On 2005:

"I still get people now saying I got into cricket because of '05, so that's what we should all be most proud of: that we inspired people to like the game" - Michael Vaughan

With the seemingly never-ending men's World Cup finally coming to an exciting conclusion and with an Ashes summer looming on the horizon, many thoughts have turned to the magical summer of 14 years ago. On Sunday, Channel 4 put out a documentary about the 2005 Ashes series, a series which captured the nation's imagination and, as captain Michael Vaughan stated at the end of the documentary, was the beginning of so many people's cricketing stories: mine included.

The Ashes: Cardiff Test, Day Four

Day four of this intriguing contest sees England chasing 10 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in this Ashes series. Australia being Australia will do their best to make an effort in chasing down the mammoth target of 412, but on a wearing pitch and with the Welsh weather set surprisingly fair, there's only one likely outcome.

Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad open with the new ball for England. Here's the action from day four down in the Welsh capital.

The Ashes: Cardiff Test, Day Three

This Test continues to canter along at quite a pace. England have arguably had the better the opening two days - could they grab the initiative on day three? Australia begin the day on 264-5 with Shane Watson and night watchman Nathan Lyon at the crease. Mark Wood and Stuart Broad open the bowling for England. Here's all the action from day three at Cardiff.

The Ashes: Cardiff Test, Day Two

And so, to day two. A fairly even opening day to the Ashes (feels like a long time since that's been said), would anyone grab the initiative on day two? After the wicket of Jos Buttler the previous evening, England begin the day on 343-7, looking to get as close to 400 as possible. Australia, meanwhile, search for some bowling consistency. Here's the action from another enthralling day down in the Welsh capital.

The Ashes: Cardiff Test, Day One

Here they are, the duck England squad. Front row (L-R): Finn, Anderson, Root, Cook (C), Broad, Bell. Back row (L-R): Lyth, Ali, Wood, Stokes, Buttler, Ballance, Rashid. Unfortunately I couldn't find a team photo to mock up for Australia, so you'll have to bear with me for them. 

Crikey, I didn't expect to be doing this again, but here we are. The reason for bringing back duck cricket is, as you would expect, quite odd. But that's duck cricket for you. Anyway, having spent the past three years gathering dust on my various bookshelves, the ducks have been dusted off and are ready for a summer of representing the Ashes action.

And so, to the action. Like six years ago, the first Test is taking place in the rain sunshine of the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff. Six years ago, the Test finished in a pulsating draw as the last wicket pair of Monty Panesar and Jimmy Anderson held out for 11.3 overs. What will this Test bring? Here's day one...

On 2012:

A golden Monday 3rd September 2012 - Thank you Mickey Bushell.

Today marks the end of phenomenal sporting year and has caused me to make a brief return from blogging hiatus to provide a personal reflection on the year of 2012. There are plenty of blogs/articles out there which will provide better and more analytical reviews of the incredible events of this year but, since I have watched so much sport this year, I thought it was easier to make a post rather than clog up Twitter feeds.

I've been all over the country watching cricket this year, travelling up north to Durham, Old Trafford and Headingley, out west to Worcestershire and a wet Glamorgan and have spent more time than is necessary on the Greater Anglia service down to London Liverpool Street to head to Lord's and The Oval. I've spent so long watching Hashim Amla this summer that it bordered on Stockholm Syndrome in the final ODI at Trent Bridge. And through my travels, watching both cricket and Ipswich Town, I've met so many wonderful people, so many that if I tried to list them all then I'd undoubtedly miss someone. 

2012 will be looked upon with great fondness by many people, both in Britain and abroad, but for me, here are five personal moments that have made my year.

England 0-2 South Africa: Where Do We Go From Here?

I, for one, welcome our new South African overlords.

It was a boiling hot day at a packed Oval this time last year. Fans had flocked to the ground to witness history, whether it be Sachin Tendulkar's 100th international century or England's historic rise to number 1 status. When Sreesanth was bowled by Graeme Swann to hand England another innings victory, the celebrations began, despite nobody in the England squad really knowing what to do with the Test mace. After years of turmoil, a dawn for a golden age of English cricket was heralded and many believed that it was a chance for this team to dominate international cricket like no other English side had before.

