest score, 40, came from the middle order, he might just be yesterday's news, with his form, fitness and attitude all under a cloud. Time away from the limelight has revived the careers of men like Sourav Ganguly and Michael Clarke, and an enforced sabbatical is perhaps Sehwag's best hope of coming back as the player we all know he can be.

If anything, this series only reinforced just how crucial Dravid is to India's Test plans. For the first time since the home series against South Africa in 1999-2000, he finished without a half-century, and it was Ganguly that finished top of the Indian run chart with 214 runs. To be fair to Dravid, he got two poor decisions in Durban, and the officiating on the whole made a mockery of the Elite Panel concept.

While the batting side of things was an unmitigated disaster, things couldn't have been more different with the ball. Sreesanth will wonder how he took more wickets than Ntini and Shaun Pollock (18 at 21.94) and yet finished on the losing side, while Zaheer Khan was the perfect foil on his return from the wilderness. Kumble disappointed at Newlands, but was as committed as ever while wheeling away for more overs (134) than any bowler
on either side.

Where India lost out was in the fourth-bowler stakes. VRV Singh's inexperience showed in the first two Tests, while Munaf Patel's shocking lack of fitness in the series decider made a mockery of his selection. Playing him on the back of hardly any match practice was always going to be a gamble, and it failed signally. It didn't help either than Irfan Pathan was already back home, trying to resuscitate a career that has gone into freefall since the tour of the West Indies.

But in the midst of the all-pervasive gloom at Newlands, India rediscovered a talent that hadn't yet come to fruition when first exposed to international cricket. Dinesh Karthik was an eleventh-hour replacement for the injured Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and the character he showed when pushed up to open the batting in the first innings augured well for the future. He was tidy behind the stumps as well, and his constant chirping tried to coax some energy out of a group where too many individuals sleepwalked their way through one of the biggest games of their lives.

The Wanderers win had been an emphatic response after the utter mediocrity of the one-day series. But instead of building on it, India blinked when confronted by the key moments that decide the fate of a series. Nothing worthwhile was ever achieved through timidity and a conservative approach, and the harsh lessons learnt at Durban and Cape Town will have to be taken on board before India embark on the ultimate tests - tours of England and Australia. And it would certainly help if the fielding didn't resemble a bunch of geriatrics having a Sunday hit.

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan

In a series where the scales constantly tilted,Cricinfo picked out eight
phases where the momentum shifted. It often took just one manic passage of play
for the game to turn with neither team dominating extended periods. The
pendulum swings made it one of the best series in recent memory

'17.1 overs, 45 runs, seven wickets. It was a spell of bowling like few others seen in Indian cricket history. Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan engineered an abrupt annihilation' © Getty Images

VRV's verve

The first Test hung in a fine balance on the second morning at Johannesburg when India's No.11 VRV Singh sauntered in. India had just lost 4 for 39 and seemed to have squandered high ground but VRV, in a hectic 27 minutes, wrenched back the initiative. Backing away outside
leg stump and swinging his arms with rustic abandon, VRV splintered six fours and added 44 for the last wicket with Sourav Ganguly. Amid raucous cheers fom the stands and uncontrollable laughter, VRV had coolly caused a momentum shift from which South Africa never recovered.

The Zak and Sree show

17.1 overs, 45 runs, seven wickets. It was a spell of bowling like few others seen in Indian cricket history. Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan engineered an abrupt annihilation, turning the contest into a one-horse race. The sight of South African batsmen groping outside off, hopping
and edging in their own backyard was clear indication of how rattled they were. India surged ahead from that point and wrapped up the Test in due course.

Prince ploughs South Africa out of trouble

South Africa's top order continued its struggle in the second Test at Durban, floundering at 28 for 3, when Ashwell Prince entered. His outstanding 97 at Johannesburg had been drowned in a wave of Indian elation but he wasn't to be overshadowed here, gnawing his way to his third century of the year. He realised 94 runs with Herschelle Gibbs and another even 100 with Mark Boucher, allowing South Africa to cross 300 and gain some sort of advantage.

After a traumatic start Graeme Smith hit his straps and led by example © Getty Images

Ntini leads bowling revival

Unlike at the Wanderers where they tried to bowl too short on a pitch that demanded fullish deliveries, South Africa's bowlers rejigged their plans. Makhaya Ntini was at the heart of the revival, sticking to a back-of-a-length strategy and targeting India with disconcerting bounce.
Ntini's wickets of Tendulkar and Ganguly in quick succession - one to an overambitious shot, the other to a thunderbolt of a bouncer - provided the much needed boost and to establish their dominance.

Smith finally strikes

It was an innings that was to have a bearing not only on the match but on the series as well. Graeme Smith had endured a horror patch since the start of the ODI series and his return to form, with a confident half-century, was a vital fillip for South Africa. From that point on, Smith didn't let up on his steely resolve and led by example through the series.

India get an 'Indian' pitch

Rahul Dravid gave his team-mates a New Year gift by winning the toss and batting first on a belter at Newlands. Wasim Jaffer and makeshift opener Dinesh Karthik cruised through the opening two sessions, adding 153 and setting the base for a huge total. The cracks were already developing on the surface and everything seemed to be in India's favour on a distinctly sub-continental pitch. South Africa were staring at a huge total as India could bat them out of the game completely.

In the second innings at Cape Town Tendulkar and Dravid added 24 runs in 15 overs, to which Tendulkar contributed 9 in 45 balls © Getty Images

Pollock evens the odds

First with the ball and then with a plucky partnership with Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock dragged South Africa back into the game. His four wickets in the first innings, apart from an economical line where he hardly gave any freebies, kept India down to 414. Then, with South
Africa battling on a tough pitch and reduced to 281 for 6, he rattled off 69 with Mark Boucher and steered them closer to India's score. It was an inspired effort and one that South Africa desperately needed to come back in the match.

The Tendulkar-Dravid crawl

England recently suffered at Adelaide, after their scoring ground to a halt, and India committed the same blunder on the fourth afternoon. The fourth wicket stand between Tendulkar and Dravid produced 24 runs in 15 overs, to which Tendulkar contributed 9 in 45 balls. Pollock was giving
nothing away and Paul Harris troubling the batsmen with his over-the-wicket line spinning it from the rough. Yet, the batsmen will blame themselves for the sudden drop in scoring rate and letting South Africa roar back into the contest. It was the decisive momentum shift that was to eventually seal the series.

