The Surfer

After years of underperformance as a captain, wasted, unsatisfying years spent talking the talk and not doing the deed, Brian Lara has led his team selflessly and intelligently , writes Peter Roebuck in The Witness .

Minki van der Westhuizen has come out on top of a fans poll to find their favourite cricketers' WAG

Stuart MacGill has set the stage for a heated showdown with the English , suggesting that NSW could attempt to bat for all three days of the tour game against Andrew Flintoff's squad and thereby force a "change [of] their preparations

Geoffrey Boycott's comments last week on Duncan Fletcher's shelf life as England coach having expired, drew flak from many pundits and readers

Trevor Marshallsea writes in the Sydney Morning Herald how Glenn McGrath is ahead in his career-long fight with Sachin Tendulkar.

Stephen Fleming and Michael Vaughan have much in common, writes Peter Roebuck in The Age

Australia are using the Champions Trophy to collect masses of data ahead of the World Cup , Ben Dorries reports in The Courier-Mail

It's now my last few days at home before we fly to Australia on Friday, so now’s the time to make the most of home comforts, writes Matthew Hoggard in The Times .

Following Kevin Pietersen’s match-winning 90 yesterday, which handed England a consolation win over the West Indies, Simon Wilde in the Sunday Times says form matters not-a-jot for him:

Following a painful breakup with fiancee Kym Johnson last year, and a serious shoulder injury which made matters worse, Shane Watson has rebounded

There’s a video of Simon Hughes interviewing Michael Vaughan at The Telegraph today

Ten years ago, around this time of the year, a promising wicketkeeper batsman set foot on the tarmac of New Delhi's airport at 2 AM, called upon as an emergency replacement for the injured Ian Healy

Peter Roebuck visits Ludhiana to discover the roots of England's latest spinning sensation, Monty Panesar, and meets his uncle Pritpal Singh Panesar.

Robert Craddock asks the question in a comment piece in The Courier-Mail It's a shame MacGill has never been able to find inner contentment throughout an outstanding career

So Australia’s throng of fans, cheerily known as the Fanatics, have a songbook for the Ashes to combat England’s notoriously boisterous and equally cheery Barmy Army