The battle of the offies

Hauritz could strike his bunny Andrew Strauss on the pads so much the video umpire will need to hire a receptionist to handle the referrals. To date, the Australian slow man has had the better of the English skipper, dismissing him eight times in 13 internationals. Kevin Pietersen is the fly in the ointment ... if he successfully bombs Hauritz down the ground, the spinner will be under extreme pressure. However, KP is a sweeper; he won't be able to resist the shot. Call me Simon Cowell if you like, but Swann may well be a one-trick pony possessing little appreciative out-curve to the right hander and no deceptive doosra.

His arm-speed always looks the same, but there could be 15mph difference between his deliveries. I guess it must be the way the ball comes out of his hand, but it is difficult to tell, even from slip. I try and keep my arm-speed the same when I bowl a slower ball, but some people might see it from the hand. The ball that gets Swann most of his wickets is the under-cutter, as he calls it. As a left-hander batting against him in the nets, I play a few off-breaks all right and then he gets me lbw with the one that skids on, or so he tells me. Swann is the world's best umpire as well as the best spinner.