This could be the latest step on the road to winning back the love of these unbrotherly islands for a game that once defined them and, much more important, united them.

The current economic crisis assailing the wider world was born of short-termism and greed

England needs spinners who spin rather than roll, who give it a real tweak, who put revolutions on the ball

If Durham land their first Championship pennant, Steve Harmison will be able to spend at least the next couple of months blowing enthusiastic raspberries in the general vicinity of the press box.

Last week, glory be, the ECB, not always the fount of all wisdom, got something wonderfully right

The prospect of seeing Smith in England colours one day is by no means an unattractive one

Both Hick and Gough deserve our respect and gratitude

Whether Kevin Pietersen’s powers of persuasion are extensive enough to compel a change of heart remains to be seen, but, for now, the prospect of translating domestic form to the international arena still appears to fill Trescothick with about as

Labour won the 2005 General Election on the back of an Ashes triumph

The biggest factor in Robert Key’s favour is that he played no part whatsoever in the 2005 A****

Averages have long held sway in the first-class fray, but the right and proper accent on economy- and strike-rates means that runs per innings and wicket are no longer sufficient as arbiters of quality

By failing sundry drugs tests, Mohammad Asif was the one who actually broke some written rules, rather than merely ignored the urgings of a spiritual manifesto

Without quotas, would one of the most successful fast bowlers of all time have ever scaled such heights, paving the way for a Cape Coloured and a grandson of Indians to follow?

Test cricket should be added to the burgeoning heritage industry, as a living, breathing, vibrant slice of 21st-Century culture that also encompasses a sense of history

In the background was a shot of a barely-occupied South African ground in the middle of a Test

If, come July and August, the fire of Messrs Steyn, Ntini and Nel is to be returned with anything approaching interest, the temptation to draft Jones and Flintoff back ahead of schedule may prove far too strong

A Welshman is due to take over as president and a black South African as CEO

To pick Flintoff now would send out the wrong signal

As things stand, the best, purest, most destructive striker of a cricket ball this country has produced since Ian Botham will never be permitted a proper run on a stage worthy of his talents.

To steal shamelessly from Jon Landau, the man entrusted with selling a scraggy wannabe Bob Dylan by the name of Bruce Springsteen to the planet in 1975, I have just seen the future of spin bowling – and his name is Ajantha Mendis.