Preparation? What preparation? © Getty Images

Preparation

Andrew Miller

If you believe the likes of Dennis Lillee and Ian Chappell, England's Ashes campaign was doomed from the moment they opted to shirk their responsibilities at the ICC Champions Trophy, and treat the tournament as an inconvenient obstacle rather than a means for gathering momentum. England in fact erred twice in India - firstly by failing even to pretend they were interested in winning, and secondly by flying home for ten days' R & R immediately afterwards - a decision that Lillee slammed as "stupid". Australia, meanwhile, were runaway winners, with runaway momentum.

Selection

Ashley Giles for Monty Panesar, Geraint Jones for Chris Read, Jimmy Anderson for Sajid Mahmood. Three integral members of the side that had defeated a strong Pakistan were stripped away like dead wood... to be replaced by dead wood. Giles later admitted that the team bus had been "a quiet place" on the way to the Gabba on the first morning of the series, and little wonder. With Andrew Flintoff also feeling his way back to fitness, England had done exactly what they vowed never to do again after the last Ashes Down Under, and loaded their team with unfit and unfocussed players.

That wide

The contrast was so stark it was scary. At Lord's in 2005, Steve Harmison had torn into Australia's batsman, clattering Langer's elbow and drawing blood on Ricky Ponting's cheek. It was a skirmish that set the tone for the war that followed. This time, Harmison's first ball landed in the hands of his best mate, Andrew Flintoff, at second slip. In a single moment, the hype and the houpla had been sucked out of the stadium, to be replaced by a nagging, dreadful familiarity.

That drop

Poor Ashley Giles may never play Test cricket again, and if he doesn't, he will take with him visions of that awful moment at Adelaide, when he let Ricky Ponting off the hook at the most critical moment of the tour. England had ground their way to a tedious but towering 551 for 6 declared, and Australia in reply were wobbling at 74 for 3. Ponting - still livid at a perceived beamer from Harmison - swished angrily at a long-hop from Hoggard, but Giles, ten yards in from the rope, couldn't cling on as he leapt. He went on to add another 107 runs.

	Coach and captain: not the gelling partnership it could have been © Getty Images

Flintoff's isolation

It's a lonely job being England captain, but the one thing that Andrew Flintoff was expected to bring to the show was camaraderie and the ethos of mateship. Sadly, nothing of the sort manifested itself in the performance of his key lieutenants. Marcus Trescothick never made it to the side, Andrew Strauss was mystifyingly out of sorts despite hardly looking out of form. Harmison was a lame duck throughout. And he never seemed to gel with his coach, either. Duncan Fletcher failed to cop the flak as he might have done for Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan, preferring instead to share the blame with his overworked skipper.

That win

The single biggest factor in England's humiliation. Australia's desperation to atone for their loss in 2005 vastly outweighed any English desire to build on the foundations of that glorious summer. Australia were derided as Dad's Army by Ian Botham, but their selectors' faith in their old lags was fully justified. Warne admitted he would have quit after 2005 had the series gone his way. It's no wonder they were unstoppable in their bid for vengeance.

Peter English

Australia's Test team will undergo an enforced shake-up later this year after the retirements of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer. Peter English takes a look at the players jostling for a place in the side.

Opening batsmen

Phil Jaques already has two Test matches under his belt © Getty Images

Phil Jaques

He's been hot for years on the domestic scene but has gone cold after a couple of centuries against England at the start of their tour. An aggressive left-hander, Jaques stormed into the one-day side with 94 on debut in 2005-06, but was promptly dropped in favour of the incumbent Simon Katich. He's played two Tests and four ODIs so is already in the selectors' thoughts.

Chris Rogers

The Jaques push from New South Wales is strong, but the voices in the west are demanding the promotion of Chris Rogers. A conversation with David Boon, the Australia selector, where Rogers was told to bat all day instead of aiming always to attack, has led to outstanding results. He has scored 799 Pura Cup runs this summer, including 279 at Perth and a century on a tricky Hobart pitch, and worked on his slow-bowling play with Monty Panesar during an off-season stint at Northamptonshire. Australia's Test players know him too - he scored 219 against them when at Leicestershire in 2005.

Michael Hussey

Opening is his favourite spot and after starring for Australia in the middle order during his first two summers he deserves to be asked where he wants to camp.

Spin bowling

Dan Cullen's progress has slowed after a blistering start to his career © Getty Images

Stuart MacGill

Replacing Shane Warne is going to be impossible, at least in the short to medium term, but Stuart MacGill is the most qualified after being the perennial understudy. His 198 Test wickets at 27.20 are an impressive return and he has the second-best strike-rate of any Australian with more than 100 Test scalps, although he was overlooked for the Ashes for the second series in a row. A knee injury and a club suspension for abuse disrupted his summer and at 35 his international career is teetering. It could be over unless Australia need him desperately, so he might be back in a couple of Tests.

Dan Cullen

Young and critically acclaimed, Dan Cullen shares the same mentor as Shane Warne. Terry Jenner spends hours working on Cullen's offspin in Adelaide and he made his Test debut alongside Warne and MacGill in Bangladesh. He burst on to the state scene with 43 wickets three summers ago, surprising people with his control and a version of the doosra, but his average has expanded (27 wickets at 46 in 2005-06 and 3 at 76 this season) and he also struggled during a stint at Somerset. It is a crucial year.

Cullen Bailey

Cullen Bailey, a legspinner, is another in Jenner's South Australia stable and has been given a licence to attack under Darren Lehmann's captaincy. He's only 22 so don't predict miracles, but he has shown enough to be a contender as he matures. Bailey has captured 17 wickets at 40 in four Pura Cup games this season and will battle for recognition with the New South Wales pair of Beau Casson and Nathan Hauritz.

The fast men

Mitchell Johnson has spent time with the team after being named 12th man for all five Ashes Tests © Getty Images

Stuart Clark

The next McGrath will soon be the now McGrath. Five hundred Test wickets might be a bit much to ask for, but three or four years of solid service will help the transition while Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait develop into frontliners.