That was the plan. Instead, woeful batting performances against a resurgent Pakistan in their adopted home saw England slump to a 3-0 whitewash, their first since the fateful 2006/07 Ashes series. A further loss to Sri Lanka in Galle meant that England had begun 2012 with four straight Test defeats. Their number one status was already in the balance having been in possession of it for less than eight months. England managed to win in Colombo and the rain in New Zealand meant that they headed into the English summer clinging onto a status they had worked so hard to obtain.

Had South Africa been able to bowl out Graham Onions in 2010, highlighting an example of where they've been unable to win at home, there may not have even been a debate about the best team in the world. Still, it meant that South Africa arrived in England knowing that even the slenderest of victories would propel them to world number one. Their preparation for the series couldn't have been much worse, rain hindered opportunities out in the middle, Peter Trego took a fancy to Morne Morkel and then Mark Boucher's horrible eye injury against Somerset, forcing him into retirement, meant that concern for his well-being was always at the forefront of their minds.

After a testing first day to the series, in which Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott combined to once again steady England after the early loss of Andrew Strauss, South Africa bounced back on the second day and, since then, never really looked anything other than the best team in the world. At The Oval, Alviro Petersen could only watch on in despair for his duck as Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and the record breaking Hashim Amla piled on the runs, and the misery, against a flagging England attack. After this thrashing at The Oval, South Africa went on to mostly out bat, out bowl and out field their opponents. In the case of fielding, England didn't help themselves and the old cricketing cliché of 'catches win matches' should probably be scrawled on the wall of every dressing room England enter this winter. 

Had it not been for Kevin Pietersen's innings at Headingley, England may well have lost this series 3-0. As South Africa, wearing shirts dedicated to Mark Boucher, walked around the Lord's outfield showing the mace off to the gathered South African and a few curious England fans, England watched on from the home dressing room wondering where to go from here.

There are concerns for England on and off the pitch. Firstly, there is the whole sorry saga surrounding Pietersen to sort out. With each passing day, the story becomes more and more ridiculous with accusations, breaches of trust and Piers Morgan/Michael Henderson leaving many people questioning their stance on it all. As it currently stands, it would appear that so long as Strauss and Flower are in charge of this England side, there is no way back for Pietersen.

The whole thing has been handled with all the delicacy of a bull in a china shop and, at times, feels more like a teenage drama in high school than a serious international cricket team. Both sides have their faults, but Pietersen's are far more publicised thanks to his own idiocy. For now, until Strauss and Pietersen have their meeting, it would seem that England are heading into the future without their box office, but insecure and troublesome, batsman in tow. This may well lead to a sense of team unity returning, but we would be kidding ourselves if we believed that this is the only area of concern.

England's batting line up has looked a shadow of its former self this year. Since becoming captain, Strauss has only scored centuries against Australia and the West Indies. His captaincy has always been conservative, but with a negated attack and his fellow top order being out of touch and patience, Strauss' batting form and tactics have once again been exposed. After a break with his family, Strauss has a meeting with Pietersen and then a couple of County Championship matches for Middlesex before England head to India.

Strauss, like the rest of the England top order, has made some starts. But the problem is, compared to the South African batsmen, that throughout the series, they never looked set. South Africa made five centuries this series. England? Only two. The English batsmen wasted good starts by wafting outside off stump, missing straight ones or running themselves out. Cook, Bell and Trott have all been guilty of this, with only Prior, and Pietersen, looking like they could take on a very strong South African bowling attack.

England's bowling attack has been a proud part of the rise to number one, but for this series they haven't seemed at their best. Anderson, who was economical but unlucky at times, picked up 9 wickets at 40.66, whilst Broad and Bresnan looked way off their best. Bresnan has been struggling with an elbow injury for much of the year whilst Broad can't decide whether he's gone back to his 'enforcer' stage. Steven Finn showed glimpses of his ODI form, especially in a spell in the second innings at Lord's, but he is still developing as a Test player. His ability to take wickets is impressive, but some of these wickets have come off absolute tripe and sometimes his figures do not make pretty reading. He has, however, managed to stop his habit of knocking over the stumps with his knee after South Africa complained that it was a 'distraction' during the Headingley Test. Graeme Swann didn't have the impact he would've hoped to have had with only 4 wickets at 77. Whilst he was economical, there is a worry surrounding the state of Swann's elbow and England will be hoping that Swann can return to having some kind of impact for when they head to India this winter.

