Warne of old and the new Zulu

Rawalpindi Runs: After Michael Vaughan's serial scampers between slip and leg-slip in blatant contravention of Law 41, Duncan Fletcher comes to his defence, insisting: "If a fielder anticipates a shot that a player is about to play, then that is within the laws of the game. I've heard Jonty Rhodes say it, if you see a batsman getting onto the front foot, you veer off to the right, and if he goes for a cut you veer off to the left." And to think that when it first happened, we thought it was merely a case of the Rawalpindi Runs, first cousin to the Delhi Belly - that mysterious affliction that strikes touring sides that find themselves losing in the subcontinent.

Times, they are a changin': Rahul Dravid leads by example as India wipe the floor with a desperately disappointing Sri Lankan side. On the streets of Mumbai, posters plastered across every spare inch of space by one of India's weekly news magazines asks the provocative question: Is Greg [Chappell] the right guy? Bob Dylan, now as venerable an institution as the MCC, could have told them: Come writers and critics/Who prophesize with your pen ... don't speak too soon/For the wheel's still in spin/And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'. In that same corner of the galaxy, Sourav Ganguly's latest attempt to return to the Promised Land realises just 14 from 42 balls before Graeme Kremer sends him on his way in a Duleep Trophy tie. With Venugopal Rao and Suresh Raina excelling in India's series-clinching win at Pune, and Mohammad Kaif on the mend, that phone call from the selectors may not come anytime soon.

The new Zulu: South Africa's decline as a one-day force coincided with the waning of Lance Klusener's remarkable big-hitting powers, but in Justin Kemp, they may have found the ideal replacement. Two of his devastating cameos against a much-hyped New Zealand side produced a total of 103 runs from 83 balls, and in 36 ODIs, he averages 34.78 while maintaining a stunning strike-rate of 98.07. We think the 31 sixes he's smashed into neighbouring counties/oceans merit a mention too.

The return of the flipper, and the Collapso men In a result as unexpected as the Brazilian football team beating Vanuatu, Australia trample all over a West Indies side full of youthful promise, but bedevilled by inconsistency. After Glenn McGrath picks up his 100th wicket against Caribbean opposition, Shane Warne unveils two friends from the past, the famous flipper and the nearly forgotten googly. Jermaine Lawson and Fidel Edwards are not amused.

Hospitable to a fault: England win their tour opener with a measure of comfort, despite tallying just 368 from two innings - 162 of them to Marcus Trescothick. In response, Yasir Hameed, Asim Kamal - both Test regulars - Bazid Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Faisal Iqbal manage a measly 108 between them as Ashley Giles and Liam Plunkett manage combined second-innings figures of 8 for 55. The fast-bowling reservoir may be topped up again soon, but Pakistan's batting future has never appeared so bleak.

Lone Ranger: As my colleague Jamie Alter observed: "So let's get one thing straight - Steve Tikolo will never play Test cricket ... Being his country's highest run scorer and boasting a first-class batting average of 52.74, with 751 runs at 107.28 from his past eight innings, won't change that." Tikolo signs off from the Intercontinental Trophy, where Ireland upset Kenya, with a 170-ball 177. So while Zimbabwe continue to blood one stunning mediocrity after another, the Intercontinental headlines are as good as it'll get for this once-in-a-lifetime cricketer.

Quote-hanger: "He [Shoaib Akhtar] is working hard on his fitness and is gearing up for the series." - Inzamam-ul-Haq's take on the man that Australia's Inside Sport called The Last (Part-Time) Action Hero.