Mitchell Johnson

A bouncy left-armer, Mitchell Johnson may benefit most from McGrath's departure as it will open up a space. Johnson has spent the Ashes series travelling the country as the 12th man after he was superb at the Champions Trophy and the Malaysian tri-series. Now he waits for a Test chance.

Shaun Tait

The shoulder injury that stopped Shaun Tait's progress after he played two Tests on the Ashes tour is fixed and he is back to slinging reverse-swinging yorkers and un-playable short balls. Like Johnson, he has been in Test squads this summer. Like Johnson, he hasn't found an opening.

Ben Hilfenhaus

A bricklayer before last season, Ben Hilfenhaus has quickly built himself an impressive reputation as a swing bowler. A fast man from Tasmania is a rare breed - the last one to play a Test was Greg Campbell in 1989 - and he now needs to prove he can get consistent wickets away from Bellerive Oval.

by Andrew McLean

Hamish Marshall and Jamie How, one of many opening combinations New Zealand experimented with in 2006 © Getty Images

My lasting memory of 2006 will be who's-turn-is-it next - otherwise known as opening the batting for New Zealand in Test cricket. It is now over 20 years since Bruce Edgar gave it away, yet still we gag for a partnership of the quality he formed with John Wright...not that you would know it from the Test selections in 2006. On the contrary, a casual observer would think New Zealand had such riches at the top of the order it was akin to picking a new tie for another day at the office.

James Marshall and Lou Vincent were the incumbent openers prior to the first Test side of 2006 being chosen. They were replaced with Hamish Marshall and Jamie How for the West Indies series which was duly won 2-0. Never change a winning line up the adage goes. But not when John Bracewell is in charge. Onwards to South Africa and Peter Fulton replaced How first up, he then partnered Michael Papps when Marshall was injured before How returned in the place of Fulton for the last hurrah of the season.

Confused? Well so were they and, eventually, so was Bracewell. He finally conceded, in December, that the most important trait for a Test opener ideally needed to be, wait for it...an opener. The problem hasn't so much been a lack of openers: there are plenty who would have jumped at the chance, including Vincent whose omission from the tour of South Africa was never credibly explained. Rather it has been Bracewell's infatuation with trying players out in one-day cricket and his inability to then demarcate the Test side.

Fulton is the prime example. He got a chance in the one-dayers against Sri Lanka and the West Indies, substituted for Scott Styris in the Tests that followed and when Stryis was fit, Fulton became a Test opener. And, to finish the story, he's not anymore. Funnily enough, despite Australia's middle-order riches, I don't recall Damien Martyn or Steve Waugh opening the batting. Equally, don't expect Kevin Pietersen to either, unless Bracewell replaces the equally-under pressure Duncan Fletcher after the World Cup.

Not your average New Zealand batsman © Getty Images

New man on the block

Peter Fulton made a strong case after being given the coveted No. 4 spot in the one-day side for much of the year. Ross Taylor, though, takes the prize after his unbeaten century at Napier against Sri Lanka a few days before New Year.

Taylor oozes class and confidence in his body language alone. Cricketing-wise, he now has five one-day caps and is already striking at a rate of 93.56. Domestically, he has promised a lot for a few seasons now but things really only fell into place during 2005-06, when he averaged just under 50 in first-class cricket and 59 in one-dayers.

There's no doubt Taylor can spank a cricket ball but there is one story that may never be proven or otherwise. Taylor is said to have hit a hapless bowler onto the roof of the R A Vance Stand at Wellington's Basin Reserve. Personally, I've never seen anyone get anywhere near it but Taylor is not your typical New Zealand cricketer.

Fading star

If New Zealand is to win the World Cup, chances are it will be on the back of a Nathan Astle hundred opening the innings. His 16 one-day hundreds stand far ahead of the next highest, Stephen Fleming with 6, and in February he topped the stats against the West Indies when he averaged 73 in five matches. Now 35, Astle no longer has age on his side and, possibly too, the drive to continue. In the 2006 English domestic season, he managed just three 50s and an average of 36 in eight first-class matches for Lancashire. His one-day form was markedly better, however.

Only a disastrous run of form would see Astle not make his 5th appearance at a World Cup and one senses it will be his swansong. The danger for Astle is not himself: his blazing 83 prior to Taylor's aforementioned ton was evidence enough. If there is a noose, it is being in a team where your spot could be someone else's tomorrow for no real reason. Astle has always been a quiet character, not one for the spotlight. Now though, he must lose that conservative Canterburyism and demand to go in first.

Nathan Astle: one, final swansong © Getty Images

High point

Regrettably, there were none to speak of in the 2006 calendar year. It started with a sour hangover from the virtually-alcohol-free one-dayer against Sri Lanka in Queenstown that should have been a New Year's Eve party and ended with a pounding by the same opposition at Napier and the sketchiest of wins a few days later, again back at Queenstown. In between times, the West Indies were dealt with - not tricky when even a certain Brian Lara could only manage slightly more runs than innings (a grand total of 7 in four innings during the first two Tests).
A 2-0 loss in the three-Test series in South Africa in May was followed in October when a decent effort to make the Champions Trophy semi-finals ended with a top-order batting malfunction against Australia. Finally, when it looked like there would be light at Christmas, New Zealand blew a 1-0 lead in the home Tests against Sri Lanka when they were hammered at the Basin Reserve.

Low point

Test cricket in New Zealand could almost be equated with Test cricket in Ireland: that we have it and they don't is almost neither here nor there. I was in Belfast for the ICC Trophy last July and I swear there is more interest in cricket in the supposed cricketing backwater than there is in Test cricket at home. At the very least they've worked out that you don't put on a game of cricket at Lansdowne Road. Watching the spectator-barren Jade Stadium on television during the Sri Lanka Test in December made the heart sink. The time to move to smaller ovals - of which New Zealand has plenty of attractive ones - has surely come.

Saddest of all though is the death of the so-called Boxing Day Test at the Basin Reserve, the only true oval in the main centres. The "tradition" started with Navjot Sidhu nicking a Simon Doull wide in 1998 and ground to a halt in 2002 when the Indian tourists wanted only one-day cricket in World Cup year. These days a Test starting on Boxing Day is not the money-spinner the abbreviated game is - in 2006 it was a Twenty20 international that won the scheduling race. Ashes to Ashes .... Hmm we can always catch a plane to Melbourne I suppose.

