Monty Panesar will become a target for Australian crowds if he makes the Ashes tour, according to a report in The Age by Geoff McClure.

The tour is still five months away but already the pundits are fearing the worst for Turbanator II because of his atrocious fielding, which is so bad that he is already being compared to two of the worst the game has known — Phil Tufnell and Bishan Bedi.

However, according to The Times, Panesar's problems could soon be at an end, thanks to a trip to the optician ...

	© Getty Images

In today’s Times, Richard Hobson flags the failings of the England wicketkeeper, with his batting under scrutiny.

“Usually the batting of a wicketkeeper is scrutinised only when the top order fails. This time Geraint Jones is facing renewed questions because of the domino effect brought about by his dismissal. He is widely considered undroppable under Fletcher, but even so the cushion provided when Giles returns will feel very comfortable.”

Former Ashes-winning England keeper Jack Richards has no doubts.

"Is he there as a batsman or keeper? He doesn't appear to be there as a keeper because he's spilling too many chances. If it doesn't improve, then you can always say, 'Jones can come [back] in because we're happy for him to miss one an innings or one a game'."

And Jim Parks, who kept for Sussex and England in the 1960s, said that as long as batting is the criteria for picking the wicketkeeper, Jones is safe ... but not necessarily rightly.

"Read is the best keeper in the country but it's difficult for him because Jones has established himself - once you do that it's very difficult to lose your position. I think you should pick the best keeper because you can't afford to miss chances but if there are two who are on a par as keepers you chose the batter."

In the Jamaica Gleaner, Tony Becca reflects on the status of cricket on the island.

“In years gone by, in the days when almost every boy played the game in the backyard, in every open space, even in the streets and on hillsides, cricket was king. In those days, club matches in the city were well attended, village matches in rural Jamaica were well attended, matches involving Jamaica were well attended and there was no room at Sabina Park when a Test match was on.

“Today, however, that is not so. Today, all over Jamaica, football pitches outnumber cricket pitches, in contrast to cricket which attracts a few dozen spectators at local matches, football attracts thousands, and there is no comparison between a cricket match involving Jamaica and a football match involving the Reggae Boyz.”

But, Becca explains, that does not mean that cricket is dying on its feet, as many old timers might suggest.

“It is simply that football, like track and field, has become, as it has around the world and probably because of high-powered marketing, more popular over the years.”

And to underline his point, he cites examples that show the game is alive and well, albeit existing with a slightly lower profile.

I will play what will almost certainly be my last Test in England on Friday at Trent Bridge and I am very determined to go out with a win and square the series, writes Muttiah Muralitharan on bigstarcricket.com.

	The pressure continues to mount © Daily Mail

While Duncan Fletcher came out in support of Panesar, the debate over his dismal efforts in the field grew. The fear seems to be over the coming Ashes series and what Panesar could experience in Australia. In The Mail, Colin Bateman warned:

“There will not be much subtle wit flying round from those Aussie crowds who last winter were accused of racist comments by the touring South Africans.”

In The Observer at the weekend, Mike Brearley, the former England captain who was something of a hate figure in Australia, had a similar warning:

“Racism has been an alleged feature of recent Australian cricketing crowds, complained about both by Muttiah Muralitharan and by the South Africa team. Will Panesar be able to keep his head, to improve rather than decline, under such pressure? Time will tell. He looks a steady young man. But he will need a lot of pluck and support to be able to thrive when his every on-field move in Australia becomes the object of what is likely to be, in some part, shamelessly abusive, even racist, mockery.”

In The Daily Telegraph, Derek Pringle compared Panesar to the UK’s ridiculed and ridiculous Deputy PM, John Prescott.

“Both men deal in creating illusions, but while the country is waking up to the fact that Prescott has no discernible talent for political office, Panesar has a gift for spin bowling, even if it is threatened by a debit column full of black marks for his slapstick fielding and dire batting. What can be done? In Prezza's case the answer would be to ship him off to Brussels, partly as penance and partly to wind up the sniffy Eurocrats there. Monty, on the other hand, needs time to improve himself, something he and England don't have much of before the Ashes "Big Bang" starts in November.”

In The Sunday Times, Andrew Longmore hinted at another side to the player:

"Panesar once scored a century against Dunstable in club cricket; he plays striker for his local five-a-side team; he once wanted to be a pilot. None of which provides conclusive proof of hidden athletic ability, merely the glimpse of a different side of a character in danger of being miscast. “Go home and concentrate on your cricket, give it your passion,” a Sikh guru once advised Panesar. The passion is unquestionable; a little faith from his own team is needed or the first Sikh to play for England will be remembered more as a cultural than cricketing phenomenon."

And last Friday, Andrew Miller added to the debate:

Monty is turning into an enigma without equal. So cool, calm and collected with a ball in his hand; such a bag of gibbering nerves whenever it comes near him in the field. His late wicket in Sri Lanka's innings was evidence that he possesses an enviable ability to compartmentalise his woes, but his performance today confirmed him as perhaps the worst fielder ever to represent England in the professional era.

What is sure is that Panesar will be more under the spotlight than ever at Trent Bridge, and when - or perhaps, if - Ashley Giles returns to fitness, then the fielding and batting ability of England's rivals for the spinner's slot will become crucial.

Brett Lee is ready, er, to bowl another maiden over on Saturday when he marries Liz Kemp. See the pre-match analysis in The Age.

	A win is a win - but is it enough? © Getty Images

Despite wrapping up a six-wicket victory at Edgbaston, England are still being criticised for not having a 'killer instinct' and finishing Sri Lanka quicker. But this is a very young England side - only Marcus Trescothick is over 30 - and a number of players are finding their way in Test cricket. Simon Hughes says they must be given time to develop and that should continue at Trent Bridge.

