Ahead of India's first Test against Sri Lanka on December 2, a cricket fanatic has appealed to the court:

Suresh Babu, a cricket lover from nearby Gummidipoondi, said in his plea that the one-day international between India and South Africa here on Nov 22 had to be abandoned due to heavy showers.

An India-New Zealand match in 2003 was similarly called off due to rains.

"Thousands of fans who had purchased tickets were disappointed as the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association did not refund their money," Babu said.

"Now with a cyclone developing in the Bay of Bengal and set to cross the coast Thursday, the court should issue a stay order on the conduct of the match in order to prevent fans from buying tickets and return disappointed if the match gets cancelled," he said.

Trevor Marshallsea says Brett Lee has gone from a befuddled quick bowler to the leader of the pack:

Lee began this series as a befuddled quick with a lean body but a ballooning average, a clouded mind as to his role in the Test side and his most effective plan of attack having caused him to misfire in the longer game.

Last night he was able to proudly reflect on being the best bowler in the three Tests against the West Indies, on wickets and averages, with 18 scalps at just 20 runs apiece

Mike Coward feels that West Indies cricket has learned so little from history its future remains uncertain.

Meanwhile Peter Roebuck observes the return of fire in the Australian side and says, "Ricky Ponting and his men have resumed playing the hard game they learnt with their mother's milk."

Also check out Vaneisa Baksh's review of West Indies' performances on the tough tour.

As the debate of whether the ECB should have sold TV rights to satellite broadcaster BSkyB, David Brook, a former Channel 4 executive who has been leading a campaign to get the coverage back on free-to-air television, is about to address a House of Commons inquiry.

In a column for the Independent, Brook made clear his objections:

But Sky's monopoly over the summer game is bad for cricket and bad for society. Over 30 million people watched the Ashes series last summer - more than half the country. We all got caught up in the excitement. But how many fewer of us would have shared in the nation's collective joy if it had not been on terrestrial television? Would so many people have cheered the team at Trafalgar Square? Would thousands of young would-be Freddie Flintoffs have taken up cricket?

In the Sunday Telegraph Scyld Berry says that Steve Harmison's shy at Inzamam-ul-Haq could have resulted in something far worse that a run out, and warns that the time could come when players resort to fisticuffs to resolve their differences, and that umpires should be given red cards to deal with such a scenario:

A fielder will either think twice, or else will aim at the stumps with the maximum of care, if he risks being sent off the field for the rest of the innings because he has hit the batsman with a none-too-careful throw: that obnoxious practice introduced by the Australians in Steve Waugh's time.

Robert Craddock says in The Courier-Mail Australia’s allrounders need time to settle because the team has a middle-order batting problem.

In The Age Trevor Marshallsea writes Dwayne Bravo showed why West Indians — and not just those from his and Lara's native Trinidad — are looking to him as the brightest hope for the future.

Cricinfo’s third-Test verdict on the two allrounders on show is here.

Two days after Brian Lara passed Allan Border’s world record Mike Coward writes in The Australian about the day Lara laid himself bare.

Tony Cozier gives a West Indian angle in the Trinidad & Tobago Express while the report from The Observer in England is here.

Cricinfo’s appreciation of Lara’s achievement starts with a piece by Vaneisa Baksh.

Bob Simpson uses a letter from the great Don Bradman to argue that

Attractive cricket cannot be judged solely by the rate of run-getting — an orgy of which, against inferior bowling, can be the most boring thing of all. Attractive cricket comes from personality, character, style and a host of intangible things, associated with quality and with close competition

The argument that sportsmanship in cricket is dying out is nothing more than rose-tinted hogwash, argues Vic Marks.

England should make an investment in the future and let Alastair Cook open their batting in the final Test, argues Mike Gatting.

Owen Slot writes on the latest biography of Hansie Cronje and adds:

... a fact that may frustrate British readers because Cronje’s story has sold so well in South Africa that the publishing company — which happens to belong to his brother, Frans — cannot print copies fast enough.

Andrew Flintoff's development into the best allrounder in the world has finally stopped the search for the next Ian Botham. But what about the next Andrew Flintoff? Well, he has a brother who has just signed to play league cricket in Lancashire.