What does 2007 hold?
A light at the end of the tunnel, a glimmer of hope of putting cricket back on the sporting agenda? In the next few months perhaps? The one-day tri-series in Australia is always a favourite on the box after work in January and early February. New Zealand is playing, Shane Bond is still fit and England is the third side, so good times will follow. Outside of that New Zealand has a rough chance at the World Cup but there's not a lot else to come: the Twenty20 Championship in September before a yet-to-be confirmed trip to South Africa for Christmas.

by Osman Samiuddin

Some more of 2006 before 2007 takes over: Here's Cricinfo's list of everything notable on and off the field last year

India could not have thought they could lose after having Pakistan at 39 for 6 on the first morning, but Kamran Akmal ensured that they did... by 341 runs © AFP

Best Test innings: In a year where pitches sussed out the good from the great, two performances stand out. When Karachi decided to become 1980s Headingley one January morning, Kamran Akmal stroked, from the wreckage of 39 for six, one of the finest counter-attacking hundreds seen in Pakistan. Then, in Jamaica in July, India and West Indies were confronted with a pitch so strange, nobody could figure it out. Except, of course, Rahul Dravid, whose two immaculately conceived fifties led to a famous win.

Best Test bowling performance: Mohammad Asif's 11 for 71 at
Kandy in April 2006 began with a ten-over spell on the first morning where he dismissed Tharanga, Jayasuriya and Jayawardene conceding only 21 runs. The ball moved both ways off the seam to give him his first-five wicket haul on day one and his second on day two. Pakistan won by eight wickets.

Best ODI Innings: You have to chase 435 at over eight an over against the world's best attack. And Mick Lewis. What do you do? If you're Herschelle Gibbs, you plunder 175 from 111 balls. Not that he knew how it happened: "I don't know where that innings came from; I don't think I've played better." Ricky Ponting thought it so "amazing", he handed over his share of the match award, which is saying something from a man who made a trifling 164 off 105 balls himself.

Best ODI bowling performance: Makhaya Ntini had a sparkling year but few moments were as bright as his annihilation of Australia at Cape Town. Chasing 290, the world's leading team was reduced to 7 for 4, halfway through the 10th over, Ntini's pace, bounce, angle and relentless energy accounting for Adam Gilchrist, Phil Jaques and Damien Martyn. He ended with six from less than ten overs, Australia crashing to 93 all out, only the fourth time they have been dismissed for under 100 in an ODI.

Best Test match: Sri Lanka's one-wicket victory against South Africa at Colombo, involving the sixth-highest run chase in Test history. At lunch on Day 5, South Africa smelt a chance to level when Jayawardene fell at 341 for 7 and the eighth wicket fell five overs later. Sri Lanka needed four runs to win and Murali scored two of them before being bowled by Andrew Hall. Eventually Lanka scrambled home, defying predictions of a tied Test. Other great matches include Australia's Ashes run-chase at Adelaide completed with just three overs left.

Best Test series: England v Sri Lanka: At the end of day two of the first Test, Sri Lanka were 91 for 6 trailing by 460 runs and it looked like a series lost. Jayawardene led the fightback with a second consecutive century at Lord's. Murali's ten wickets in the second Test and Michael Vandort's second-innings century couldn't overshadow Pietersen's 142 and England were safely up 1-0. But the third Test was the wonder - a 134-run win for Sri Lanka riding on Murali's 8 for 70 in the second innings with England needing 325. In his last Test in England Murali got Sri Lanka a first-ever series draw (played two Tests or more) in the country

With the series poised at 2-2 any type of game would have been an exciting decider. This one was just sick © Cricinfo Ltd

Best ODI match: Like overloading on chocolate, the run-scoring bordered on the sick (even Graeme Smith called the win "a bit sick") and sure the pitch was flatter than last New Year's bubbly, but can you argue against a game in which 434 is successfully chased (the highest chase ever in any international by the way, Test or ODI), with only a ball and a wicket to spare. To decide an ODI series that stood at 2-2? We think not.

Best ODI series: Ingredients required - a D/L win, a great fast bowling performance (Makhaya Ntini's 6 for 21), a captain's redemption song (Graeme Smith's first-match hundred), a comeback from 2-0 down, a moderate-scoring, last-over one-wicket win and an unbelievably high-scoring, last-over one-wicket win. To decide the series 3-2. And a Pro20 international decided by two runs to start it all off. Just reading that should give you goosebumps.

Catch of the year: Old age and a lifetime bowling fast make good fielders not? Clearly Shaun Pollock never heard the adage. When MS Dhoni slapped a drive on the second morning of the first Test at Johannesburg, naturally most eyes were already on the boundary hoardings. They should have been on Pollock, who flung himself to his left at mid-off, full-stretch, to snatch and hold the ball in his left hand, despite a heavy landing.

Run-out of the year: Ricky Ponting running out Geraint Jones on the final day at Perth neatly encapsulated the difference between the two sides. Jones attempted a sweep, ball struck pad and as he froze, Australians appealed. Except Ponting, who pounced in a flash with an underarm flick from silly point, catching Jones outside the crease. He sprinted to midwicket celebrating, Jones ambled back contemplating the final act of his career. Over to The Guardian who anointed the moment thus: "So there, in the blink of an eye, we saw the haplessness of one side and the brilliant opportunism of the other."

Most thrilling shot-making: Could Brian Lara have been the greatest dancer the world has ever seen, had he not been one of its greatest batsmen? What might have been was glimpsed at Multan, when he twinkled, jigged, waltzed and tangoed in taking 26 runs off one Danish Kaneria over: three consecutive sixes between long-off and midwicket sandwiched between two fours. Kaneria bamboozled others, Lara just grooved, at one stage, taking 60 runs from 29 Kaneria balls.

Best finish: Note to Mashrafe Mortaza: Do not attempt a yorker off the last ball of the match when a boundary is needed. Chetan Sharma did it and failed, Steve Waugh did it and failed and Dion Nash did it and failed. With five needed, he did it anyway and duly failed, Brendon Taylor emulating Javed Miandad, Asif Mujtaba and Lance Klusener before him to decide the match with a last-ball six.

