The Surfer

In fairness, Strauss and Flower have been saying exactly that throughout the past fortnight. They know Australia will go into the 2011 World Cup, to be held on the subcontinent, as tournament favourites while England can expect to be among a cluster of countries considered capable, if everything comes together, of denying the holders a fourth consecutive triumph.

Tait has risen magnificently to each occasion. The spells have been short and sometimes expensive, but they have always been box office.

It has been interesting to watch Andrew Strauss in practice with batting coach Graham Gooch before each of the four one-day internationals because the captain is clearly working on his game with the sub-continent in mind.

It is obvious that a good deal of thinking and planning has gone into the selection of the Indian Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka. If you look closely, Kris Srikkanth and his team has chosen what is expected to be the first eleven and then has added one player for each of five specialist slots – opening batsman, middle order batsman, wicket keeper, pace bowler and spinner.

The rejection of Howard’s nomination for future president of cricket's governing body was a gutless act committed by the presidents of cricket's seven Afro-Asian countries, who could not even look Howard in the eye. They have destroyed the ICC's electoral system and cricket's credibility in the process.

Under previous rotation systems, Australia and New Zealand have accepted nominations when they clearly had strong reservations about the candidates. They expected the same respect for their choice, instead they and Howard were insulted.

Let's not be fooled by the statistics being tossed around by supporters of this hare-brained idea. McCullum has batted No3 five times in five years – interestingly all in England – and amassed 200 runs at 40. There was a mighty 96 at Lord's in 2004 but only one other score over 20. It's inconclusive.

He's too expansive, too valuable down the order, your instincts say no. How many times has the person next to you leaned forward during McCullum's 52-test career and said: "This bloke's a test No3 if I ever saw one".

The NatWest Series is talked of as a pointer for the Ashes in October and next year's World Cup. This despite the fact that each side will likely change four players from Old Trafford on Sunday to the Gabba in November. Or that Australia haven't lost in Brisbane since their 1980s nadir. Or that the World Cup is in India not Lancashire. Or, as far as this old rivalry goes, that Australia tend to do it when it matters.

England have a real opportunity to whitewash the tourists and continue the kind of winning mentality that should hold them in very good stead in the lead up to the Ashes. You can run through almost every department and find that England have the upper hand, which tells you a lot about the dominance the side currently have.