Harsha Bhogle writes on the selection of Sourav Ganguly:

The same [selection] committee that was bringing in fresh air has succumbed. They have displayed their weakness by calling Ganguly a "bowling all-rounder" or a "batting all-rounder" or both. They could have called him a reserve wicket keeper and wouldn’t have been much further off reality.

Richard Boock feels that John Bracewell's handling of Chris Cairns was good for both the team and Cairns himself.

As Brian Lara plays what is probably his final Test in Australia Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist recall their experiences with West Indies’ genius. In The Australian Ponting remembers asking Lara for batting tips and his verbal exchange last week in Hobart. Adam Gilchrist simply says: I've never seen anyone manipulate a field like he can."

Mike Coward pays tribute in the same paper and writes Adelaide is the perfect place for the farewell. “It is, after all, the world's most classically beautiful cricket ground and therefore provides the appropriate stage for the world's most classically beautiful batsman.”

In the Sydney Morning Herald Peter Roebuck says Lara's reputation is “patchy” and his legacy “mixed”. “[But] not since the era of Sobers and Pollock has a batsman been as worth watching. Lara used an epee, the rest were armed with broadswords.”

So concerned are some of Australia's top cricketers about losing talent to Aussie Rules Football that they have proposed to put aside $1m to secure the future of the sport. Read what The Herald Sun had to say about it here.

Having become just the second regular Australian opener to survive beyond 35 since World War II, Justin Langer whose fourth daughter was born a week ago, claims it takes more than money to maintain the desire to play for your country.

© Getty Images

Patrick Kidd in the Times concentrated on his role as a fashion icon ... not:

Botham seemed to be the inverse of Samson: as his power waned, his hair got longer. The tightly cropped beard that he wore as England captain in 1980 went, but along came the flowing mullet and highlights.

As well as the changing hairstyles, there were the clothes, such as the blazers in red, yellow, black and green stripes, or the leather waistcoats. Even the dust-jacket image on his autobiography is a bit wacky: a greying mullet, denim shirt, ethnic wristband and a waistcoat that looks as if it has been attacked by Rolf Harris.

Simon Hughes in the Telegraph revealed just how hard a job it is even keeping up with him:

An evening with him can be both enlightening and an endurance test, and during his last couple of years as a player, there was a rota system, colleagues taking it in turns to go out with him. The physical and financial burdens need to be shared around.

Happy birthday, Beefy.

Ricky Ponting says delivering the news to a dropped player is as bad as it gets. Today he writes in The Australian about his conversation with Michael Clarke. "I knew he wanted me to be the one to tell him if he was going to be dropped, and as a result I was the one who broke the news to him first before the selectors spoke to him."

Stuart MacGill admits he’s “hard work” for umpires but tells the Sydney Morning Herald they should be paid more.

We should consider compromises like those reached in American football, writes Peter Roebuck, whereby each coach is allowed four challenges during a match.

Charles Happell writes on the crammed schedule for the 2006-07 Ashes series:

No foreplay, little titillation. Just wham, bam, thank you ma'am and not even time for a post-coital cigarette.

Please, say it isn't true. The England team are going to release their own rendition of Jerusalem, the new 'anthem' of English cricket in time for Christmas - Girls Aloud and Robbie look out. On a serious note the proceeds are going to be split between the Asian earthquake appeal and two cricket charities. So if you are caught buying one in the shops you can always say it is for a good cause.

David Hopps says that Steve Harmison's instinctive pick-up and throw, which ran-out Inzamam-ul-Haq, arose from England's unabashed commitment to aggressive cricket but adds that there is a sense that they are pushing the spirit of the game to the limit.

BBC Sport's Jonathan Agnew argued that the same incident highlighted the growing, and unwelcome, trend of fielders hurling the ball at the batsman under the guise of aiming for the stumps.

Also read Sambit Bal's take on Inzamam's run-out decision.

Ashley Giles showed that he is also the King of Brains by winning an Ashes special of the Weakest Link. The Times' television critic, Giles Smith, tunes in.