Hottest streak of the year: The anguish of losing out on a potential contract with Gillette out of the way, Mohammad Yousuf embarked on a year of run-making unlike any other cricket has known. Pitches flat and lively, attacks insipid and inspired, home or away mattered not a jot as Yousuf glided to a record nine hundreds for the year (in 11 Tests) and a record-breaking 1788 Test runs. Streaks don't come hotter.

No one expected Dadi back, probably not even him while mouthing badly-written dialogues for soft-drink commercials. Yeah, we're listening... © AFP

Best comeback: At the start of the year, putting money on Saddam Hussein coming back as President of Iraq was wiser investment than Sourav Ganguly returning to the Indian side so fractious was the fall-out from his axing. But so wretched was India's top-order that no choice remained after a series of collapses in South Africa. Reviled and revered equally, Ganguly was recalled, responding with 81 in a warm-up and then a plucky, unbeaten 51 in the first Test. Despite a duck in the second Test, he ended his year in considerably better spirit than Saddam.

Mismatch of the year: The Thr-Ashes. 'Nuff said.

Almost Famous: Can you drop history, like you can a World Cup? Ask Mashrafe Mortaza. Australia needed 24 runs to win the first Test against Australia at Fatullah, but only had three wickets when Mortaza dropped Ricky Ponting, thus denying Test cricket its greatest upset. The skipper's hundred led them home but what a fantastic scare. Shahriar Nafees, who had bludgeoned an audacious 138 on the opening day (Bangladesh blasted 355 runs) and Mohammad Rafique, who took nine wickets, deserved better.

Most unlikely hero: "Who wouldn't want to bowl at 90-plus miles an hour? But not everyone is blessed with that talent. I just worked with what I had." So said Ian Bradshaw, the most unassuming fast-medium bowler since New Zealand's 1992 World Cup dobblers. Over the year, there were few better ODI bowlers; economical (went for over five an over only six times in 26 games, but under four 14 times) and forthcoming with wickets (36). What he had, clearly, was enough. And then some.

Most poignant moment: Tears at the Wanderers when South Africa finally threw the last, knockout punch of the 872-run slogathon against Australia. You didn't know the hardened South Africans could actually cry, did you? Then again, maybe they'd just run out of beer...

Newcomer of the year: If he had done nothing but sport his patka, bowl left-arm lollipops and appear for England, he would've been a contender but by dint of actually being quite good, Monty Panesar was a shoo-in. Right from the illustrious first wicket, through five-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, occasional comedy in the field and a belated but joyous Ashes debut, this has been the year of Monty. Mind you, his coach might disagree.

Best act of sportsmanship: Nothing to match Flintoff and Lee, so we turn to something offbeat: Australia's quartet of retirements at the end of the year, giving England crumbs of comfort for the 2009 Ashes. Warney, Marto, Pidge and "Alfie" Langer - take a bow.

Best effort in a losing game: Forty-two of Ricky Ponting's 53 international hundreds are winning ones but one of the few that isn't was also one of his best, a violent, slog-free 164, off only 105 balls in that freaky ODI at the Wanderers. In making 100 off 71 balls, he hit nine sixes, evoking memories of his World Cup final blast on the same ground three years earlier. Any other match, any other year, it would've been the innings. On this day, it ended barely second-best.

Drop of the year: Remember when the Ashes were still alive? Early December, England bounce back from a first Test hammering to declare at 551. Australia fall to 78 for three, series breathes. Then Ponting pulls to deep square leg, when 35, and Ashley Giles drops a clanger. Lucky for him, he was too far away to hear Ponting echo Waugh's "you've just dropped the..." It was later confirmed that yes Giles was picked ahead of Monty for his better fielding. To quote Homer Simpson: 'Doh'.

Advice to young bowler going overseas: Get wickets, hit a fast bowler for six as retaliation to sledging and then break (into a ) dance © AFP

Riposte of the year: Sledging back at him doesn't work, staring him down doesn't do it and ignoring him hasn't done the trick so how do you shut up Andre Nel's annoying, mouthy, harrying? You break-dance back at him. It helps, if like Sreesanth, you can break-dance. Oh, and it helps especially that having been sledged for backing away, you smack the next ball straight down the park for six. Touche, sir.

Butter-fingered performances of the year - When Sri Lanka were out for 192 at lunch on the third day at Lord's, they were still over 350 runs behind England, in need of some grit, some fortune and generosity. They got all three, courtesy Mahela Jayawardene's century and England's fielders. England shelled nine chances through the Test, including Jayawardene in the second innings on 58. Had they held onto them, they might have won the Test twice over. Imran Farhat almost outdid them through the year, dropping only a few catches less than the runs he scored.

Best wicket-taking celebrations of the year - Monty Panesar's awkward bhangra meets jive meets rave celebrations were fun, but nobody could outdo the celebrations of the coolest man in cricket, Chris Gayle. He had variety: one minute, he stood absolutely still, arms folded, stroking chin while manic team-mates engulfed him, and then walked away bewildered. The next, he did a little jig to the left, then to the right and kept at it. He also gave his take on Ronaldo's superbly bizarre 'arm crossed against forehead'. There was still time for the ol' windmilling of the arm; wickets falling were just no fun until Gayle was taking them.

Widest wides of the year:Take your pick between Steve Harmison and, err...Steve Harmison. The first came at Old Trafford against Pakistan, where instead of bowling to Imran Farhat, he bowled one straight to second slip. Four months and a continent made little difference: he opened the Ashes by giving Andrew Flintoff at second slip some catching practice, though as Freddie laconically observed later, "I'd rather it had come off the edge."

Short-lived retirement of the year: Sanath Jayasuriya's was pretty short, stepping away from Tests - or being pushed, according to the chairman of selectors - for merely a month and a half over the summer. But as in the battle for the fastest ODI hundred, he had to be content with second place, behind Shahid Afridi, who retired from Tests for all of 15 days and didn't actually miss a Test, thereby maintaining a glorious Pakistani tradition of not knowing when to go. Or indeed whether to go at all.

With Langer, Warne, McGrath and Martyn exiting, Australia will look at Hussey and Clark to fulfill roles of senior players © Getty Images

Mass exodus of the year: Over three Tests, Australia said goodbye to Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Justin Langer; for most teams that constitutes losing a spine. Australia though still have the likes of Hussey and Clark to fall back on, so evoking 1983, when Greg Chappell, Rod Marsh and Dennis Lillee all called time at once and sparked a sharp decline, may prove a little hasty. Still, that is a sudden loss of 438 Tests' worth of experience, 15780 runs and 1265 wickets. Ouch.

