Ashes, not sackcloth

In less time than it takes to make a decent cricket bat, England seem to have fashioned a 'new' team capable of contesting this autumn's Ashes, writes Derek Pringle in The Telegraph.

While England have wrapped up a fine series win against Pakistan, their last Test-match challenge before heading to Australia, the captaincy debate lingers on. Writing in The Independent, Angus Fraser offers food for thought: is Andrew Flintoff still the right man to lead England against Australia...or should it be Andrew Strauss? Who does the big man favour? Read on to find out.

With Monty Panesar''s rise from cult hero to national hero and Sajid Mahmood's welcome confidence in his last Test being two prime examples, The Times' Patrick Kidd observes a growing trend in the national side - that England are all too happy to home in on an Asian revolution.

And in The Guardian, Mike Selvey reflects that Duncan Fletcher must have passed through Damascus on his way home from Headingley, so dramatic has been the transformation of his opinion of Panesar.

As an unlikely expression of sentiment it is up there with Tony Blair apologising. The conversion from doubter to Monty maniac is almost complete