[via Zainub]

The Surfer stumbled on two pieces that evoke history.

After the Hobart Test, Mike Coward watches Australian and West Indian players engage in a game of soccer and says:

The cordial relations between the teams is a far cry from the general mood of the 1980s and 1990s when more often than not brutal contests led to resentment and bitter enmities that could not be or were not resolved over a beer or rum punch in the dressing room.

In The Age, Doug Ackerly revisits a tour that began 20 years back, when a group of outcast Australian cricketers began the first of two controversial rebel tours of South Africa.

Trevor Marshallsea writes that Michael Clarke may not get too many chances to make a quick return to the Test side.

Also read Malcolm Conn's piece in The Australian, where he says Ricky Ponting has warned there may be further casualties if players do not perform.

Meanwhile, Peter Roebuck feels that if, and when, Clarke returns to the Test side, the celebrity will be a cricketer, and the millionaire a man.

Confusion after the blast © ICC

Such are the security measures attached to England's visit that the loud blast around the boundary edge soon after tea had rather more sinister possibilities until it was discovered to be nothing more than a gas canister being used to put the fizz into a Pepsi machine. It could even have been a marketing gimmick as the only (legal) drink in Pakistan capable of leaving you glassy-eyed and wobbly-legged.

The Scotsman, however, seemed to blame Shahid Afridi, not only for scuffing up the pitch but also the blast with their headline:

Afridi banned as explosion disrupts play

Peter Roebuck celebrates Dwayne Bravo's century at Bellerive Oval:

Bravo chose a fine time to produce the performance of his career ... West Indies needed someone to raise their spirits. An entire cricket community was suffering. Bravo met the challenge with style and composure.

Also read Chloe Saltau's take on the unlucky life of Brian Lara.

Twenty minutes of Bob Willis and Paul Allott droning on in their pedantic, vinegary way, and you're broken © Getty Images

Nothing can rival Sky for paucity of ambition, anaemic smugness of presentation, and the soporific sourness of their commentatary.

And he then echoed what many readers of The Wisden Cricketer stated in a recent poll ... that their commentators are so depressing:

Twenty minutes of Bob Willis and Paul Allott droning on in their pedantic, vinegary way, and you're broken. Take the house, the car, a kidney, I'll dance in the street playing the triangle with a beatific grin on my face. Anything, but please, MAKE IT STOP.

Oh for next May when five months of wall-to-wall Willis awaits.

The Sportstar interviews Glenn McGrath, the man who has the highest number of scalps for any fast bowler, 67 per cent of whom are batsmen number one to six in the batting order.

Former Victoria wicketkeeper Darren Berry writes on the excessive importance given to fitness.

As selectors Merv Hughes and David Boon preside over the current crop of players, they should remember what made them champions. Neither of them broke too many running records ... They were successful because of their strong minds, high level of skill and above all else, their massive hearts.

Read his piece in The Melbourne Age.

John Dyson looks at Pakistan's most celebrated cricket fan, Abdul Jalil, or Chacha Cricket (Urdu for Uncle Cricket), and Jimmy Saville, the cheeleader for the Barmy Army:

With the West Indies now engaged in a Test match in Tasmania for the first time, it's timely to revive our memories about Sam Morris, the first West Indian and the first black man of any nation to play Test cricket. Morris, incidentally, was born in Tasmania. Ian Woodward tells his story

Ray White, a former UCB president, goes to watch a top of the table clash between the Highveld Lions and the Cape Cobras at the Wanderers and writes about the quota system in action

Agarkar, who turns 28 next month, spoke to Lokendra Pratap Sahi about his bowling, batting, being in and out of the team, playing under different captains and lots more. Click here

I was picked as a bowler and continue to be picked as one... It’s okay for the public to think of me as an allrounder but, really, the team management must think that way... Despite being picked as a bowler, people blame me for my batting... When my primary job is to get wickets, I don’t see why my batting should come under pressure...

It seems that when Matthew Hoggard was fined for dismissing Salman Butt in the first Test, it wasn't because of overappealing afterall. He explains why he lost 20% of his match fee in his column in The Times and you can read what he has to say here.