Quietest retirements of the year: Steve Harmison did what England as a team wish they could do: bid adieu entirely to ODIs. Not that it is likely to make much of a difference: though he picked up 14 wickets in eight matches this year, he gave away near six runs an over and almost 60 runs in wides and no-balls. Particularly memorable was conceding 97 from ten overs against Sri Lanka and what is now his last ODI: 4.5-0-45-1. Apparently, not even holding an ODI in his backyard in Ashington will lure him back.

Folly of the year: In August, Duncan Fletcher called Monty Panesar the best finger-spinner in the world. By November, he wasn't even the best finger-spinner in England, losing his place for the first Ashes Test to Ashley Giles, match-less for a year, because of his weaker batting and fielding. In two Tests, Giles took three wickets at 87. He scored 74 runs, took one catch and dropped a critical one. By popular demand Panesar returned for the third Test and snared eight wickets in the graveyard of spin that is Perth. Rearrange: Egg. Fletcher. Face. On.

Biggest u-turn of the year: Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif test positive for steroids. Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif get banned for testing positive. Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have their bans for testing positive completely overturned, pleading ignorance. That is no defence anywhere in the world, apart from the PCB's anti-doping policy. Incidentally, the man who exonerated them, Justice Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, also cleared Salim Malik of all match-fixing charges initially. Clearly, all kosher there.

Worst umpiring decision: Only proponents of technology in sport could be happy with the year umpires have had. For one, Hawkeye would never have done what Darrell Hair did in August with a tap of the shoulder and a flick of the bails. Or been as pig-headed about its decision. By penalising Pakistan for ball-tampering, he played with the pride of a country. But by overseeing the forfeit of a Test, he did worse: he offended cricket's traditionalists. Never have two decisions correct in law been so calamitously wrong in spirit.

Brinkmanship of the year: Modi v ICC. Media rights and the Members' Participation Agreement had the BCCI challenging the ICC's authority and quoting quotable quotes. Final result - India signed the MPA and withdrew its bid for media rights for the World Cup 2011. But the board flexed enough muscle that anyone planning to take it on would think twice and be guaranteed one solid headache.

Dramatic near-fallout: Shane Warne nearly decapitated Kevin Pietersen when throwing the ball back in frustration during the Adelaide Test, as Australia reverted to macho type, having touchy-feely-ed their way through 2005. Nightclub owners around the world shivered at the prospect of the duo splitting, in a way they hadn't since Sonny and Cher fell out. Which cricketer will now frequent our establishments, they fretted? Once best mates, Warne was, in classic schoolboy-confrontation tactics, now called "a dickhead." Thankfully, mature men that they are both "chatted at the end of the Test and got over it." Thus was guaranteed another chapter in their new autobiographies titled, imaginatively, 'KP' and 'Warney'.

Best running battle of a series: Mohammad Asif versus KP through late summer, Shane Warne versus KP through the Ashes and Murali versus KP at Edgbaston - basically being Kevin Pietersen this year meant being targeted. But he's not a lone ranger, no. Perish the thought.

Spectacular fall from grace: Irfan Pathan took a hat-trick in the first over of a Test to start the year. He then had a personality crisis: was he an opening bowler or first change, an Akram or a Vaas, a batting allrounder or a bowling one, was he an allrounder at all or just a one-down who occasionally bowls? By the end, he was none, sent back home from South Africa, having received more 'advice' than a patient in therapy.

Comic dismissals: Inzamam-ul-Haq is a funny man in most situations; running, fielding, press conferences. This year he was funny getting out too. First, he immaculately patted back a throw from a fielder trying to run him out. Given out obstructing the field, Inzi first pleaded ignorance, "I don't understand the rules and am not sure why I was given out," before sagely concluding Indo-Pak relations might suffer as a result of "poor sportsmanship." Then, in August, trying to sweep Monty Panesar, he overbalanced and fell over, trying gamely to avoid the stumps. That he couldn't quite get his leg over (guffaw) wasn't entirely accurate (it was actually his belly). Chris Read narrowly avoided injury though poor Inzi had to have x-rays on a bruised chest. None, we trust, were needed for the ego.

Partnership of the year: KP and Jessica whatsit from whatsit X were in contention, but ultimately who could deny Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene's gi-normous 624-run stand against South Africa in July? They came in at peril, their side 14 for 2 in the fourth over of their innings, but then didn't separate for over ten hours and 157 overs. It was the highest partnership in first-class cricket by a distance and Jayawardene's 374 was the highest Test score by a right-handed batsman. The icing on a hefty cake was that they are best mates too.

Best sledge of the year: Shane Warne calling the mousy, almost-ginger Ian Bell 'The Shermanator', in reference to the geeky, really-ginger 'American Pie' geek. Bell retorted that he'd heard worse, though really he should've questioned Warne's surprisingly highbrow cinematic taste. Alas, it was a poor year for clever sledges, Warne also telling Paul Collingwood, imaginatively, that he was "no good" and that Geraint Jones was a "club pro." Shahid Afridi, earlier in the year, was merciless with Irfan Pathan, though involving as it did body parts and balls, we can't actually publish it.

Cruelest cut of the year: Imagine scoring a maiden double hundred, taking three for 11, being voted man of the match and player of the series and not making it to the line-up for your country's next Test. Jason Gillespie could scarcely have done more to redeem himself in the eyes of Australia after a horrific 2005 Ashes series. He even cut his mullet for chrissake and yet when time came for the Ashes, Dizzy was nowhere to be seen.

2006 was another year filled with excitement, intrigue, controversy and records in international cricket. Here Cricinfo runs through the alphabet of the past 12 months and finds stories ranging from drugs, to effigies, to umpires.

The Ashes series was meant to be the highlight of the year, but turned into an Australian cakewalk © Getty Images

Andrew Miller

A is for Ashes

Or Anticlimax, as it turned out. Sequels invariably suck, and this one was no exception. The Australian fans turned out in their droves, desperate to witness a re-run of last year's classic. Instead they witnessed a re-run of every other England visit of the past 16 years. But at least they had vengeance to keep them satisfied.