Whilst the South Africa series has been one to forget for most of the England side, there are some reasons to be cheerful. James Taylor didn't take full advantage of Ravi Bopara's latest setback, but he looks like he's got the technique and the head for international cricket. He played well at Headingley before he was bowled by Morkel and at Lord's a good delivery and a stupid run out proved to be his downfall. His performance may not have completely closed the door on Bopara, but the Lord's batting display of a certain ginger lad from Yorkshire may well have done.

Jonny Bairstow was given a good working over with the short ball by the West Indies. He was dropped and sent back to Yorkshire where he struggled for a while before making a century against Leicestershire in July. His timely century for the England Lions at Old Trafford against the touring Australia A side and the dropping of Kevin Pietersen meant that he returned to the Test fold. Predictably, as soon as he walked to the crease, South Africa set about the short ball barrage. But Bairstow coped, in both innings, and fell agonisingly short of  a well deserved maiden century in the first innings after trying to play a flick through midwicket off Morkel. He followed this 95 up with another half century in the second innings, an innings which displayed his aggressive potential.

This winter sees England head back to the subcontinent and then head off to New Zealand. The pressure will be off England, as they have returned to the 'hunters' status, but India will be seeking revenge for that 4-0 hammering inflicted upon them last year. Without Pietersen, question marks over the form of some in the top six and with two youngsters who've never played a Test match in India in the top order, England may well be in for a tough winter. Cracking the subcontinent is something that Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss want to do and they must hope that the team can come back together again as they begin their challenge to South Africa for that number one status.

Sympathy for the Devil?

Calm before the storm: Pietersen celebrates his century for England at Headingley. 

From the moment he appeared on the England scene in 2004, Kevin Pietersen has always been a somewhat polarising player. It cannot be denied that he is an excellent cricketer, someone with the ability to change a match in a session, but his personality, one seemingly of brashness and arrogance, is one which rubs a lot of people up the wrong way. His desire to be appreciated and celebrity status has led to him making mistakes, and these mistakes may well have, potentially, drawn the curtains on his international career.

Having retired from international limited overs cricket in controversial circumstances earlier this year, Pietersen's feud with the ECB has escalated so rapidly over the past week that he now finds himself dropped from the England squad. The whole sorry saga began with him wanting to spend more time with his family, then it became about wanting to play a full IPL season and now it's turned into a ridiculous and almost high school drama about Twitter and text messages, the bane of every teenage girl's life.

Since rising to the top of the Test rankings last summer, things have not exactly been plain sailing for the good ship England. In October, whilst on a disastrous tour of India, Graeme Swann, another big personality in the England dressing room, published his autobiography in which he wasn't exactly complimentary about Kevin Pietersen's captaincy skills. In any working environment, cliques will form, and the England dressing room is almost certainly no different.

This being said, it's easy to not feel sorry for Pietersen. Outlandish videos and embarrassing press conferences mean he is a difficult person to understand. For example, his press conference at the IPL earlier this year, where he lamented the absence of some of his England colleagues because of 'second rate Australians', wasn't exactly greeted with rapturous applause. The video he released on Saturday was one to appease, but there was no hint of an apology within it and seemed to be done because he knew the axe was falling anyway. However, a key element of England's success over the past few years has been the management's ability to control the ego. The way in which details of these private meetings about his England future were leaked to the press was reminiscent of the fiasco of 2009 and means that trust between both parties has been broken.

Many have not forgiven Pietersen for this 2009 debacle. He forced a man out of his job, and also wanted his now coach gone too and this, undoubtedly, must have had an impact upon relationships in the dressing room. But there are two sides to every story, and it is incredibly important to remember that. Pietersen wants to continually come across as being the victim, and looking at previous history, it is possible to see why he feels this way. Earlier this year, Pietersen got fined for tweeting his opinion about Nick Knight's punditry. Stuart Broad also suggested that Knight's not very good at his job and nobody batted an eyelid. As stated, Swann was allowed to publish an autobiography in which he criticised some of his team mates. Pietersen may or may not have sent private texts, which either contained 'acceptable banter between team mates' (South Africa's Moosajee) or 'derogatory' remarks about his captain. The ECB, according to the South African camp, have not asked to see the texts but it was Pietersen's inability to deny their existence which saw him dropped from the squad. For those who label Pietersen as greedy, or think that he shouldn't be allowed to pick and choose his cricket, let us not forget that it's the ECB who got involved with Stanford, a man who now has a 110-year jail sentence for fraud. The people who let that happen are still employed by governing body. Let us also remember that the ECB allowed Andrew Strauss to skip the Bangladesh tour, although this helped him to be rested and be able to lead the team to the success in Australia.