Neil Manthorp writes on South Africa's red hot run:

South Africa's commanding victory in Hyderabad has put the Australian media and public on high alert ... Thanks to the clinical efficiency of the Iceman Kallis in Hyderabad, Australians are also starting to look ahead with a sense of caution, even nervousness.

Meanwhile Harsha Bhogle feels that the loss at Hyderabad would have taught the Indians some valuable lessons early in the series.

As West Indies floundered at the Bellerive Oval, Peter Roebuck and Mike Coward bemoan the fall of a cricketing pillar.

Also read Andrew Ramsey's piece on Brian Lara's struggles on the current trip. Cricinfo's Peter English had his views on the same topic as well.

Peter May writes on the nail-biting finish at Multan:

England have faltered like the Nazis advancing on Stalingrad - marching forward with ill-deserved confidence and woefully ill-equipped for the conditions, the invaders’ weapons redundant making brutal defeat a crushing inevitability.

Also read Giles Smith's light-hearted take on events at Multan.

Link via email from prolific contributer Zainub

Bob Woolmer,the Pakistan coach, lists the magical moments that turned the first Test match between England and Pakistan at Multan.

Also read Martin Johnson's piece on Pakistan's resurgence, and Mike Selvey's appreciation of Danish Kaneria's craft.

On the day he made his Test debut, Brad Hodge writes that the wait is over, now it's time to put the head down and capitalise on a chance at the highest level.

Also read Andrew Ramsey's piece on how Michael Clarke is itching to silence his critics.

Jack Russell - he of wonky hats, baked beans and painter fame - has unveiled his depictions of the Ashes this summer, as reported in his local rag, the Bristol Evening Post:

The charismatic Russell, who scored two centuries and dismissed 165 batsmen during his test career, opened his new exhibition at the Jack Russell Gallery in High Street, Chipping Sodbury.

His work includes images from this summer's victories at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, as well as from the dramatic drawn matches at Old Trafford and The Oval.

The collection consists of a dozen paintings, with prices for the originals expected to cost around £10,000.

Let's hope they're better (and they will be) than this attempt...

Harbhajan Singh tells Lokendra Pratap Sahi that he would like to be an achiever in the Shane Warne mould.

Also check out Clayton Murzello's interview with VVS Laxman, where he says he missed being part of the action when India beat Sri Lanka 6-1.

Shweta Tiwari: not what you would call a diehard fan

I don’t find anybody good-looking in our present team ... I don’t like the game any more, because I feel they play for the money involved, and not for the country.

And Rakshanda Khan admitted that she had other priorities:

I don’t get the time to look at myself in the mirror, forget about watching an entire match.

Salman Butt's reprieve after replays of a possible run-out proved inconclusive was a triumph of tradition over technology, argues Richard Williams

More than 60 Auckland children from low-decile schools launched themselves into a special cricket tournament yesterday, supervised by the country's brightest cricket stars.

Several Black Caps including Daniel Vettori, Scott Styris and Kyle Mills took part in the Hooked On Cricket programme at the Papatoetoe Cricket Club.

More at the New Zealand Herald

Garry Sobers (stats) says that Andrew Flintoff has surpassed Ian Botham, and is a better player. Flintoff's stock has, understandably, risen exponentially after his talismanic performances this summer (which appear to be continuing against Pakistan, too, with eight wickets in this Test so far) - but this is nevertheless a bold statement from Sobers, perhaps the sport's greatest allrounder:

"Flintoff builds his innings more so than Ian," Sir Garfield said in an interview for BBC Radio Five Live.

"That's the reason why I feel Flintoff is a better all-rounder than Ian."

© Getty Images

Pakistanis cheering the opposition? Unlikely you might think, but Cricinfo's very own Andrew Miller says so at The Times:

“I am praying for England with full zeal and zest,” Nayyur Abbas, 18, said as he sat with his cousin, Haroon Shehzad, 16, in the top tier of the Waqar Younis enclosure. On his face was painted a St George’s Cross and on his walls at home are posters of Andrew Flintoff. “He is a great attacking bowler,” Nayyur enthused in the manner of a true connoisseur.

