Beware of the all-round hype

Allrounders are all the rage in Australia but Chloe Saltau warns in The Age against following the dramatic lead of England and Andrew Flintoff. “It shouldn't be forgotten that England's long and desperate search for an allrounder to follow Ian Botham contributed to 15 years of misery while many a Botham wannabe flashed in and faded out of the national team.”

The Australian’s Andrew Ramsey isn’t the only one to notice Australia’s fielding improvement. Bob Simpson, the former coach, puts it down to more work on technique at training.