It is worth remembering, though, that four of the team have only played 16 Tests between them. Of those four, Liam Plunkett distinguished himself.

Richard Hobson in The Times, meanwhile, argues that even last summer when they beat Australia England didn't have a ruthless streak.

England have not gone soft. They are as ruthless now as they were last summer. That is, not very ruthless at all. They allowed Australia to bat all through the final day (and what a long day it was) at Old Trafford, lost seven wickets chasing a small target at Trent Bridge and came within three runs of defeat at Edgbaston.

What he forgot was that it was his responsibility to ensure England led by enough not to need to bat again. He forgot that his mastery of Muralitharan could not be replicated, probably not by anyone in world cricket at present, but certainly not by England's late order, lacking in time at the crease

One of the main reasons why England were made to work hard for their win at Edgbaston was the battling effort of Michael Vandort, who ground out his second Test century. It was his first Test against anyone other than Bangladesh and was a significant milestone for the opener. In The Guardian, David Hopps charts his development.

Vandort was a late developer, chosen once for his school 1st XI - and St Joseph's is by no means the foremost Colombo cricketing college. He has needed every ounce of Burgher phlegm to get this far. He used 46 balls to navigate the 90s. At 95 the new ball was taken. At 97 he hooked uncomfortably at Matthew Hoggard. A drinks interval delayed him on 98.

	© Mail On Sunday

"In terms of skill levels it has been an even contest, but Pietersen, with two audacious hundreds to his name, has emerged the champion, and not just on points ... one of the two most attacking spin bowlers of the modern game, possibly in the history of the game, reduced to containment: the hunter as prey for once."

And, according to the Mail On Sunday, Murali himself is in agreement.

"This was a brilliant innings, one of the best I have ever seen. He has more power than any other player. I believe he is up there with the best."

Journos just can't seem to have enough of Monty Panesar, and now it's Mike Brearley's turn to take a harmless dig at the latest 'crowd craze'. Brearley, in The Observer compares Panesar to Manuel of Fawlty Towers, reflecting the England public's multi-racial attitude.

What induces crowds not always known for their their lack of xenophobia to take someone who seems to be an improbable choice to their hearts? I'm thinking of the Monty Panesar effect.

Stephen Fay, in The Independent on Sunday, wonders about the tolerance levels of a player's limitations, referring to Panesar's abilities as a batsman and fielder. A few exceptional others got away, but Monty?

The crowd laughs out loud when Panesar simply forgets how to stop a ball short and concedes two runs unnecessarily. His colleagues do not share the joke. Andrew Flintoff shakes his head in disbelief.

Urban cricket is defined as "no hassle cricket with no rules," and... In Pietersen's hands Test cricket is urban cricket writes David Hopps in The Guardian

His worst shots bear such little relation to the coaching manuals that they should be added to the statistics on urban crime. His most brilliant shots are so ambitiously executed that, in the city, such confidence rarely comes without the assistance of a snort of cocaine. His perpetual impatience is the essence of the city, every innings played as restively as a man rushing down an escalator for a departing tube. Do not tell him that there will be another ball along in a minute. He wants this ball, this tube, now.

The cold, the rain and an umpire from the past - None of it helped Murali and Co.

ENGLAND are rarely long into a tour of the sub-continent before “difficult” conditions become an issue. Victories are the more laudable for being achieved in searing heat and defeats are explained away on a similar theme. Perhaps we should flip the coin on to the other side. Over the past days Sri Lanka themselves will have felt far from home writes Richard Hobson in The Times

"Sachin Tendulkar's withdrawal from the tour of the West Indies may be a blessing in disguise.... Nothing is worse in sport than seeing a great player reduced to mediocrity," writes Peter Roebuck in the The Hindu

It must be agony for him to sit on his thumps, runs unscored, energies unspent. At home, he must resemble a caged lion. Whenever he feels even remotely repaired he surely hastens to the nets to face some balls. His frustration at the setbacks must be deeply felt. Meanwhile, months pass and India accustoms itself to life without him.
Yet Tendulkar must not hurry. Nothing is worse in sport than seeing a great player reduced to mediocrity by some inconvenience.

In London yesterday, a curious sight was snapped by a passer by: Shane Warne being transported on top of a lorry. As bizarre as it sounds, it gets better for today he has been placed in all his glory slap bang in the middle of Piccadilly Circus to promote the Ashes in Australia later this year.

Will wonders never cease? Click here to see an enlarged photo.

	Monty Panesar's missed chance at mid-off was described as 'a finely coordinated athlete as of a man trying to put out a chip-pan fire with a wet tea cloth' © Getty Images

After his fumbles in the field yesterday, Monty Panesar was described by Simon Briggs in The Telegraph as “a natural physical comedian, a worthy successor to John Cleese”. Briggs, like many writers in today’s editions, also makes comparisons with Liam Plunkett and Sajid Mahmood – especially with the imminent return of Steve Harmison.

Temperamentally, they are from different planets. Plunkett comes across as an all-round athlete who has turned himself into a cricketer by hard, methodical graft. […] Mahmood has more of a natural gift. He lopes in lazily, then coils and uncoils in one loose-limbed blur of movement.

In the same paper, Martin Johnson is rather less critical of Monty

Firstly, he's a very fine spin bowler and secondly, if cricket needs to remember that it's part of the entertainment industry then Monty's fielding certainly fulfils that part of the equation. He missed two chances yesterday, one at mid-off that was not so much reminiscent of a finely coordinated athlete as of a man trying to put out a chip-pan fire with a wet tea cloth. And yet you can't fault the man's body language. He always looks as though he wants the ball to come to him, even if his 10 team-mates are rather hoping that it never does.