Trevor Chesterfield writes about how Sanath Jayasuriya's injury should have been handled better and takes a look at batsmen whose career ended because of injury.

Ajit Agarkar, who had an impressive series against Sri Lanka recently, speaks about rediscovering his form and also says he can't afford to neglect his batting anymore.

Also check out how Sania Mirza, India's teenage tennis sensation, plans to celebrate her 19th birthday.

Stuart MacGill tells The Australian’s Malcolm Conn about the day he “lost his way” bowling to Brian Lara. “I didn't really know what to do so I was at the top of my mark just hoping I would survive the next delivery.”

Michael Hussey is preparing for the second Test after the first was “a real blur initially”. He is interviewed by Trevor Marshallsea in the Sydney Morning Herald and says: “I was doing well, I felt like I was preparing well, and then they sang that bloody national anthem and I couldn't feel my legs after that."

Two Tests into the Australian summer and there are already whispers about the lack of challenge provided by West Indies. Brendan McArdle writes in The Age the cricket calendar is “already flat”.

The BBC online’s Oliver Brett interviews Nick Knight, the former England batsman, to compare Duncan Fletcher and Bob Woolmer, who are currently sitting in opposite camps in Pakistan. “Bob's different in that he has an amazing amount of ideas about the game,” Knight says. “Duncan stands back more and observes and then comes in with the right method.” (Link provided by Zainub.)

Richard Williams wonders whether Salman Butt could become Pakistan's new Saeed Anwar:

...Butt is better known for his strokeplay than his ability to blunt an attack through dogged occupation of the crease. Another left-hander, small and lithe and, like Anwar, more inclined to use his wrists than his feet to anything outside off stump, he came into this series with a reputation as a stylish but brittle opener who preferred facing the new ball to the challenge offered by spin.

The Aussies just can't get over their defeat this summer. One of Andrew Flintoff's bats was saved from falling into the hands of a still bitter Australian fan and becoming a 21st century version of the Ashes.

Martin Johnson writes on England's spirited performance at Multan:

This really is a team who can not only hack it against the best in the world, but also when they are confronted by an environment not greatly altered since Biblical days.

England have lost the “Dad’s Army” tag since winning the Ashes and Malcolm Conn worries Australia have picked it up. “It is Australia in the midst of a debate not only about the age of the national side but also when, or even whether, the next generation of talented players will emerge.”

The Australian also remembers the great West Indies sides as Andrew Ramsey writes the current squad feels “insulted by suggestions that Australian cricket gains no benefit from playing such an inferior opponent”.

Another interesting Pakistan-related feature, this time by Jonathan Dyson in The Guardian, who writes about Pakistan's cricket-obsessed public: specifically, "tapeball."

Every Saturday night, all across Pakistan, matches between families, groups of friends and organised teams take place in the streets.

[...]

Since its inception in the early 1980s, tapeball has revolutionised the game here - and it could do the same in England, having been adopted by the London Community Cricket Association as a children's game on 30 council estates, thus making cricket available to those who would not normally be able to play it

Just a reminder that we produce several galleries at Cricinfo on Test days, and some one-dayers too, for your viewing pleasure. Here's our latest for the 2nd day at Multan.

In this week's From Our Own Correspondent, Owen Bennett-Jones - who was formerly BBC's "Man in Pakistan" - talks about the intensity and passion of cricket in Pakistan. But, more interestingly is he found someone who doesn't like the game:

Dancing, listening to music and watching television were all wrong, he said.

I tried to find a chink in the armour and said: "Ah well, as a Pakistani you must at least love cricket?"

"Cricket?" He raised his eyes to the heavens.

"Why all this cricket, cricket, cricket? Don't people realise they are wasting their time? People should think of Allah, not cricket."

Listen to it here (MP3 - starts at about 22mins 40secs) or read it here

Cricket has always struggled to register an interest in America. This group of people are trying their best, but banging ones head against a brink wall comes to mind.