Respect, though, has been lost on both sides. Pietersen, with his infamous Headingley press conference, alleged text messages which seem to be about his captain, YouTube video and perceived insult at the infamous @KevPietersen24 parody account, has lost the respect of the ECB, and his England teammates. The ECB has lost the respect of Pietersen through their leaks to the press and because he feels victimised. There must surely be more to come with this story, which may well be revealed once this Test series has concluded, but as it currently stands, it feels like an incredibly silly drama between two sides who are just as bad as one another. And it's easy to forget that there is a very important Test match starting on Thursday, because the feud between Pietersen and the ECB continues to be fought out in the playground-esque arena, and now Piers Morgan has appeared to egg them on in the background.

Pietersen being dropped may well mean that the squad return to some semblance of unity. Statements and newspaper columns from England players suggest that they're pleased Pietersen is not in the squad, and they believe they are better for it. His absence gives youngsters a chance to gain experience playing top quality international cricket and it also means that 'Team England' are able to pose for a photo with the Investec Zebra with a smile on their faces.

England managed to win ODI series against the West Indies and Australia without Pietersen, but these teams are not South Africa. With youngster Taylor, who impressed on debut at Headingley, and Bairstow returning to the squad despite questionable form since being worked over by Kemar Roach, England head into the Test at Lord's hoping that their team can come together and perform to overcome this strong and in form South Africa side. England won a must win Test without Kevin Pietersen against Australia at The Oval in 2009, but that side contained a demoralised Mitchell Johnson, not Dale Steyn.

Should England win, they retain their number one status. Should they lose or draw, England will lose that precious number one ranking, less than a year after they gained it, and all that hard work may well have gone to waste. There was talk of this side becoming one of the greatest England sides ever, there being a golden era for English cricket coming. Instead, in true English style, we have become our own worst enemy again and it may well lead to another long and gruelling winter.

England v The West Indies: The Lord's Test, Day 1

There's something magical about the first Test of the international summer in England. It might be the muffled applause of the gloved hands, echoing around a three quarters full stadium. It might be the fact that champagne bottles adorn the boundary as those adorned in red and yellow stripes decide that 11 in the morning is a superb time to crack out the alcohol. It may just be that long suffering England fans are finally able to watch international cricket in their own time zone. Anyway, Test cricket's back and it's at Lord's.

Who would be England's third seamer? Well, after a comment from Mike Atherton about Strauss being "long in the tooth", it was revealed that Tim Bresnan had made the cut. Yorkshire's Jonny Bairstow was to make his Test debut and was presented with his cap by close family friend, Geoffrey Boycott. For the West Indies, Ravi Rampaul had a stiff neck so it handed a Test debut to Trinidad quick (I'm just going from reports here. I didn't quite reach West Indian domestic cricket in my winter exploits) Shannon Gabriel.

Still, cricket's back, rubber ducks are back and awful puns may or may not be back. Here's day 1 from Lord's:

England v West Indies: A Test Series Preview

Ah yes, it's that time of year again. Rummage around in the back of your wardrobe for those winter thermals that you put away during the heatwave in the final week of March, dust off your hand warmers and brush England's winter exploits to one side because England's international summer kicks off tomorrow. It's back to the green and pleasant land of seaming pitches and, presumably, empty seats because it's May. In England. And it's the West Indies.

The West Indies arrive and prepare to play in country which can't seem to decide which season it is, with the weather ranging from sunshine to hailstorms in the space of an afternoon. Around the county circuit, it's been a spring of discontent. My own county of Essex have been struggling since their first, and so far only, victory of the season in the first County Championship match of the season and other teams have also struggled to reach 200 on a regular basis. Days have regularly been washed out, with New Road being half submerged in water for a few days and a match at Gloucestershire being abandoned without a ball being bowled. It wouldn't be surprising if, like the Sri Lanka series last year, the three Test matches to be played are rain affected at some point.

Such is the beauty of the British weather. This isn't the MET Office and I long since gave up any dreams of being a meteorologist when I realised it'd help if I wasn't afraid of thunder storms, so I digress and move onto the cricket. Long ago, the West Indies coming over would've sent fear through the England batting order, and they wouldn't even need a spinner to do that. Today, anything less than an England whitewash would be seen as a disappointment.