Andrew Hilditch’s life away from the limelight has finished after he was promoted to chairman of Australia’s selectors following the resignation of Trevor Hohns. Daniel Brettig profiles Hilditch for The Age.

"I've just always been a very shy person, so it's not something I would normally be looking for, to be in the public eye. As a selector for about 10 years, I've let the chairman be the face of the committee, and I was very happy for Trevor to play that role. So, really, I've just stayed to myself, but that obviously is all about to change."

"I'm really enjoying it, but I've only just started. Trevor did tremendously to do it for that length of time, the advantage if you're doing it well. I don't think you put a time frame on it, I think it's a matter of whether you've got the energy and enthusiasm to keep doing it. But I think the reality of the next three or four years is they'll be pretty challenging — there will be changes, and managing those changes will be a real challenge, and I like challenges. Certainly, I see the next three or four years as a pretty critical period for Australian cricket."

See Hilditch's player page here.

What makes the West Indies Cricket Board revert to Brian Lara as captain each time? Tony Cozier finds out, in The Sportstar. Cozier also recounts the circumstances leading to Lara's previous appointments.

So Lara is now back to where he started. Many, like Sir Everton Weekes, will say where he belongs. "He's an intelligent player, he's an intelligent person, and if I were the selectors, I would offer him the job", Weekes, one of the legendary Three Ws, said during the period of conjecture.

Eight months on from the Ashes, and cricket's celebrity status is on the wane. Tanya Aldred explains why Hello! magazine and its stablemates have deserted tales of Rachel Flintoff's jeans-size.

The Oval in September became Multan in November and in the big bad world of sporting fame, cricket wasn't quite cutting it. The team wintered in Pakistan and India, not known as Hello! hotspots. Andrew Flintoff was the stand-in captain, levelling the series in Mumbai, but where were the hair extensions, the court convictions, the frolicking-in-the-sea pictures, the shopping excursions?

Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett will be rivals as well as team-mates over the coming week. Both will be striving to help England to beat Sri Lanka in the second npower Test at Edgbaston starting tomorrow, but in the longer run they believe that they are competing for, at most, a single position, writes Richard Hobson in The Times.

Mike Selvey beleives that the inclusion of a maverick 'slinger' called Lasith Malinga in the team for Edgbaston is a gamble Tom Moody needs to take. Selvey too explains what separates slingers from the rest, with an interesting example from the man who started it all, Jeff Thomson. Read the full piece in The Guardian.

Here was an action that at first sight was regarded as freakish when in reality, with the huge arc of his bowling arm and the thump of his left foot into the turf, it provided the embodiment of the total use of physical attributes to maximise pace.

Young Ugandans with disabilities taking part in a programme that aims to teach them a sport little known to many Africans, and help shatter overwhelmingly negative perceptions of disability on the continent, writes Daniel Wallis.

The Daily Telegraph highlights an issue facing visitors to the Caribbean for the 2007 World Cup – being ripped-off.

“Next year's World Cup in the Caribbean is threatening exploitation on a scale not seen in the region since pirates and colonial overlords plundered it hundreds of years ago. Hotels are the main culprits by tripling rack rates and their barefaced refusal to refund hefty deposits should any plans change.”

This is one of the reasons that many people from the UK are choosing to travel to Australia for the Ashes rather than taking in the World Cup. Another factor seems to be the continuing reluctance of the British to embrace the one-day game.

Search for a Star did for Sussex’s Tim Linley what Pop Idol did for Will Young – made a success of a youngster with raw talent. After triumphing in last year’s competition, this week Linley repaid the faith and proved that he really can cut it on the big stage – he took his first wicket for Sussex against Sri Lanka.

And now the bowling contest returns for a second year. If you think you too can launch it like Linley then click here to enter – but be prepared to travel to London for trials.

Just how good is Andrew Flintoff as captain?

Derek Pringle in The Telegraph feels he is more a 'do as I do' skipper rather than a 'do as I say'. However, Pringle feels with the Ashes in mind, it would be better to have Michael Vaughan back, even with a bionic knee.

Mark Nicholas, also writing for The Telegraph, clamps down on Freddie's fetish for pace, and lends a humourous tinge to England's slip catching at Lord's, rather the lack of it.

Alastair Cook, who batted with extraordinary maturity in India and stepped into first slip as if to the manor born.Not so at third slip and then gully at Lord's, where he searched vainly for a hole in the estate to gobble him up.

Tom Eaton, in the Mail & Guardian, pays tribute to Ntini, who has almost singlehandedly carried the South African attack in the recent times.

The numbers tell the story. Ntini took 34% of all South Africa's wickets, and bowled 41 overs more than his nearest colleague, the apparently indefatigable Pollock. Most teams rely on spinners, whether specialists or part-timers, to wheel through overs while the speedsters rest. This summer six slow bowlers were tossed the ball. Ntini bowled 85 overs more than all of them combined.

In other words, any discussion of South Africa's bowlers, and what they might have done without Ntini, must invariably end in allusions to disastrous canoeing trips up excremental creeks. The sheer weight of his burden took us into Muttiah Muralitharan territory and, although Dale Steyn did an admirable impression of Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lanka's one-ring circus is not a show we want to emulate

The 'A' tours essentially provide the stepping stone for domestic stars to enter the national team, but the concept has evoked mixed reactions from players in New Zealand. Suggestions are on to beef up the existing domestic tournament, citing Australia's rise as an example, reports Dylan Cleaver in The New Zealand Herald.

'A' tours are effectively a series of trial matches and are, by definition, artificial in nature and unlikely to provide the competitive edge you get in domestic cricket.

Tym Glaser, in the Jamaica Gleaner, presents his World Cup squad.