England's spinners are in for plenty of toil this winter and you can't say their current pairing of Ashley Giles and Shaun Udal are in the first flush of youth. The leading spinner of the next generation - going by the stats - is Monty Panesar from Northants. But he didn't even make the Academy squad so, instead, headed off to Canada for an experience that you won't find in an ECB manual. David Hopps of The Guardian caught up with him to find out what it was all about:

"I have never spoken to Duncan," he said. "But now I know what is required to play for England. To go to Canada and meet the master was fantastic, the defining moment in my life. He told me to go home and concentrate on the cricket, to go full whack and give it my passion. That's what I aim to do. He has really motivated me."

Mike Selvey talks glowingly of Mark Nicholas, anchorman for Channel 4's Test coverage (which, sadly, ended this year):

I should declare an interest here. Nicholas has been a friend for a good many years since the days when, starting out in journalism, and covering a Hampshire match, I would sleep on the floor of his living room after drinking his wine and watching Bruce Springsteen videos with him into the small hours. He is a busy chap now and a great networker who has moved onwards and upwards, so we don't socialise much these days but, when we do, he is great company. With that out of the way now, dispassionately I find it incredible that a broadcaster of his skills has not already landed a plum television job in this country, not just in cricket but beyond, even into a shiny suit asking people to come on down or whatever...One day he will morph into Des Lynam.

Andrew Miller (England) and Osman Samiuddin (Pakistan) have provided views from both camps ahead of tomorrow's first Test at Multan.

Alec Stewart is grilled in Guardian Unlimited's irreverent Small Talk section, telling them what it's like to tour Pakistan - and more.

Brad Hodge is destined to be Australia’s next Test batsman and Andrew Ramsey finds out about him in The Australian. “A decade after he was first mentioned as an Australia Test batsman-in-waiting, Hodge has received the phone call he had begun to believe might never come.”

Two of Australia's yesteryear team-mates, who made famous the dismissal "Caught Marsh bowled Lillee", have signed up to coach opposing celebrity sides at Adelaide Oval. Last year Lord's ran an auction to face Shane Warne on the home of cricket and this game offers fans a chance to play on Adelaide Oval.

Ah, the irony:

Warne, who was once caught up in a text messaging scandal, will be the voice of Messages on Hold, a Perth-based company that records hold messages for switchboards, The Australian reported today.

Callers will be greeted with a message from Warne in which he says: "Trust me with this recommendation - I know a thing or two about spin."

Andrew Miller, our UK Editor, is in Pakistan now for England's tour and has been writing a diary, which should provide you with plenty of amusement and interest. Read it here.

Bob Simpson on the classic Australian approach to one-day cricket - Simple but full of common sense.

Geoff Boycott, not shy of airing his views, has sent a warning to England's batsmen:

You have to put runs on the board and play from a position of strength where you can pressure the opposition.

And that's where England have a problem. If you don't make runs you lose and England have too many batsmen who are not in form, which doesn't help build confidence.

Pakistan will fancy bowling at England's batsmen right now.

Meanwhile, Alastair Cook has been called up to bolster England's batting if Michael Vaughan is unable to play on Saturday. Not long to go now...

Harry Thompson, the man behind Have I Got News For You, the topical news quiz on the BBC, has died aged 45 after suffering from cancer. Aside from launching TV shows such as They Think It's All Over and The 11 O'Clock Show, he was an ardent cricket fan, as James Rampton reports in The Independent:

Apart from comedy and his family, Thompson's other great love was cricket. He set up the amateur Captain Scott Invitation XI in 1979, and it is still going strong with 30-odd games a season. The team has toured all over the world, and down the years people such as Hislop, Hugh Grant, Iain Glen and your correspondent have all donned the whites for this team. Thompson recently finished a book about the club, Penguins Stopped Play, which will be published next April.

Thompson himself played in 640-odd consecutive games, a run that was only broken by his diagnosis with cancer this April.

[Via Chunter]

Billy Bowden, who umpired during the 2005 Ashes and copped a lot of flak from Ricky Ponting in its aftermath, speaks to Gareth A Davies in The Daily Telegraph.

On umpiring itself, Bowden said he would like to see Test cricketers respecting the game to the nth degree. "The game is in good shape, but I'd like to see batsmen walking when they know they are out. Adam Gilchrist walks. I like that. No, I respect that."