To expect the West Indies to challenge in early English summer conditions is difficult, especially against a side who haven't lost a Test series at home since 2008, but they're not as bad as some make them out to be. Granted, they're not likely to be challenging for the number one ranking (although the top five is a target) and are liable to a collapse of England against Ajmal proportions, but they are, like many sides in international cricket have been, a side in transition. Ottis Gibson has been their coach for over two years now and captain Darren Sammy has been in charge of all three formats for around a year and a half.  They are a young side, with the average age of the squad for this series being around 26, but they do have some bright prospects coming through.

In the squad for this series, only five of those who came over in 2009 remain in the squad. One of those who remains is Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who in 2007 proved a stubborn thorn in England's side and, as recent showings against Australia suggest, he has the potential to do that again. For many years he, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle have been the major batsmen in the West Indian line up, but with Gayle's changeable relationship with the WICB and Sarwan's loss of his central contract meaning he now props up Leicestershire's middle order, Chanderpaul must act as a 'father figure' of batting to the youngsters coming through.

One of these batting youngsters is that of Darren Bravo. There's a mandatory reference to him being Brian Lara's cousin, left handed, etc. here, but Bravo is one of the West Indian players I'm excited about. This may be because I'm, somewhat unfairly, subconsciously comparing him to his half-brother Dwayne's performance at the Rose Bowl for Essex in 2010, but I'm hoping that Darren Bravo performs this series. He played a handful of matches for Nottinghamshire last season and his average was in the mid-30s, but in the warm up match against the Lions he got a half-century in each innings. He had a disappointing series against the Australians, but after 30 Test innings, his average is a relatively healthy 49.59. If he can perform in English conditions, then that would be wonderful for West Indian cricket, especially with the lynch-pin of Chanderpaul being 38 this year.

On the bowling front, England would do well not to completely underestimate them. Whilst the England Lions cruised home to a 10 wicket victory in Northampton, when Darren Bravo's coming on as first change, you know something's not quite right. Kemar Roach did not bowl in the second innings, and Fidel Edwards and Ravi Rampaul only bowled 10 overs between them. They bowled the combined total of 45 in the first. Should Edwards, Rampaul and Roach be fit and firing for the series, then England may well face some tricky spells. It won't exactly be the stuff of West Indian legends, but Kemar Roach, like Darren Bravo, is a West Indian youngster I'm excited to see in England.

Roach currently has 62 Test wickets under his belt and was the leading wicket taker for the West Indies against Australia, where he took 19 at 19.73. He can be expensive at times, but the 23 year old has pace and in the seamer friendly conditions of the early English summer, this may cause the English batsmen a bit of difficulty at times. 

Darren Sammy and Ottis Gibson aren't stupid though and are fairly realistic about the West Indies chances in the Tests. They know how strong England are at home and are also aware of how brittle their batting line up is. The ODI series is the one that the West Indies are more excited about, especially with the return of Chris Gayle. Sammy will be hoping that his young side will be inspired by the surroundings of Lord's and the potential to be on the honour's board, whilst Ottis Gibson has been left hoping that the match reaches four days.

When you look at the England bowling attack, though, it might take the weather to take the Lord's Test to a fourth day. England's bowlers have been superb over the past couple of years and this winter demonstrated that to full effect. They, especially James Anderson, toiled away in the searing heat of the Middle East and Sri Lanka and helped give England platforms that their batsmen failed to capitalise on. All the talk before this series is of who will be that third seamer. James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann (although how much he will be used is up for debate) are all shoe ins, but it's a choice of lucky charm Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn and Graham Onions for that final piece of the bowling jigsaw. 

I would expect England to select either Steven Finn or Tim Bresnan. Finn has come on leaps and bounds in the past year and would be playing at his home ground, but I would be tempted to go for Graham Onions. He picked up 7 wickets against the West Indies the last time they played at Lord's. In the County Championship match between Middlesex and Durham, he bowled Andrew Strauss for 0 and 6 on his way to picking up excellent match figures of 10-73. He is the fourth highest wicket taker in Division 1, with 23 at 14.52. Durham have had an awful start to the season, but Onions has stood firm and performed when required. I would love Onions to play, but that may be for sentimental reasons because I still remember the treatment of him in South Africa in 2010. Then of course there's Tim Bresnan. Bresnan had a superb series against India last summer and was a noticeable absentee in the disaster in UAE. He returned for his first Test match of the winter in England's victory in Colombo, where he wasn't really in on the wickets, but provided England with something different in the middle overs.

