The Ashes are looming once again for Ian Bell, but this time he is ready to look his opponents in the eye, as he continues his remarkable resurgence as an international batsman

Dean Jones's recent on-air gaffe about Hashim Amla was not the first time a player or commentator has said something on-air they have instantly regretted, and nor will it be the last

Andrew Miller on The Week That Was, August 7 to 13

This week's Top Performer is Ian Bell

Sajid Mahmood enjoyed his best day as an England cricketer on the final day at Headingley, taking 4 for 22 in eight hostile overs to secure a series victory over the land of his forefathers, Pakistan

Today a weight had been lifted off England's shoulders, and the spring in the team's step couldn't have been lighter or bouncier if this match had been played on the moon. After a lethargic 11-month period in which they had won just three Tests and no ser

Andrew Miller on some of the more comical dismissals in cricket's history

Positivity. It's the buzzword of this Test match. Ian Bell reeked of it in his first-innings century, Faisal Iqbal and Kevin Pietersen have been bubbling over with it in their match-long slanging match, and it was the source of Monty Panesar's success in

It's a changed world since the Old Trafford Test last week. For those three heady days, England thought they'd found the cure for their post-Ashes blues, as Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar combined on a springboard pitch to rip the heart, spine and sever

Ian Bell is the mouse that roared. The man who left The Oval last September with a desperate pair to his name is all set for a triumphant return when the final Test gets underway in a fortnight's time

Kevin Pietersen was adamant that he would be fit to resume his innings on the second day of the third Test between England and Pakistan at Headingley, after retiring hurt with cramp shortly after recording his fifth Test century

Kevin Pietersen has had a quiet time of late. Ever since his appeal for England's "youngsters" to raise their game, he has been shunted unceremoniously into the background, as whippersnappers answering to the names of Cook, Bell, Strauss and Collingwood r

Andrew Miller on the decision to drop Geraint Jones - a challenge to Duncan Fletcher's hitherto rigid orthodoxy?

Another day, another set of injury scares for both England and Pakistan's cricketers, as the jinx that has pursued the teams since they last met in December shows no sign of abating

Yesterday afternoon, at about 2 o'clock, a subtle shift in England's psychology took place

If England's injury-jinxed cricketers are feeling a touch gloomy as they finalise their preparations for tomorrow's second Test at Old Trafford, then perhaps they should cast their minds back by precisely a year

Andrew Miller on Justin Langer

Andrew Miller on the rebirth of Mohammad Yousuf

It's a sign that we live in turbulent times when an overnight lead of 341 is no longer considered sufficient to ensure a side against defeat, but Test cricket has changed beyond all recognition in the last five to ten years. At least, that was the assumpt

Bob Woolmer, Pakistan's coach, refused to accept that the first Test had slipped completely out of his side's reach, despite a century from England's captain, Andrew Strauss, that had established a healthy overnight lead of 341