Should Geraint Jones be replaced by a specialist keeper? This debate has heard many voices but here's what Bob Taylor and Jim Parks, two former England wicketkeepers, had to say on the subject.

Allrounders are all the rage in Australia but Chloe Saltau warns in The Age against following the dramatic lead of England and Andrew Flintoff. “It shouldn't be forgotten that England's long and desperate search for an allrounder to follow Ian Botham contributed to 15 years of misery while many a Botham wannabe flashed in and faded out of the national team.”

The Australian’s Andrew Ramsey isn’t the only one to notice Australia’s fielding improvement. Bob Simpson, the former coach, puts it down to more work on technique at training.

“As if being beaten up by South Africa, the match referee, and the International Cricket Council's one-day rankings wasn't enough, the vanquished squad arrive home this morning to suggestions of a rift between management and players.” Richard Boock, of the New Zealand Herald, takes a look at the latest Chris Cairns-related controversy.

The days when touring sides played a stack of warm-up matches before the start of a Test series are long gone, but, so Lawrence Booth reports, that might not be a bad thing. As Mark Ramprakash told him:

"They don't necessarily need runs in the warm-up games to get into that frame of mind. They're mentally happy where they are."

Chris Gayle, the West Indies enigma, is the subject of Peter Roebuck in The Age. Roebuck writes he currently lies between a liability and a leader. “Compared with Clive Lloyd, Gayle is a lightweight. In its impoverished state, West Indies cricket must take whatever the Jamaican offers, yet the path to recovery can be cut only by those prepared to put themselves on the line.”

Another player under pressure is Australia’s Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting admits to “carrying” him in The Courier-Mail.

After Michael Vaughan twice moved his fielding position while the ball was being bowled in the three-day tour opener in Rawalpindi, Jason Gee writes in The Guardian that Bob Woolmer has called for the rules on moving fielders to be clarified before Pakistan and England begin their three-Test series on Saturday.

© Getty Images

Corey Collymore wasn't the only one with the three-fingered-wave celebration. Fidel Edwards and Pedro Collins did it too. But why? A couple of theories are here.

Ricky Ponting deserves full credit for the part he has played in turning around this Australian side, writes Peter Roebuck in The Age.

Casting aside the restraint seen in England, and objecting to some minor dilly-dallying by a tailender, Ponting himself once marched across to vent his spleen. No more Mr Nice Guy. Manifestly, he has rediscovered his mongrel. He does not intend to allow history to swallow him up and spit him out. Hereafter, it is going to be a lively and occasionally uncomfortable ride. At heart, Ponting is more warrior than diplomat.

The morning after West Indies’ 379-run thrashing Robert Craddock asks in the Daily Telegraph how bad are the tourists? His answer? “West Indies is so outclassed that it is very possible Lara could make 200 in an innings and the side could still be beaten by a country mile.”

Living away from home is the hardest part of touring life and The Australian’s Malcolm Conn speaks to Adam Gilchrist about the demands of a jet-setting lifestyle.

'How are you feeling in Pakistan?' 'Are you a batsman or bowler?' 'What is your opinion of Shoaib Akhtar?'. Just some of the questions Jonathan Dyson had to face in Pakistan.

The fact that the England team touring Pakistan have two big hitters of their own, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, has given the anticipation of the forthcoming Test series an extra edge. Millions across Pakistan followed every ball of the recent Ashes series, and admire England's new attacking style of play

They cannot rest on their laurels for much longer, writes Vic Marks in The Observer. On Saturday, England's Ashes heroes stride out in Multan to undertake their first challenge of a gruelling winter.

The glamour and glitz of the Oval and Trafalgar Square are history now and England, under more intense scrutiny since their triumphant summer, must consolidate their reputations in distant, humdrum surroundings. It will be an interesting test of their commitment.

Suddenly, Australia's fast-bowling cupboard looks worryingly bare, writes Trevor Marshallsea in The Sydney Morning Herald. What does life after Glenn McGrath have in store for Australia?