Of course, the bowling debate is something of a positive to have come out of England's dismal winter. The form of Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell's awful time of it are two things that have been much discussed in the run up to this series. Ian Bell had an incredible 2011 and it seemed like so much had been put behind him, but a miserable time of it at the hands of Ajmal and co was not exactly ideal for his confidence. He began the county season with three low scores, before hitting 120 out of Warwickshire's first innings total of 267 against Durham. He followed this up by then scoring 82 not out against Northants to guide Warwickshire home in a CB40 match. However, he decided to play for the England Lions and managed only 29 before being bowled by Roach. He didn't get a chance to bat in the second innings, but Bell, when he's on form, is a wonderful player to watch and I fully expect him to find 'form' again this series.

Andrew Strauss, on the other hand, remains centuryless. After the "witch hunt" of Sri Lanka, the cauldrons and broom sticks are probably on standby and packed in a cupboard in the Lord's media centre. Strauss has not had a happy start to the season, his highest score so far for Middlesex is a mere 49 against Worcestershire. His last first-class century came in a warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Development XI in March, but for his last Test century, you're heading back to the happier winter times of Brisbane in 2010. For his last one on home soil, you have to go back even further to the Lord's Test of 2009. With South Africa meaning far, far sterner bowling tests are coming, Strauss will know that he needs to find form, and will be trying his best to find some. 

A timely Ravi Bopara thigh injury has meant that he's now on the sidelines for at least two weeks, meaning that England have decided to hand the batting at number six baton to Yorkshire youngster, Jonny Bairstow. Bairstow is an incredibly exciting prospect and has shown himself to possess an incredibly cool head in limited overs cricket. On debut against India, he basted 41 off 21 deliveries and handed England a 3-0 series victory. If he can perform well in this series, the hapless Bopara may well have run out of England chances without having played a Test match for England since August 2011. Still, England have been lacking a northern ginger ever since Colly retired last year, so Bairstow is a welcome addition to the squad.

Anticipated result: England 2-0 West Indies (weather affected Test being a draw). If the weather's good, which it probably won't be judging by the first two months of the county season, then you would expect England to win 3-0. The West Indies have some talented youngsters coming through, but with the clouds gathering and England back on the green, seaming pitches of home, you get the feeling that the Calypso Collapso headlines may not be that far away.

The ducks will be back, probably, as I slowly try and not fail my second year. Anyway, here's to the English summer and being able to watch cricket in your own time zone again! 

The Galle Test: Sri Lanka v England, Day 4

At the close on day three, England need 229 runs. To stop themselves from losing their fourth Test in a row, they will also need a large dollop of patience, skill and a bit of luck. Sri Lanka will need 8 wickets and know that if they put enough pressure on the English batsmen, their current mental state will cause them to play a risky, or in some cases just plain dumb, shot and throw away their wicket on a pitch that once you get in, it's important to stay in and accumulate. 

"History's there to be rewritten, isn't it?" said Graeme Swann yesterday evening. If you were on Twitter earlier in the day, you'd have seen that Bob Willis was trending in the United Kingdom, which usually means either you've missed a classic rant about Steve Harmison or England have been heavily defeated.

Steve Harmison could breathe a huge sigh of relief as it was, sadly for the huge amount of England fans in the ground in Galle and perched on top of the fort, the latter. England's final innings total was their second highest for a fourth innings in Asia (their 8th highest total in Sri Lanka itself), but their awful batting exploits on day 2, mistakes in the field and nobody else learning from their horrible exploits in the first innings to stick around with Jonathan Trott in the second, meant that England were on course to lose their fourth Test in a row.

At a point during the afternoon session, there was hope. It was slim, but there was hope because there was a decent partnership. But this was all but extinguished as key wickets fell in a collapse before the tea interval. Enough talk, here's the ducks with what happened once play began on day 4:

The Galle Test: Sri Lanka v England, Day 3

And so, to day 3 of the Galle Test, where England continue their phenomenally bad form against anyone who can spin a ball. Part of me imagines someone like Swann walking into the changing room and saying hello, only to find that the top order are cowered in a corner, desperately playing air sweep shots in an attempt to try and keep him away from them.

