Future opponents open together

All debutants provoke curiosity but Hughes does doubly so. Partly because he is so successful, but primarily because of the way he plays, writes Andy Bull in the Guardian.

Andrew Strauss will get his first close-up look at Hughes at Southgate this week. At some point, possibly this morning, the two future opponents will find themselves in the curious position of opening the batting together for Middlesex against Leicestershire. Strauss, like the spectators, pundits and pressmen at Lord's, will be running a few thoughts through his head as he watches Hughes bat. The big difference is, his theories will be tested on the pitch, and the success of their execution will help decide the Ashes.

Australia's new batting sensation is from farming stock that produces hectares of the bendy yellow fruit outside the small New South Wales town of Macksville. He has made an extraordinarily quick journey from there to the brink of cricket's greatest series, writes Mike Dickson in the Daily Mail.

There is only one way to find out whether Michael Vaughan can help England regain the Ashes, and that's by recalling him at Lord's next week, writes Ian Botham in the Mirror.

First of all, he has scored a few runs for Yorkshire in their early-season games. Admittedly he hasn't set the world alight, but in his last two innings he batted for 90-odd balls to help salvage a draw and scored 82 off 116 balls when his county were in trouble at 31-3. Don't forget: form is temporary, but class is permanent. Vaughan has shown enough form to justify bringing him back, and his class is beyond dispute - we are talking about a bloke who was the world's No.1 batsman a few years ago.