The expulsion of the Bihar Cricket Association and its replacement by the Jharkhand Cricket Association as a full member of the BCCI, has left a poor taste in the mouth. The BCA — that in its time has produced some fine cricketers — has been reduced to a footnote in Indian cricket history. Does the BCCI intend to delete the fact from its records that Bihar reached the Ranji Trophy final in 1975-76 under the captaincy of Daljit Singh, now the curator at Mohali? What was wrong if the BCA had been allowed to continue as a full member as also Jharkhand brought in? Clearly the present BCCI officials were not sure of which side the BCA would vote.

Rajan Bala asks the tough questions. Click here to read the article.

	Kevin Pietersen 'could become the most prolific Test batsman England have had' © Getty Images

For all his showmanship, Kevin Pietersen has the ability and hunger to break a lot of records and become one of England’s truly great batsmen, argues Scyld Berry in The Sunday Telegraph.

In the next 10 years he could become the most prolific Test batsman England have had. Sir Len Hutton's 364 is within his range. So is Graham Gooch's career aggregate of 8,900 runs, given that Pietersen has scored 1,000 within his first year of Test cricket, after the hardest of all baptisms against Australia and in Asia. Pietersen can do it because, in addition to all his physical qualities, he has a cricket brain. At Lord's he worked Muralitharan to leg so much that seven fielders were posted legside, and then he helped himself on the off.

In the same paper, Mike Atherton recounts a long and ultimately futile search to find a Freddie Flintoff replica shirt for his four-year-old son’s birthday.

As befits a Sunday hack with plentiful time on his hands, I spent much of last week on a wild goose chase. More accurately, I spent it on a wild replica England cricket shirt chase. A Freddie Flintoff shirt, of course. For my four-year-old's birthday, you understand. It proved to be a frustrating and illuminating experience, which I shall now indulge your patience by recounting.

Muttiah Muralitharan puts a positive spin on England’s chances in the Ashes later this year, claiming their only problem is their lack of a quality spinner.

With cricket boards salivating at the prospect of hiring Australians to coach their respective teams, the Indian board is taking the wise step of training its own coaches, with official recognition from the ICC, writes Frank Tyson in the Sportstar.

The mystique of Mushtaq Ali's batting wristiness, "Fergie" Gupte's prodigious powers of spin, Erapalli Prasanna's dipping loop, and Azharuddin's leg-glance — these are all waiting around the coaching corner, ready to be explained to Indians, by Indians!

With India and West Indies to play the final Test of the tour at Sabina Park,Kingston, Tony Becca looks back at the most memorable encounters between the two sides at the venue. Read the full piece in The Jamaica Gleaner.

Stuart Broad, son of Chris, is shaping up to be a future England Test player, and he’s not yet 20. He and his dad spoke to The Independent about the pressures – or not – of following in a famous father’s footsteps. And Broad junior revealed that, despite their closeness and obvious shared interest in the game, they have never netted together.

Why did England drop as many as nine catches in the Lord's Test? Derek Pringle shares a few interesting theories in the The Telegraph, one of which says that Duncan Fletcher being left handed could be the cause.

The tricky problem is not so much beating Sri Lanka after the unexpected draw at Lord’s, but who should captain England in Australia if Vaughan cannot make the trip, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins in The Times.

Mike Selvey writes in The Guardian that "It is further possible, although equally hypothetical, that England would have fared better with the in-form Jon Lewis as the fourth seamer rather than Sajid Mahmood."

Shane Warne just can’t stay out of the news pages. Today he’s in trouble for advertising his treatment for hair loss, which did not comply with British industry standards. "We concluded that the ad breached the code over the use of a celebrity endorsement for a treatment that involved medicine," the industry watchdog said. See the story here.

"Stranger things have happened," said Kumar Sangakkara after Sri Lanka had lost two wickets in the second innings, "but if we get out of this it will be one of the great escapes in Test history." They did, and it was. Read David Hopps' account of events in The Guardian

Hope metamorphosed into an extremely rare sort of triumph for Sri Lanka yesterday as mounting embarrassment turned into something of a cricketing debacle for England, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins in The Times.

England dropped nine catches in the match, three on the fifth day. Steve James says in The Guardian that Duncan Fletcher, though he showed no outward sign, must have been seething inside.

But Geoffrey Boycott says that dropped catches were not solely to blame for England's inability to win. He says that they were lazy in the mind.

Predictions of an England victory before Sunday was over were almost as wild as the Met Office's warnings of a weekend wash-out, writes David Llewellyn in The Independent.

If even Elton John comments on player burnouts, who else wouldn't, one would have to wonder. With his penchant for flamboyant costumes and riotous parties, it may surprise some to learn that prefers Test matches to one-day pyjama cricket. Read the full piece in BBC Sport.

"I was on tour when we won by two runs at Edgbaston. I was in the south of France and on the phone to Michael Caine - who is a big cricket fan. I was saying 'For God's sake' and he was saying 'I can't look'."

Sri Lanka had all but lost the first Test at Lord's at the start of the fourth day. With some more stodgy batting and helpful weather, they now have a sliver of a chance to save it. Here's what the papers had to say about England's slip-up.

On Saturday morning, England were going to win the first Test by Saturday evening. Yesterday morning, they were going to win it by teatime. Today, they will need luck with the weather if they are to win it at all, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins in The Times.

Mahela Jayawardene denied England resolutely during his 14th Test century. David Hopps writes in The Guardian that this was a hundred to stir hopes that the Sri Lankan captaincy might finally bring fulfilment to a Test career that has never quite scaled its expected heights.

Monty Panesar has bowled just 21 overs in the match but he's given the crowd far more to cheer about than the two Sri Lankan wickets he's taken. But Lawrence Booth warns that Panesar will have to spruce up his act to avoid several earfuls in Australia.