Enough about what goes on inside my head. Day 3 began with Sri Lanka at the crease and 5 wickets down already. They were looking to build on their 209 run lead and give England a target that would probably make them go into said corner and whimper without having faced a ball. England, meanwhile, were hoping to pick up the remaining 5 wickets quickly and chase down a total of around 250.
Here's what happened on an intriguing and close day 3 in Galle:

The Galle Test: Sri Lanka v England, Day 2

So, day 2 in Galle. After such an evenly contested and hard fought first day, there's not really much else I can do to introduce a day that saw 17 wickets fall, most of which were caused by such monumental brain farts that it made Brad Haddin's shot at Newlands in the 47 all out seem almost the Test cricket standard.
Mahela Jayawardene's superb unbeaten century as the others around him crumbled was one of the highlights of day 1, as was James Anderson's performance on a pitch not giving him much help. Here's the highlights of what happened on an eventful day 2 at Galle.

The Galle Test: Sri Lanka v England, Day 1

After a disastrous tour of the United Arab Emirates, next up for England was a trip to one of the toughest places to tour, Sri Lanka. England will return in September for the Twenty20 World Cup, but for now, in the heat and humidity of Galle, Sri Lanka and England play one of those annoying two Test series.

England, still number one after the Middle East humiliation thanks to the weather of New Zealand, include three spinners in their line up, handing a Test debut to Samit Patel at the expense of Eoin Morgan. Sri Lanka have Mahela Jayawardene back at the helm and after having played so much limited overs cricket for the past three months, it'll be interesting to see how their players adapt back to the longer format.

In the scenic ground of the Galle International Stadium ("expertly recreated" in my back garden), the scene of England's horrendous 81 all out back in 2007. By mentioning that, I've probably tempted some horrific fate for when England bat, but that's a matter for a different day. Here's day one in Galle, in the format that made a delivery man look weirdly at me as he appeared in my back garden.

The First Test: Pakistan v England, Day Three

Facing a 100+ run deficit, a good spinner and the history of England in the subcontinent, will England show fight and pull off a Brisbane 2010, or will they reassure us that the England we grew up watching from behind a cushion, probably weeping whenever the grainy statistics came up with the words "slow" in the bowling action column, is still in there, somewhere?

Here's what happened on a quite eventful day 3 from Dubai way back in mid January.

The First Test: Pakistan v England, Day Two

About a month late (so I'm going to pretend that it was published in January), here's the second day of the first Test v Pakistan. I had a laptop malfunction, but a new hard drive and a lot less money later, here's some ducks playing cricket. If you don't know what happened, you've been living in a cave for the past month.

A very disappointing day for England on day one, as their batting capitulation had put Pakistan in a relatively strong position at the beginning of day two. Could England's bowlers pull it back?

Here's day two from Dubai.

The First Test: Pakistan v England, Day One

They've been gathering dust on a book shelf ever since they were put away back in October, but England are back, so guess what? The ducks are back too. Welcome to my desk Dubai, for England's first Test of 2012, and first test of their number one status, against a rejuvenated Pakistan side.

Despite early chatter about England breaking character and going with five bowlers, England went with the usual four. Despite concerns over Broad and Bell being injured by their own compatriots, Tremlett came in for the injured Bresnan. Had Bresnan not been injured, perhaps they would've gone with the five, but you can't ponder too much on injuries.

Here's what happened on day one from the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

England v India: Only Twenty20

With the Test series over, all Indian eyes turned to the limited overs format. Both the Twenty20 and the ODI series can expect to draw in large, noisy and passionate crowds. The Twenty20 happened almost a week ago, but again I've been all over the place and have only just got round to being able to duckify it. Here's what happened at the cricket in t'north west:

England v Ireland: Only ODI

This happened over a week ago now and it was a pretty pointless ODI that was ravaged by rain. Still, I told Andrew Strauss that I did duck recreations of every match England had played this summer, and I'm not going to lie to the captain of the England cricket team. Here's what happened in sunny Dublin last week:

Eoin Morgan, captaining the England side for the first time, loses the toss. William Porterfield decides that he wants to field first. 

The first boundary of the day comes to Jonathan Trott, who is playing his first match since recovering from the shoulder injury he picked up at Trent Bridge. 

He glances it to fine leg for a four.

Kieswetter gets all in a tangle to Rankin...

But still ends up getting a six that he doesn't know much about.

But, in what seems to be the standard Kieswetter international innings, he gets a start but then gets out.

