There is little doubt that Prior is an accomplished enough batsman to succeed as a Test number six. Whether engineering such a change would suit England is another issue. Whilst Prior's personal statistics would likely vary little, the efficacy of England's lower order might well diminish - it is probably not a risk worth taking.

With Twenty20 most definitely here to stay, International cricket tours now have to accommodate all three formats of the game. There is no standard pattern for how many matches of each form are included but international cricket boards could do worse than base future tours on the current schedule being employed between New Zealand and England.

The role of the BCCI as pantomime villain of world cricket continues. Just as news of a Test series involving India neglecting the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) had begun to induce a mere sigh of resignation in place of erstwhile outright consternation, they have upped the stakes.

Kolkata's famous Eden Garden for a brief period looked like the Biblical Paradise on Wednesday. The thin crowd went back home happy because the god of Indian cricket, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, shrugged off his long stretch of poor form.

Ricky Ponting, former Australian captain and second highest Test run scorer of all time, has announced he will retire from international cricket. T...

Pietersen is England's best batsman, in all forms of the game. In fact, he's one of the most talented batsman England have ever had, certainly in recent years at least. An England side without him is an England side weakened, as evidenced in the performances against South Africa in the third Test, and more noticeably in the World T20.

England won the toss and elected to bat....

Monday was a bittersweet day for Ian Bell. Where the wretched Birmingham weather had contrived to dash any hopes he may have harboured of scoring the additional 24 runs required to ensure he became the first Warwickshire player to score a Test century at Edgbaston, the rather more soothing news that he had been restored to England's One Day International side as an opener offered some consolation.

England fans will hope that the differences can be reconciled between Pietersen and the ECB. After all, England needs Pietersen at both Test and Twenty20 level.

After the West Indies' defeat at Trent Bridge, questions will be asked about why the tourists are unable to assemble a side that can pose a meaningful threat to the hosts.

West Indies won the toss and chose to bat....

When Darren Sammy awoke from a slumber filled with English-conquering dreams earlier this month, he would have donned his maroon robe, picked up the St Lucia Express from the doormat and read that England's green and pleasant lands were officially in the midst of severe drought.

Kevin Pietersen is a genius. A flawed genius, yes, but a genius nonetheless that will continue to win Test matches for England. Enjoy him whilst he is here.

As Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior expertly marshalled England to a score of 233-4 chasing an improbable total of 340 in what would have been the biggest successful run chase in the annals of English cricket, even the most pessimistic of England supporters, myself included, had begun to harbour a trace of hope.

As England's second three day warm-up match of this two Test 'mini-tour' of Sri Lanka culminated in an unexpectedly exciting finale, thus averting one of those all too familiarly insipid draws so often associated with this beautiful isle, a sense of foreboding ahead of the upcoming five day stuff had still managed to lodge itself deep within my admittedly negative psyche.

Browsing various cricketing websites and forums, an almost religious tendency of mine during any given day, I get the distinct impression that many Indian pundits and fans alike are a little 'doom and gloom', shall we say, concerning the future prospects of their side in Test cricket.