Shortly after lunch yesterday Farveez Maharoof drove Liam Plunkett through mid-off for four. The ball skipped off the rope and over the boundary board, but for the spectators the fun had only just begun. Enter Monty Panesar stage right and with all the enthusiasm in the world. Haring across from mid-on to collect the ball, he leapt over the hoardings and can have been little more than an inch or two from catching his boot and falling flat on his face. The crowd duly erupted as if he had just won Olympic gold in the 110m hurdles.

Nightwatchmen are not supposed to hook fast bowlers into the stands for six, writes David Llewellyn in The Independent . Yet that is just what Farveez Maharoof did to Liam Plunkett to bring up his 50.

Geraint Jones may have received several barbs for his sometimes shoddy glovework but lo and behold, he's the quickest English wicketkeeper to reach 100 dismissals. Lawrence Booth says while the statistics can be deceptive, they are also irrefutable.

Rick Broadbent says in The Times that it was England's clumsiness in the field that cost them dearly.

The image of Matthew Hoggard spreadeagled across the lush springtime turf and clutching the ball with which he had taken his 200th Test match wicket entirely reflected the man, writes Mark Nicholas in The Telegraph. Hoggard is a scrummager not a three-quarter, more farm hand than high-faluter.

In his weekly column in the Sunday Telegraph, Steve James argues that Chris Read's much-publicised spat with Mushtaq Ahmed shows he has the right attitude for Test cricket and that it won't have done his chances of an England recall any harm. Otherwise might argue that all it shows is that he's a stroppy bugger!

"Of course, last week Read allowed his aggression to manifest itself in the wrong manner and I am not condoning his behaviour, but I still cannot deny that my first reaction upon hearing of the ruckus was 'good on him'."

The cry “Kill the umpire”, used to ring out only in football and baseball stadiums but now it has a presence in the field of cricket, albeit in a metaphorical sense, writes Ian Chappell. Read the full article in Mid-Day.

"An umpire is getting 96% of his decisions right, while on the other hand Hawk-Eye is guaranteed 90% correct. So, why do we need technology to protect the umpires?"

"I hope Dravid's men play wonderfully when they tour the Caribbean. But if Lara's West Indians play better and take the series, somewhere inside me, a boy's ghost might stir to grin and cheer as cricket's world turns right-side up again." Read Mukul Kesavan's stirring article in the The Hindu to find out why he feels that way about a team that captured the imagination and so much more.

It's report card time for New Zealand's international season and Mark Richardson plays professor. The Kiwis may have passed the overall season, but failed the all important Up With The Big Boys (UWTTB) Exams. Read on in the New Zealand Herald.

John Bracewell has an unfancied job arresting New Zealand's Test decline and the results seem unfair, given his passion and commitment to his job, writes Paul Lewis in the New Zealand Herald.

"He just can't win no matter what he does, you might say. It's true, as ever, that the blokes who trot out on the paddock have a fair bit to do with things."

Paul Lewis asks why New Zealand perenially struggles to find quality openers, with those since 2000 enough in number to form a 13-man squad. Read on in the New Zealand Herald.

To say that New Zealand has not replaced Richardson is like saying that the Amazon is a bit of scrub. We haven't even replaced the guy at the other end from Richardson.

Also, read Richard Boock's views on the same topic in the New Zealand Herald.

Shortly before stumps on the third day, Monty Panesar snared Kumar Sangakkara to dent the Sri Lankan fightback that had been built by half-centuries by Upul Tharanga and Sangakkara. Read what the papers have to say about day's play.

Sri Lanka's struggle in English conditions was expected and Aravinda de Silva tells us why in The Observer.

Sri Lanka will always struggle in England whenever they do not play a Test in August because our batsmen from schoolboy level upwards are not exposed to an adequate preparatory syllabus. On our wickets, yes, even Geoffrey Boycott's mum could make runs. But with our coaching system and cricket set-up, not even Michael Holding could become a champion fast bowler.

Sri Lanka, having shown all the grit and fight of a lap dog in the first two days of the match, at last exhibited something akin to tenacity. Sinhalese bulldog, say. They will lose all the same, writes Stephen Brenkley in The Independent.

Stephen Brenkley also says that Alastair Cook, Panesar and Sajid Mahmood are picks of potential as England plan for the Ashes in Australia.

In his first spell in Test cricket, Mahmood earned rave reviews by ripping through the Sri Lankan middle order. Stephen Fay writes in the The Independent that he is a promising sign of the Cooley legacy.

Mike Atherton also has words of praise for Mahmood's pace and potential. Atherton writes in the The Sunday Telegraph that Mahmood can thrive in all conditions.

More praise for England's youngsters. Vic Marks writes in The Observer that Cook has all the right ingredients.

Matthew Hoggard became the tenth English bowler to take 200 Test wickets. Mike Brearley says he's "utterly reliable, willing to take any role, never injured or unavailable" in The Observer.

A feast of reports from yesterday’s papers for you this morning, with Kevin Pietersen and Sajid Mahmood deservedly (and understandably) grabbing the headlines. The Times have a wonderful snippet section (see here) with some hidden gems of yesterday’s play, including the revelation that Richie Benaud – now a refugee of the commentary box; he refuses to work for subscription-based TV companies – enjoyed a glass of wine in the Coronation Garden with friends. The first time for eons.

"He is big and brash and as subtle as colonic irrigation," writes Rick Broadbent of Pietersen in The Times where he also compares him to Pele.

Simon Hughes is full of praise for Mahmood, whose three wickets shocked Sri Lanka yesterday.

He looks more rhythmic and confident now, and his success here further questions Sri Lanka's decision to leave out their one surprise package, Lasith Malinga.

For all his audacious strokeplay, it is Pietersen’s defence which marks him out as a potential great, writes Steve James in The Guardian.