Only six months ago, Australia's fast-bowling stocks looked robust. Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz appeared a formidable line-up. Brett Lee couldn't even get a Test. Suddenly, Australia's fast-bowling cupboard looks worryingly bare. As questions emerged as to the identity and location of Australia's next young quicks, word spread that national chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns was even looking beyond state first-team level and was interested in Doug Bollinger

India showed how they’ve perfected the art of playing the mindgame and endgame, writes Trevor Chesterfield in The Indian Express

Chess is the sort of mindgame where masters of the endgame use trusted tactics to outwit the opposition. And so far, in this series, India have cleverly employed the same tactics to outmanoeuvre Sri Lanka’s gameplan

There is a serious study to be made of domestic Pakistani cricket teams, writes Barney Ronay in The Guardian . Why, for example, are so many of them named after the kind of phantom companies used by the CIA to mask the activities of its covert Alien Abduction & Robot Spy Plane Bureau?

England's cricketers don't seem perturbed. With victory over the only-vaguely-sinister Patron's XI secured, and with their final warm-up game about to start, the familiar tour party archetypes have already begun to emerge:

The Really Great Bloke

A modern phenomenon, the Really Great Bloke has turned being a wildly enthusiastic good egg into a year-round career. He prowls the balcony, hungry for milestones to applaud. He never once removes his Vodafone ECB cap. Sadly, he also never gets picked. Already pencilled in for a vaguely humiliating over-age academy spot next year....

© BBC

He [Gough] has revealed style and hidden talent on the dance floor, and a slick unity with his cute Russian partner. On last week's show he was described by one judge, Bruno Tonioli, as a "Yorkshire Valentino". The yummy mummies in my kids' school playground, who can't tell an LBW from a BMW, are suddenly smitten.

India have found fluidity and lost their dependence on individuals, now Sri Lanka must go through that painful process, writes Harsha Bhogle.

Richard Boock writes on John Bracewell's coaching methods:

You get the feeling that if John Bracewell was a chemistry teacher his science laboratory would have been blown to smithereens within the first weeks of the opening term ... has opted for experimentation to find the best World Cup combination has so far watched his shrewdest theories explode in spectacular style.

R Mohan feels that Ganguly's media chatter was a crass political act that was not likely to be forgiven readily.

In Ganguly’s regime, Team India was assuming the contours of a closed group, of vested interests generated in the old boy school network type of togetherness that prevails in the cricket-playing class. The skipper wished to be viewed eternally as the one doling out the favours and demanding fierce personal loyalty in return.

Christopher Martin-Jenkins writes on how Michael Vaughan may have been saved from a repetition of the most infamous cricketing row between England and Pakistan.

Australia should learn from mistakes in the Caribbean, warns Peter Roebuck:

Australia must take every step needed to avoid the calamity suffered by their current opponents. The West Indies did not merely fall from a pedestal, they tumbled into the pits. Now and then glimpses of recovery have been detected, but they have been false dawns.

As West Indies and Australia begin their 100th Test, Tony Cozier celebrates the glorious rivalry over the years.

Update: Mike Coward writes on the West Indians, who have been cheered to the echo by fans captivated by their natural athleticism and spectacularly expressive cricket.

Bryan Hirsch, in the Business Day, draws an analogy between the length of batsmen's innings and the power of compound interest.

Neil Manthorp bemoans the fact that Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje will not be touring India for the forthcoming ODI series:

A certain section of South African society remains obsessed with its own superiority complex and, even more sadly, convinced that most foreigners outside Europe are lawless, untrustworthy savages. Do they really believe that the Indian police are not governed by law? Apparently so.

In the continuing debate over whether the increased use of technology is good for cricket....or not, Brendan McArdle feels that the TV monitor is creating more problems than it is solving.

Our perspective on the game is being distorted. Ricky Ponting's run-out was supposedly the result of England cheating with its 12th man; Shane Warne was robbed of a maiden Test century years ago in Perth because Daniel Vettori's no ball was not called, not because of a moment of madness on 99 by our champion leg spinner.

To read more on the debate, visit Wicket to Wicket, where Cricinfo's writers put forth their views for and against technology.