mvaughan

[u]The sub-continent[/u] Sri Lanka, currently trading at 6.4, will enjoy playing in their own conditions and having seasoned campaigners like Tillekeratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Lasith Malinga in the side will be invaluable. I was concerned about their lack of a mystery spinner in a post-Murali world, but the emergence of Akila Dhananjaya looks to have filled that gap and they will be right up there. I like the look of them at 6.4. India are trading as 6.2 favourites and I wouldn't discourage getting involved at that price. A knockout match at a T20 World Cup is a high-pressure situation and the experience of playing year-on-year-out in the IPL will certainly help their players. They have an embarrassment of riches to pick from and you know that under MS...

I'm not surprised by the news. I've realised this decision has been coming for a few weeks now, just from the way Straussy has been carrying himself. I know from my own experience that once you've decided to go, you become a bit 'too cool for school' and are enjoying your batting instead of the intense focus you'd normally have as captain. We know he has been struggling to get runs so this, tied in with losing to South Africa and the KP affair, would have tipped him over the edge. I'm also not surprised at all he's retiring from all forms of cricket. He doesn't just want to hang around scoring a few runs for Middlesex; he's got a good family around him and plenty of other interests - he's not just about cricket. The highlight for me when you're talking about playing with Straussy...

First and foremost let's hope that this Series isn't spoilt by the weather. These are two really good teams up against each other and it would be a massive disappointment if we don't have enough play to establish who is the better of the two right now. Light showers are expected on Thursday and Friday but it's meant to be a lot better over the weekend. The pitch at the Oval is normally a good one and the news is that it will be a dry track that will offer plenty for the spinners late on in the match. That means that whereas it would normally be an idea to bowl first if you win the toss, both captains will be thinking that chasing any sort of score to win the game will be hard work. So win the toss and bat is probably the wise choice. Graeme Swann and Imran Tahir will be major players...

Kevin Pietersen is in the news again. His double-hundred for Surrey against Lancashire was KP at his brutal best but his best knock for his new(ish) county has coincided with talk of a return to limited-overs international cricket, less than two months since he decided to quit and just focus on Test cricket and playing T20 all over the world for various franchises. It's a remarkable 'volte-face' if rumours of a willingness to return are to be believed. Kevin knows what he needs to do if he wants to be involved in the T20 World Cup. He needs to come out of retirement and make himself available to play international cricket in both ODIs and T20s. There's no doubt England are a better side with him in the team but the ball is in his court now. Either way, I'm sure his priority at the moment...

The ODI format is under threat. We know this because players, journalists and coaches keep saying that and because the ICC continuously tinker with the rules and format of the 50-over game. It's a sign that they're trying hard to better a format that is clearly not perfect and is increasingly coming under scrutiny. We've had Graeme Swann saying he doesn't really enjoy it anymore and Kevin Pietersen retiring from limited-overs international cricket because he didn't want to play it anymore, even though it meant it was the end of his international T20 career as well. Me? I'll be honest when I say that it's my third favourite format. Test cricket is the game in its purest form and a good Test cricketer was what I dreamt of being when I started out many moons ago. And T20 is great, too. ...

As I've already said in my series preview, this should be a close contest throughout and Lord's should be no exception. For starters it's a wicket that at first glance doesn't favour one side over the other. If the ball was going to swing it may play into the hands of England but then again if it was an absolute belter of a wicket it might have favoured Australia's top order who are arguably bigger hitters than their English counter-parts with the likes of David Warner, Shane Watson and Steve Smith all capable of clearing the boundary rope. Lord's is a good batting track but there are easier places to score runs. England should remain unchanged for this game. They will be desperate to carry on the good work started by Alastair Cook since he took over the ODI captaincy and to win this...

Australia are in town and I have a feeling they will test England harder than anyone else has for a long time on British soil. There are three very good reasons why I say that. First up, they're the number one ranked ODI side in the world so that speaks for itself in terms of their consistency and winning habit. Secondly, English conditions in the middle of the summer aren't too dissimilar to standard conditions in Australia so this will feel far less like an away series for them than it would for say Sri Lanka or India. And thirdly, for the first time in a while we come across a bowling attack who can match England's. People can say what they like about Brett Lee not being as quick as he used to be or that he always seems on the verge of breaking down with some sort of injury. But...

In the end the West Indies put in a far more spirited and disciplined performance than many would have expected in the First Test. If the tail had added 30 or 40 more runs; if Kemar Roach had dismissed Ian Bell or Alastair Cook early on day five...who knows? But that may well have been Darren Sammy's best chance of avoiding a whitewash for his side. England let them back into the game on day four and I'm not too sure that's going to happen again. In Roach, the Windies have a classy speed merchant, a genuine threat with the new ball. And in Shivnarine Chanderpaul an outstanding batsman in all conditions who virtually guarantees the side runs. That's why he's the number one ranked Test batsman in the world. But beyond that there aren't really any outstanding performers. The other bowlers...

After a pretty disappointing winter in the UAE and Sri Lanka which included a whitewash and a hard-fought drawn series, England are back on home soil. And we all know what that means - James Anderson, Stuart Broad and co. swinging the ball all over the shop and opposition batsmen edging the ball time and again into the grateful hands of Andrew Strauss and Graeme Swann in the slips. Well, that's the plan anyway. A lot has been said about what went wrong during the winter so we won't go over all that again. Suffice to say this is a wonderful opportunity for England to whitewash an inexperienced West Indies side in their favoured conditions. Of the Windies' likely top seven, only Shivnarine Chanderpaul has experience of playing over here before. The little left-hander will be the key...