The enduring charm of Test cricket

Peter Roebuck: The five-day game is still compelling, but pitches need to be got right if the format is to thrive

Slightly crazy Colombo

Tour diaries: Oh to be in Sri Lanka's capital, where the cops drive tuk-tuks, the felons are Bradmanesque, the shoes mandatory, and the music unceasing. By Sidharth Monga

A batsman of imagery and imagination

Sharda Ugra: When VVS Laxman takes the stage, he can conjure up the illusion that the crisis is not being tackled, it is being ignored

'Morgan can adapt to Test cricket'

Bowl at Boycs: Geoff Boycott answers readers' queries on the best Test team, the difference between nets and real cricket, and Pakistan's erratic ways

The ultimate MVP

Muttiah Muralitharan was so far ahead of the rest, and so vital to his team's cause, it's astounding. The numbers tell the story, says Rob Steen

Foxes, lizards and other bowlers

Rahul Bhattacharya: Aamer is a bee, Asif a snake. What are Malinga and Ishant?

Batting giants in Asia

Numbers Game: Five out of the top 10 all-time highest averages in Asia belong to batsmen who are playing in the Test series in Sri Lanka

The lions and their shares

The List: Bowlers and batsmen who took the largest percentage of their team's wickets and scored the largest percentage of their team's runs over their careers

A train trip, a walking physio, and the best ATM of all time

Tour Diary: When in Sri Lanka, listen to local music, skip Colombo, go to Galle and enjoy the laidback lifestyle. By Sidharth Monga

'There won't be another Murali'

Time Out: Tony Greig, Dileep Premachandaran and Harsha Bhogle discuss life after Murali for Sri Lanka, and the state of spin around the world

Sri Lanka v India, 2nd Test, SSC

We need to control Harbhajan

Mahela Jayawardene: If we can keep their No. 1 bowler under control, we will probably have won half the battle

The case of the missing teeth

Harsha Bhogle: With a bowling line-up like the one they have at the moment, India look anything but the No. 1 team they supposedly are

Nobody could have done it better

Dileep Premachandran: Muttiah Muralitharan was top of the world on the field and classy off it

Cheeky, chatty, charitable

Charlie Austin: To know Murali was to love him (and occasionally to wish he would be quiet)

'I couldn't plan against Murali'

Virender Sehwag takes his hat off to a bowler he was never quite able to figure out how to play comfortably

UDRS: Use it or lose it

Ian Chappell: The ICC needs to find a way to use reviews in all matches, and if that's not possible, the system needs to be junked

'I can't please everyone'

Muttiah Muralitharan reflects on a glorious career, the changing art of offspin, dealing with doubters, what lies ahead, and more

The bat will dominate

Mahela Jayawardene: For India it will be time to avenge the loss of 2008. For Sri Lanka, a test of how they fare without Murali and other recent retirees

'It'd be surprising if India got anything out of this series'

Spotlight: Sanjay Manjrekar, Sidharth Monga and Dileep Premachandran preview the uphill task facing a weakened India in their three-Test series in Sri Lanka

Where Malinga was made

Down Galle way lies a village where one of the world's leading fast bowlers delivered slingers with a softball on the beach and swam in the local lake. By Sidharth Monga

Whose responsibilty is the UDRS?

Harsha Bhogle: If the review system is an ICC regulation, why are teams allowed to decide on its usage?

In a freakish league of his own

Peter Roebuck: Murali hasn't been combative like Warne or full of rage like Kumble; more unconventional than them, he has surpassed them both

'Murali embodied the hopes of a nation'

Switch Hit: Shane Warne on Murali's career and the current Aussie side, a preview to the Bangladesh ODIs, and more on Howardgate

Where are India's bowlers?

Harsha Bhogle: Test cricket is back on the team's radar, but there aren't too many partners for Zaheer Khan