'You've got to sex up Test cricket'

"I think even Ireland can survive a four-day Test match and can play out a draw against a good Test side […] There will be no difference among mediocre [teams] and an experienced side if we see four-day Test matches."

Javed Miandad    isn't too keen on the implications the proposal has for the standard of the game

"I'm not against the idea but it's pretty obvious to me that if you do go ahead with it you have got to get a proper pitch […] You've got to sex up Test match cricket to compare with Twenty20 cricket; if you can get a great pitch for a Twenty20 game, you should be able to get a great pitch for a Test match."
It's more about the playing surfaces, stupid, says David Lloyd

"Five days, when you look at the public support in Australia and England, is probably the right length to get the full theatre of what a proper test of a Test cricketer and a Test cricket side is all about."
Cricket Australia's James Sutherland thinks we're a way away from four-day Tests yet

Mix it up right

It's a rare English summer when an Ashes series shares top billing with a limited-overs tournament. To discover another year like 2009 you have to go back to 1975, when the first World Cup preceded four Tests between Australia and England.

However, 1975 was different to 2009. First the World Cup was scheduled, and the authorities then decided that as Australia would be in the country, they might as well play a Test series, even though it wasn't an Ashes year. Thirty-four years ago the World Cup with its memorable final probably outshone a lacklustre Test series that provided three draws.

This time around it appears likely Twenty20 and the Ashes will share the spotlight. With cricket currently in a state of flux because of the success of Twenty20, this scheduling rarity may provide a blueprint for the game's future. The international cricket programme is a complete shambles, and there's a feeling that something has to give. The future could well feature a more selective Test programme, a wide range of Twenty20 competitions, including globalisation of the game via franchising, with precious little 50-over cricket. I'd be tempted to predict the death of 50-overs cricket, except that the World Cup is a valuable commodity and the administrators will be loath to let it slide into oblivion.

Rain ensures series win for India

India won the series 2-1 after torrential downpour terminated the fourth ODI. With this victory, India have won their fifth straight ODI series.

The game got off to a delayed start and Dhoni made the obvious decision to bowl on a damp pitch that offered some help to the seamers. Ishant Sharma, bowling a fuller length here, removed Chris Gayle and along with Ashish Nehra, didn't allow West Indies to get off to a breezy start. Ishant hit the good length and pinged the off-stump line and Nehra got some seam movement into the right-handed batsmen. Sarwan hit a gorgeous on-the-up square drive against Ishant in the sixth over to break free but just as he started to find his rhythm, the rains came down again to kill the contest.

England make hay in warm-up

A feeling of boys against men spread through a sparse but sun-baked crowd on the second day at Edgbaston, as England's openers, Andrew Strauss and Ravi Bopara, managed more in their first-wicket stand of 109 that the entire Warwickshire XI were permitted to accumulate in 35.4 outclassed overs, as James Anderson, Andrew Flintoff and Monty Panesar claimed their remaining nine wickets in little more than a session. As a pointer towards Cardiff it felt every bit as misleading as England's meandering first-innings performance had been, especially given the high-octane happenings down the road at Worcester. But as far as middle practices go, it was pretty much perfect.

Perfect, that is, except perhaps for Kevin Pietersen's distracted dismissal in the evening session, although the manner of his departure rather summed up the competitive edge of this contest. Pietersen managed 6 from 11 balls, before producing a bored guide to second slip off Boyd Rankin to complete his second failure of the match. Foregone conclusions and 48-yard boundaries aren't the best combination to whet his competitive juices. So instead, with Strauss already gone for a healthy 61, it was left to Bopara to complete the half-century that he missed in the first innings, and for Paul Collingwood to put bat to ball on the ground where he saved his Test career with a gutsy century against South Africa 11 months ago.

Fired-up Lee seals Test berth

 

Brett Lee guaranteed his immediate Test future with a maiden five-wicket haul in an English first-class game that came in a stunning spell of reverse-swing against the hosts' 2nd XI. While his fast-bowling team-mates went wicket-less in Worcester, Lee delivered in a nine-over effort either side of tea to seal his spot for Cardiff next Wednesday and hold the England Lions to 302 for 6.

At the start of the day Lee, who is returning from ankle surgery, was fighting for his place and with England dismissing Warwickshire for 102 in their practice game at Edgbaston, Australia needed a spark and he provided it to finish with 5 for 53 from 20 overs. Stephen Moore and Joe Denly were already enjoying a century stand and the visitors were soon distracted in their defence of 358. Lee was fooling around with the crowd when he was called to refocus by Ponting with an impromptu spell.

Strauss warns Flintoff over discipline

England captain Andrew Strauss has issued a stern warning to Andrew Flintoff after the allrounder was disciplined for missing the team bus during a trip to the World War I trenches in Ypres. Strauss said he would be strong enough to drop Flintoff from England's Ashes team.

"Fred is always under pressure when he comes back and I feel for him in that respect," Strauss said. "He's obviously a big player for us and there's this circus that goes on around him. He was very aware he had stuffed up, he took it on the chin and apologised to everyone concerned. It was a very sincere apology and we move on."

"It is up to Fred what he does but I have no reason to suspect that is going to be an issue. He has been out of the side a long while and wants to do well in the Ashes. To me those are all good signs."

Pietersen-Moores row saved team spirit

Six months on from his resignation as England captain, Kevin Pietersen believes that the England dressing-room is a much healthier place for the blood-letting that took place during his spectacular falling-out with the former coach, Peter Moores. As a consequence he is quietly optimistic about the team's hopes of regaining the Ashes in the coming series against Australia.

Back in January, Pietersen was forced to resign from a role he had held for barely five months, after details of a confidential email to the ECB was leaked to the media, in which he called for the removal of Moores as head coach, as well as a root-and-branch reform of England's team management structure. For a time the atmosphere within the squad was poisonous, as evidenced by their spectacular collapse to 51 all out in the decisive first Test against West Indies in Kingston one month later.