B is for Boot camp

The beginning of the end for England's Ashes prospects, not that Shane Warne
quite saw it that way. "I think it is one of John Buchanan's wonderful,
mastermind things that keeps everyone stumped," he said, with more than a
hint of sarcasm. Warne and his team-mates were packed off, I'm a
Celebrity-style, to the Queensland jungle to where they were referred to as
numbers, not names, and made to lug full jerry-cans on 20km hikes. Still, it
all paid off in the end, I suppose.

C is for Chittagong

The venue for the most flabbergasting performance of the year, bar none. The
only shame about Jason Gillespie's astonishing unbeaten Test double-century
against Bangladesh - on his 31st birthday to boot - is that his
world-beating mullet wasn't around to share the moment. It had already got
the chop, as Gillespie himself did immediately after the match. He has since
embarked on a successful second career as a pub-quiz question.

D is for Dad's Army

He may be England's unofficial cheerleader, but this was not one of Ian
Botham's cleverest jibes. "They are just a bunch of colonial geriatrics," he
told The News of the World. "I want to hear England saying how good
they are and how piss poor the Dad's Army of Aussies are." Whoops.

If you were burning in 2006 you'd been in the news © AFP

E is for Effigies

The ultimate guide to what's hot and what's not. If your image wasn't
hoisted onto the shoulders of angry mobs, set alright, and paraded through
the streets of Lahore, Kolkata or Varanasi, then you simply weren't
newsworthy enough. Congratulations then to Darrell Hair, Greg Chappell and
Ricky Ponting, the mob's men of the year. And a special mention to Damien
"The Donkey" Martyn.

F is for Flintoff

AKA the Fallen. Poor old Freddie didn't have a good year. Ankle surgery,
poor form, an Ashes hammering to remove the gloss of 2005. Mumbai aside,
he discovered - like Ian Botham before him - that the England captaincy
isn't very conducive to allround heroics.

G is for Ghosts

... of captains past. Michael Vaughan has been hanging around Australia like
the spectre at the feast, Sourav Ganguly has been embarrassing his
obituarists in South Africa. Both England and India would benefit if their
former captains moved along quietly and let the next generation get on with
it, but that's not exactly in the nature of either man.

H is for Hair

The man who split the cricket world asunder with his pig-headed performance
at The Oval. Never mind the rights and wrongs of that infamous five-run
penalty or Pakistan's subsequent protest. It was the absurd inevitability of
the whole episode that still rankles. You could just sense that Hair, a man
with "previous" where subcontinental teams are concerned, was itching to
cause a scene ... and he amply succeeded.

I is for Inzamam-ul-Haq

A moderately eventful 12 months for Pakistan's man-mountain of a captain.
Comedy dismissals, forfeited Tests, diplomatic stand-offs, seven-match
suspensions. Like cricket's Forrest Gump, Inzy seemed to have been the
bewildered focus of every major event last year. Life wasn't quite a
box of chocolates for his team, though.

Mark Boucher and Makhaya Ntini celebrate that incredible victory at the Wanderers © Getty Images

J is for Johannesburg
A glorious freak of a performance, or a glimpse of the future of one-day
cricket? The pitch was pristine and the bowlers were cannon fodder, not
least Mick Lewis (10-0-113-0) who joined Gillespie in the pub-quiz stakes,
but the entertainment was unstinting. Australia made 434 ... and lost. By one
wicket. With one ball to spare. A disbelieving Bullring pinched themselves
with every six.

K is for KP

No absurd hairstyles. KP's weekly appearance in Heat
magazine had been secured by his celebrity engagement to Liberty X's Jessica
Taylor. His daily appearances on the back pages, meanwhile, were
secured by another series of colossal performances. But watch this space.
The rumour is that he's less loved by his team-mates than he is by himself.
When you see his kit go flying out of the dressing-room window at Sydney
this week, you'll know it's official.

L is for Lalit Modi

Rampant commercialisation was the story of India's year, and Modi was a
man who would build a block of flats on the site of the Lord's pavilion if
he thought the BCCI logo could be weaved into the architect's plans. Come
back Jagmohan Dalmiya, all is forgiven!

M is for Monty

The new darling of English cricket saw it all last year. He was lauded and lampooned, showered with accolades and snubbed by his own coach. The BBC Sports Personality crown just eluded his grasp, Beard of the Year did not, but amid all the triumphs and tribulations, the one thing that shone through was his devout professionalism. Never mind his 40 wickets in the year, his proudest achievement was his promotion to No. 10 in England's batting order.

N is for Nandrolone

Cricket always thought it was too grand to get involved in such grubby issues as steroid abuse, but then along came the incredible ego of Shoaib Akhtar to disabuse the naïve of such a notion. He and the less worldly-wise Mohammad Asif were busted for using the muscle-booster, Nandrolone, and banned for two years and a year respectively. But then, inevitably, they got
off on appeal, and a murky business got even murkier.

Darrell Hair sparked cricket's biggest crisis of the year at The Oval © Getty Images

O is for Ovalgate

The first Test forfeiture in cricket's 129-year history was a schemozzle from start to finish. The five-run penalty for alleged ball-tampering, the impromptu post-tea protest from the Pakistanis, the brief flirtation with a resumption, the refusal of Hair and Billy Doctrove to play ball, the
singular lack of information being imparted to the crowd. At 10.30pm, almost six hours and a thousand meetings later, England were awarded the most hollow victory of all time.

P is for Ponting

Or "Possessed", for that is what Australia's captain has been in his bid to right the wrongs of 2005. That summer, he was as tactically mobile as a Dalek facing Doctor Who; this winter, he's been as focussed as England have been flaccid - his furious 196 at the Gabba a case in point. And it's not just been the Ashes - his burning will scorched all opposition all year
long; 10 Tests, seven hundreds, nothing less than victory on each occasion.

R is for Retirements

Of which there were several, most of them high-profile and Australian.
R is also for Ramprakash, who finally demonstrated he can cut it on the big
stage by inheriting Darren Gough's crown in the BBC's celebrity
ballroom-dancing caper, "Strictly Come Dancing".