Bowlers talk of his sometimes unexpectedly blocking a whole over, as if just to take a break from his coruscating strokeplay. Ah, to be that good. Pietersen is not yet so, but the quality of his defence had first become evident at this ground last summer. Remember that first Test against Australia when Glenn McGrath was wreaking havoc from the Pavilion End with his off-cutters darting down the slope? Most of the England batsmen could scarcely lay a bat on him, but as soon as Pietersen entered the fray it almost appeared as if an altogether different game was taking place.

And James even goes as far to compare him with the great Sir Vivian Richards

Now the Surfer is going to try its best to stay away from Shane Warne and chopper gags… but it is sorely tempted to after it hears the news that Warne is to fly in by helicopter to deliver the match ball for Saturday's FA Cup final between Liverpool and West Ham in Cardiff. Warne is the first Australian in history to have such honours. Lucky boy.

England began the summer with a powerful performance against an insipid Sri Lankan attack. They ended the first day at Lord's on 318 for 3. Read what the papers had to say about it.

Alastair Cook scored 89 in his first Test at home and Rick Broadbent pays tribute in The Times. And Steve James praises himfor the way he played Muttiah Muralitharan.

Forget the swashbuckling strokeplay that was the hallmark of England’s assault on the front pages last summer. Cook is old school, the sort of man who plays what Boycott would call “proper creekit”.

"The open-topped bus ride around Trafalgar Square was a joyous moment in history, but if these things are graded by magnitude of achievement, England's reward for beating Sri Lanka will be a gentle spin in a milk float down Marylebone Road." Martin Johnson sums it up in The Telegraph.

"It was a day on which the worrying news of Vaughan apart, virtually everything went right for England," writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins in The Times.

Boycs has the first and last word. "My mum could play this lot" is the signal that Boycott regards a series as a non-event. It was not what the Sri Lankans would have wanted to hear, says David Hopps in The Guardian.

It was not quite what Channel 5 would have wanted either as he joined their team for their first day of Test highlights. But it might have been worse: the Bangladeshis suffered at the hands of his granny, batting with a stick of rhubarb.

Who would you rather watch? Muralitharan, with all his energy and mystery, or Ashley Giles - I love you too, Ashley - plugging away over the wicket? Read Angus Fraser's tribute to Murali in The Independent.

Mike Selvey is not a fan of the new rule that allows players to appeal against the umpire's decision. Read his views on it in The Guardian.

The very notion of appealing against an umpire's decision, even in this artificially formalised way as advocated by the England coach Duncan Fletcher, is anathema, for the founding block of the game is the acceptance that the decision of the umpire is final.

Eight months have passed since England won the Ashes. Mark Nicholas sizes up the progress England and Australia have made since then.

And yet, for all the contrast of Australia's glorious season at home and England's patchy winter away, it may just be England who have made the most progress. Had the team who returned the Ashes continued together in Pakistan and India we would be none the wiser as to the quality of the resources in reserve.

In a few hours, the first Test between England and Sri Lanka at Lord's will get underway, the earliest ever start to an English season. Christopher Martin-Jenkins writes in The Times that it presents the home team — and Andrew Flintoff in particular — with a great opportunity.

But Jonathan Agnew writes in his column for BBC that while it is tempting - it would be foolish - to write Sri Lanka off in this series.

Can this English season sustain the enthusiasm created by the Ashes in 2005? Mike Selvey feels it can.

There may be an element of risk attached to giving four players home debuts in the same match but it is in England's long-term interest to select Alastair Cook, Liam Plunkett, Sajid Mahmood and Monty Panesar, says Angus Fraser in The Independent.

Scandals and regular tabloid appearances never seem to erode Shane Warne's mastery on the field, with England seeking his divine help to arrest their legspin woes. And no better way than to start with young kids in the 'Spin to Win' programme, as Derek Pringle elaborates in The Telegraph.

When he demonstrates the grip, the three-quarter size ball looks vulnerable as he clamps it into his powerful right hand. For the last 15 years, cricket balls around the world have been squeezed, exhorted and spun with such ferocity from that hand that it should look deformed.

It would be impossible to accurately describe Greg Chappell with just a single adjective, observes Rohit Brijnath. In an interview to The Hindu, Chappell gives his views on the current crop of players and what lies ahead.

Some people see Greg Chappell as preacher of a fine cricketing gospel. Some contend he's a snake-oil salesman. Some say he deserves credit, some say he grabs it.

In the third Test against New Zealand at Johannesburg, Jacques Kallis joined Sir Garry Sobers in an exclusive two-member club of players to have scored 8000 Test runs and taken 200 wickets. Read Neil Manthorp's take on the similarities of two completely different cricketers.

Ken Gordon: going it alone © Getty Images

According to caribbeancricket.com, Gordon was summoned to an emergency telephone conference immediately after the announcement where he was asked to explain why he had overstepped his authority.

A source close to Gordon made clear the frustration with the cumbersome committee structure.

"Sometimes, you just have to make a decision and move forward but every asshole has an opinion. They sit around, questioning everything. Sometimes, you need someone to just take the bull by the horns and get the job done. These directors have been there for years and all they did was run the board into bankruptcy."

A coveted MBE for a sole Ashes appearence may have resulted in much ribbing from other players, but Paul Collingwood has certainly got even, with his notable performances in the winter tours. Donald McRae caught up with the Durham batsman on a cloudless spring day in Iveston.
Read the full piece here in The Guardian.

Collingwood ducks his head shyly when asked who he pretended to be when it was his turn to bat in the street behind their house. "My brother. I wanted to be him. I idolised him."

In the Guardian the excellent Frank Keating points out that this week sees the start of Sky Sports’ domination of English cricket coverage. But he doesn’t think this is necessarily a bad thing.