John Mooney picks up the first wicket as Kieswetter edges behind to be caught by Niall O'Brien. England are 24-1.

He goes for 14.

The Leicestershire batsman, James Taylor, is the next one in, but he departs for a single.

He top edges a pull...

And is caught by Wilson. England are 34-2.

Soon after Taylor's wicket, the rain started to come down. (In er... bright sunshine, clearly.)

In comes Eoin Morgan. He decides that with Trott anchoring one end, it's his job to put some impetus into the England innings. 

He hits a four that causes the Irish DJ to bring out 'That Don't Impress Me Much'.

In a shock to everyone, Trott gets a boundary with a reverse sweep.

Morgan brings up his 50 with another four.

He raises his bat and shares an old fashioned shake of the wings with Trott.

Trott also brings up his half century.

He reaches it with a single...

And also raises his bat. The Sky commentary box is not as appreciative. 

Paul Stirling finally gets the breakthrough for Ireland. 

Morgan manages to get a leading edge...

And Stirling takes the catch. Morgan goes for 59 and the Irish know how important that wicket is. 

In comes Bopara...

And out he goes. He looks to guide a Jones delivery down to third man, but instead guides it into the gloves of O'Brien. 

Ben Stokes comes in.

But Paul Stirling strikes again as he takes the return catch. Stokes goes for 3 and England are 148-5.

Patel comes in and gets a couple of boundaries, but then goes for the big shot.

Kevin O'Brien takes the catch at long off. England are 172-6 in their reduced overs innings.

Trott departs a couple of overs later.

He decides to try and hit out...

But instead only finds Jones in the deep. He goes for 69 off 105 deliveries and it leaves England on 172-7.

Scott Borthwick gets dropped by Joyce after a paddle sweep. 

After these drops, Borthwick hits Mooney straight down the ground for a 6.

Borthwick attempts to go for another big shot...

But can only find Stirling. Borthwick goes for 15 off 9 and England are 197-8.

England's innings closes with a 4 and they reach 201-8 off 42. With no more rain, the match could potentially get interesting.

Woakes takes the first over, Finn takes the second. He begins with a wide and then Stirling smashes him over the ropes for a 6.

Stirling attempts to go for another big shot...

But instead can only sky it. Bopara sets himself for the catch.

Which he takes. Ireland are 6-1.

The wicket seems to boost Finn's confidence a bit. Both he and Woakes are bowling well and Finn soon picks up the wicket of Joyce.

He's caught behind by Kieswetter for 10. As Joyce departs, it's still raining.

And eventually, with Ireland 42-2, the rain forces the players off for a rain delay of over an hour. When Ireland return, they need 129 off 23 overs. 

Their chase doesn't start off well. Porterfield goes for a single that was never there...

And does not get back into his crease fast enough. 

He gets run out by Borthwick and Ireland are 43-3.

In comes Kevin O'Brien and here you have to make a mandatory World Cup reference. He takes a couple of deliveries to get his eye in...

And then hits Borthwick for one six...

And then another.

Niall O'Brien gets a slower ball bouncer...

Which he pulls, but cannot keep down.

And Finn takes the catch. 66-4.

Bopara joins in on the wicket taking. He bowls Nigel Jones for 2 to reduce Ireland to 71-5.

A lot is riding on KOB. He's got 25 off 13, but then gets a yorker from Dernbach...

And gets bowled leg stump. It's a huge wicket for England and a massive blow to Ireland. It reduces them to 77-6 and that's probably Ireland's challenge over.

Or is it?

Mooney hits a six off a Dernbach slower ball and Ireland need 36 off 22.

With the last ball of the over, Mooney goes for another big shot...

He almost gets a hold of it...

But Stokes takes a good catch on the boundary. Mooney goes for 15 off 8 and Ireland are 97-7.

Wilson goes to Patel a couple of overs later. 

He looks for the boundary, but instead can only get an outside edge on a flighted delivery and is caught by Bopara. 108-8.

Ireland need 19 to win off the last over and young George Dockrell faces the final three deliveries. He needs a six...

He smashes a full toss down the ground...

But it bounces before the rope and goes for only four.

Ireland need 13 off the final ball. Dernbach doesn't bowl a wide or a no-ball...

And Ireland scamper through for a bye. England win by 11 runs. 

The stand in captain of Eoin Morgan is named man of the match. England don't really learn much from the match and Trott gets all the negative media again. A standard ODI game really.