S is for Stress-related illness

The mystery ailment that has, in all probability, brought Marcus
Trescothick's international career to a sadly premature end. He left the
tour of India in February in tears, beneath an ECB smokescreen of incredible
impenetrability, and has not been the same since. The threat of "burn-out"
was voiced on numerous occasions in an over-loaded year, and
Trescothick, one of the game's hardest-working and most likeable characters,
became its most high-profile victim.

Shane Warne passed 700 Test wickets and called an end to his Test career © Getty Images

T is for Terrorist

"The terrorist has got another wicket" was Dean Jones's heroically dim remark, shortly after Kumar Sangakkara had been caught by South Africa's bearded Muslim, Hashim Amla, during the second Test in Colombo. Jones was sacked by Ten Sports almost before the utterance had passed his lips, but within the month he was back, denying he'd ever erred. "Amla got the catch, Nicky Boje was the bowler," he wibbled. "I'll leave it up to you to work out who I was referring to." Nice one. Except it had been Pollock bowling at the time.

U is for Urn

After years of Aussie indignation that their Ashes urn was still
holed up in the museum at Lord's, the MCC finally arranged for a special
one-off trip Down Under. "Urn, Ashes Mr" arrived in Sydney on October 17,
having flown business class from London, strapped into its very own seat.
The tour could have been the ultimate insult, given that England were, for
once, the holders, but it ended up as the ultimate incentive for victory.
"It's clearly too fragile to fly home," said Ricky Ponting after sealing the
series in Perth.

V is for Vermeulen

A sad footnote in the wider decline of Zimbabwean cricket. When the
country's cricket academy was burned to the ground in October, the finger of
suspicion soon pointed at the troubled figure of Mark Vermeulen, a man who
earlier in the month had been found at the gates of Robert Mugabe's palace
in Harare, demanding to speak to the president, in spite of the fact that
people had been shot for less. In September 2005, he was banned from Lancashire
club cricket after a raging altercation with a member of the crowd, and a
subsequent on-pitch punch-up.

W is for Warne

Even the great man himself seemed pretty dumbfounded at the MCG last week.
"I don't know who's writing my scripts, but they are pretty good," he
remarked, after grabbing five first-innings wickets, including his landmark
700th, on the first day of his final Test in front of his adoring home
crowd. He went on to take seven in the match, as well as a valedictory 40
not out, to set up the prospect of a farewell Ashes whitewash. What a
performer.

Conversion rates: a record-breaking year for Mohammad Yousuf © AFP

X is for crossing out a name on the team sheet

Which is what Graeme Smith was forced to do moments before the toss in November's third ODI against India at Cape Town. As he walked down the pavilion steps, he was met by Haroon Lorgat, the convenor of South Africa's selectors, who insisted that Andre Nel was not fit to play and that Andrew Hall should replace him. Smith vented his opinions in no uncertain terms,
before kneeling on an adjacent pitch and making the necessary adjustments. Minutes later, still steaming with indignation, he was dismissed second ball for a duck.

Y is for Mohammad Yousuf

In 2006, the man formerly known as Yousuf Youhana gave a new meaning to
conversion rate. He abandoned the underachieving wastefulness that had
defined the first seven years of his career, embraced Islam and all the
disciplines that are inherent in it, and clattered his way to a world-record
1788 runs in the year, including nine hundreds in 11 matches. Coincidence? I
don't suppose he thinks so.

Z is for Zombies

Those poor fools who turned their winters upside-down, hoping to watch
England retain the Ashes Down Under in a series so exhilarating that 2005
resembled a seven-match ODI series between USA and Zimbabwe. Like the team,
most fans had drifted out of contention before lunch on the first day at
the Gabba.

Would Ricky Ponting be in your 2006 dream Test team? You bet © Getty Images

It's that time of the year for Cricinfo to pick the Test team of the year and so, while the world celebrated the festive season, our staffers burned the midnight oil coming up with their nominations. Those nominations were then tallied and the 11 players with the most votes fitted into a batting order/bowling attack. The choices were largely based on performances through the calendar year - but we strongly suspect some instances of rank personal favouritism.

The openers' debate was most hotly contested. In the end it came down to the age-old dilemma - do you go for team flexibility and pick non-specialists or stick to conventional wisdom? All but one chose Michael Hussey as an opener - he bats in the middle order for Australia but has vast first-class experience at the top. There was a tie for picking his partners - Alastair Cook (four hundreds and three fifties) and Rahul Dravid (three hundreds and seven fifties) received an equal number of votes but the fact that one was a "specialist" and the other a "makeshift" resolved the tie.

Ricky Ponting (averaging 88.86 in 2006), Mohammad Yousuf (99.33) and Kumar Sangakkara (69) made it to every list, as expected. Sangakkara, who kept in eight of the nine Tests that Sri Lanka played, was the unanimous choice as the wicketkeeper. Kevin Pietersen, the second-highest run-scorer in the calendar year (1343 at 53.72), completed a formidable middle order.

Muttiah Muralitharan, with a staggering 90 wickets in 11 Tests, was statistically light years ahead of the rest (Makhaya Ntini was a distant second with 58 victims) and duly made the list (then again, which list won't he make?). Shane Warne, who tormented England in the Ashes and waved goodbye to a magnificent career, joined him in the spin department - he, too, was in everyone's team.

Makhaya Ntini, the fast bowler with the most wickets this year, leads the fast-bowling department. Partnering him is Stuart Clark (42 wickets at a superb 17.76), who began the year with a Man-of-the-Series performance in South Africa and ended it with an impressive Ashes. Mohammad Asif, with 30 wickets in five games, was the third most popular fast bowler but picking him would have meant having five bowlers in the side. One vote behind him was Andrew Flintoff and the jury decided to have him in the side for his bowling prowess, batting ability and sheer size of his heart.

AB de Villiers was the most popular 12th man, owing largely to his outstanding catching and ground fielding throughout the year. That leaves us with the final question - who will captain? No Dravid, no Mahela Jayawardene, no Brian Lara. One respondent went for Shane Warne. That left Ponting and Flintoff and you don't need to be Einstein to work out the overwhelming winner.

Cricinfo's Test team for 2006

1 Alastair Cook, 2 Michael Hussey, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Kevin Pietersen, 6 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 7 Andrew Flintoff, 8 Shane Warne, 9 Stuart Clark, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan, 12 AB de Villiers.