“Greedy county club chairmen, a pusillanimous England and Wales Cricket Board and a double-crossing minister of culture are perceived as the collective culprits by cricket lovers. Will Thursday be the day that goads the fans to hit the shits? Or shall we, as ever, just shrug and get on with real life?”

He points out that a Sky subscription is no more expensive than a grandstand ticket for a Test (although many would argue that even that is grossly overpriced). And what about the absence of Richie Benaud, after countless summers of commentating on the English season?

“Oh, and sacrilege I know, but thank heavens the hagiolatry of that Aussie ancient of the muttered monosyllable is now, also, a thing of the distant past. So are romantic ideals of television coverage. Realists should stop moaning, cough up and get dished. There is no going back.”

On touring India as first Sikh to play for England; Test ambition of beating Steve Harmison at darts; Pleasantly surprised by support from Indian fans; Resisting a beer after Test victory in Bombay, read Matt Gatward's entertaining email conversation with Monty Panesar in The Independent.

The ICC's latest initiative on the use of technology, especially the move to allow players to challenge decisions by on-field umpires, was put forward last week by its cricket committee. But Angus Fraser, who sits on that committee, wrote in his column in The Independent that he had reservations.

"The biggest fear over the proposed system is the effect it will have on "The Spirit of Cricket", the fabric of the game and the role and authority of the on-field umpire. It will undoubtedly encourage players to challenge the decisions of umpires at lower levels of the game."

He raised one other potential issue:

"Disciplining international players for their reaction to a decision will also be hard because the prospect of appealing gives them the opportunity to hang around for a period of time before walking off."

While Shane Warne's attention may be directed elsewhere, today he announces the launch of a new initiative to find the next generation of legspinners.

"Perhaps I might be biased, but to me spin bowling adds something special to cricket. That is why I’m really pleased to be involved with an initiative being launched by Mitre this morning to find and help young spinners. To anybody who reckons that leg spin is a dying art, I’ll just say this: not on my watch it isn’t."

The initiative will see Warne introducing a summer programme and then, in September, he will be at a coaching day for 100 of the brightest youngsters from across the country.

"Matthew Hoggard...is presently rated as the fifth best bowler in the world. That is better than Shoaib Akhtar, Shaun Pollock, Brett Lee and Harbhajan Singh..." © Getty Images

Andrew Strauss heaps praise on his England team-mate Matthew Hoggard who, he feels, doesn't receive the recognition he deserves.

Behind his slightly dopey, 'Farmer Giles' exterior, is a surprisingly sharp mind. He doesn't like people knowing that he has three high-grade A-levels to his name and it is only when he is extremely bored and asks questions like "Is a vacuum really a vacuum?" and "Why is suction called suction?" that you realise that one of those A-levels is in chemistry. I am not sure if it would ruin his street cred up on the Yorkshire moors if he admitted to being clever, but in his intellect, rather like his bowling, he prefers to be under-estimated. In fact, in the England team there is an unwritten rule that none of us should ever talk to Matthew before 10am.

Even the most good- natured of comments is likely to be met with a Neanderthal-like grunt in reply that would not suggest there was anything behind his dopey exterior whatsoever. Thankfully, he uses his mind a little more productively out in the middle.

Read the full story at The Sunday Telegraph

Richie Benaud, former Australian captain and a commentator, believes Flintoff is ready to become the full-time England captain now.

If Michael Vaughan's knee problems are long-term, then I wouldn't muck around — I would make Flintoff skipper straight away. I was made a Test captain out of the blue when I was 28. I didn't expect it — I wasn't even the Australian vice-captain at the time.

Small-town players have the will, the public sports colleges show the way, feels G Rajaraman. Read the Outlook India article here.

Michael Atherton dissects Chaminda Vaas's mediocre record in England.

It is an anomaly that can be explained partly by the fact that he has not played that much cricket in this country, partly by the absence of the Kookaburra ball, which bowlers use everywhere bar England and India, and partly because bowling in sub-continental conditions has made him far more expert with the old ball than the new. Interestingly, Vaas's record in India, where they use the SG ball which is the closest in design to the English Duke, is also poor.

"For me rhythm is important, not pace. Please remember I am not a Brett Lee or a Shoaib Akhtar. I can't bowl fast, but I can swing the ball," confides Irfan Pathan in a chat with Vijay Lokapally.

Makhaya Ntini has matured into a fine bowler. He made the most of his opportunities. Others came and went, passengers unwilling to pay the fare, but he persisted, writes Peter Roebuck.

Richie Benaud tells Will Swanton what his 10 favourite moments in the history of the Ashes have been. Read The Age for Benaud's choice moments in chronological order.

Tom Moody tells Vic Marks about his hectic life at the helm of an international cricket team as the first Test at Lord's approaches.

Former Sri Lankan batsman Aravinda De Silva believes the teenager Chamara Hapugedera is a talent capable of taking anybody's place at the crease.

After helping England to bring back the Ashes last summer, critics Down Under are questioning whether Troy Cooley is 'Australian enough' to coach the national team. Kevin Mitchell reports in the Observer.

The pitch at Newlands was a victim of modern society - an ever-increasing desire for instant gratification; in a cricketing sense, an increasing desire for fast-paced play; and in a test-cricket sense, an increasing need for a result. ... One of the great nuances of test cricket is that a win is something of such reasonable rarity that it is undeniably an occasion for celebration. It should take days of hard toil, or be due to a performance of exceptional quality and be accompanied by a feeling of real accomplishment. There is nothing wrong with a draw if both teams have played so well or so poorly as to arrive at stalemate.

Click here to read Mark Richardson's pitch for better wickets

"On present form would be hard not to rate him alongside Glenn Turner and Crowe as one of New Zealand's best three batsmen of the modern era. But should he continue on in his record-breaking style for as long as he's intending, he could easily end up in a category of his own," believes Richard Boock.

Members of the Indian cricket communities around the cricketing world continue to press ahead, writes Peter Roebuck in the Witness.

Is Andrew Flintoff the right man to lead England? Angus Fraser provides a few points to ponder:

Many will feel that Flintoff is the automatic choice, but the decision of who should lead England against Sri Lanka is far from straightforward. Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, continues to air concerns over the workload placed on his most important player, and the first thing he, David Graveney and Geoff Miller need to assess is how much longer Vaughan is likely to be out.

Last week Cameron White possessed a national contract worth about $145,000 and was within reach of an Australian berth, writes Chloe Saltau in The Age. This week he has lost his contract and failed to make Australia's second-best team.

Why the allocation of the 2019 World Cup to England and Wales should be a cause for back-slapping and declarations of how much it shows us to be in the vanguard of the global game beats me, writes Mike Selvey in The Guardian.

Er, is Elton John the saviour of county cricket? That’s the question that The Guardian are asking today. Find out why here.

Despite the best efforts of Andrew Flintoff and England during the Ashes to raise the profile of cricket in Britain, it seems some shops still care more for fitness equipment than the great game.

I am in the sports department of John Lewis with a friend, trying to buy a cricket bat. But they are out of cricket bats. In fact, they have no cricket equipment at all. A third of the floor space is taken up with treadmills, rowing machines and exercise bikes. "This is all about keeping fit," my friend protests. "What's that got to do with sport?"

You can see what he meant. Despite the best efforts of Freddie Flintoff, cricket gear accounts for less than 1 per cent of the sports equipment market, while fitness kit has a huge 23 per cent, second only to that eternal generator of accessories, golf (35 per cent).

More at the New Statesman.

Brian Lara’s reappointment as West Indies captain has not gone down well with everyone. An editorial in the Guyana-based Stabroek News is less than enthusiastic.

“It proves that the decision-makers still lack vision or are too timid to make the hard decisions and prefer to be politically correct instead. If you add a touch of insularity one cannot go too wrong either.

“It is said he has the experience and maturity to take the team through the World Cup and beyond, but those qualities do not automatically translate into tactical awareness and motivational skills on the field of play.”

A different take on the World Cup. Aroutis Foster, a reader of the Gleaner in Jamaica, has questioned the safety of tourists visiting the island for the tournament.

“As a Jamaican living and studying overseas, I am left pondering how the country could expect to get foreigners to come to Jamaica and enjoy the Cricket World Cup in 2007 and also reassure peaceful local residents that it is safe in Kingston, when there are headlines in the local newspapers talking about impending wars in communities such as Rockfort.”

The issue of crime on some of the islands is one that is of serious concern to the organizers, and is one that is unlikely to be resolved in the next ten months. As Foster points out:

“Jamaicans abroad as well as foreigners are afraid to visit Jamaica. People do not feel safe in Jamaica, especially in Kingston.”

If Sri Lanka are to spring a surprise and emerge victorious from their tour of England, then they will need their coach, Tom Moody, to impart the wisdom he has acquired during a decade of service as a player in the shires. This week, he returns to his old stomping ground at New Road to take on England A.

In the Times, Ivo Tennant profiles 16-year-old Sam Northeast, one of England’s brightest young batsman who is good enough for Kent to send their coaches to him rather than asking for him to go to them.

“Last summer they [Kent] gave him his second XI debut at Beckenham, where he scored 96 against Derbyshire. In his first innings of this term he scored 122 against Charterhouse and took four wickets.”

And David Parsons, the England spin-bowling coach, is equally enthusiastic.

“Sam is one of the most exciting talents and there is no reason why he should not go far. A fantastic ball player, very fit and a stroker of the ball rather than a hitter. He is Michael Vaughan-esque.”

It might not be directly about cricket, but as Sri Lanka’s tour of England kicks into life, their players might be forgiven for keeping a close eye on developments back at home. A long absence overseas is never easy at the best of times, but the Independent reports that Sri Lanka is sliding “sliding inexorably back towards civil war”.

"There has been a drastic increase in violence between government forces and the Tamil Tiger rebels since December, culminating in government air strikes on Tiger positions just outside Trincomalee . The air strikes came after the attempted assassination of the Sri Lankan army chief by a suspected Tiger suicide bomber. More than 100 people have died in the last two weeks alone."

But the article also poured scorn on Bindra’s claims that the tournament would be as big as the football World Cup.

“Bindra has also spoken about viewership figures of “over two billion worldwide”. That’s huge. In comparision, viewership figures for only the final of the World Cup, one match, touched the five billion mark last time around.”

In the Daily Telegraph, Sue Mott reports on the 20th season of Bunbury charity cricket. Run by David English (“He has made a career out of failing to be shy”), the venture has raised almost £10 million for charity in their two decades.

"In no time, anyone who has made a record, a TV appearance or a Test hundred could find himself standing in the slips, glass of wine in hand, fag going in the other, fielding off the bowling of Freddie Flintoff and listening to jokes told in stentorian tones by the captain who, for some insane reason on the part of Dickie Attenborough, had a line in A Bridge Too Far."

Although the second Test at Newlands is heading towards a draw, Brendon McCullum believes New Zealand can take the momentum forward into the third Test at Johannesburg next week:

"First and foremost we're looking for a win, but if it doesn't happen then we head to Johannesburg with an opportunity of saving the series, and that can be a strong motivating factor in its own right," he said.

"We've got some tough cricket in front of us here, but whatever happens I think we'll carry some good momentum into the last test."

More at the New Zealand Herald