The Googly

Video: Tim Southee's 77 off 40 balls

The young fella scores the fastest fifty in NZ history, and the sixth fastest of all time.  A beauty.

Sky miss out on IPL UK TV rights

Setanta Sports have stolen a march on Uncle Rupert's evil empire by poaching the rights to broadcast the Indian Premier League in the UK.

Now, while I'm all for giving the great Australian magnate one in the eye, I can't help thinking that this may be the final nail in the coffin for the IPL in the UK.  Many cricket fans in the British Isles purchased a SkySports subscription under duress after the satellite monster had effectively bought the British and international game exclusively for the UK broadcast market. 

The Setanta director of sport, Trevor East, said: "The Indian Premier League is going to be massive. We're absolutely thrilled to acquire these rights and add another major sport to Setanta's programme line-up."  But will it really be massive? 

I doubt there will be a mass of Sky viewers champing to pay even more money out every month to see a league that features no players from the UK and teams (Bangalore, Hyderabad etc) that have zero resonance with British cricket fans, with the possible exception of the Asian population.

An analogous example is La Liga.   The Spanish football league is full of world class stars playing a great brand of football; but how many viewers in the UK would pay for a subscription to see this league only and no other football?  My money is on not many.

Will you be signing up for Setanta to watch?  Let us know in the comments.

Performance of the Day - Sky Sports

There is more than one way in which Rupert Murdoch (right) cuts an unattractive figure, but, using that unattractive cliche, he does what it says on the tin. Sky subscribers could start their Thursday (as I did) watching Phil Jaques scrape around trying to find a run, before retiring to bed (The Trumpet, not the Aussie) only to wake and discover that Phil had his ton and the Aussies were (surprise, surprise) well placed at the end of Day One. What was Jayawardene thinking of with his insertion?

To the day's viewing, with Sky offering a red button choice between a nip and tuck first day's Test cricket between the evenly matched Saffers and Kiwis or a pyrotechnic India - Pakistan ODI cliffhanger in Mohali, eventually won by Younus Khan's class and Boom Boom Afridi's clout.

The only problem? I missed the lot. I was at work earning the money to be able to pay for the subscription!

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

Mark Nicholas, oh dear

This morning I was idly musing over Mark Nicholas's whereabouts and wondering whether with Ashley Giles not showing up in Sri Lanka, Mark might turn up on Test Match Special. As one who always enjoyed Mark's contributions and commentary (and indeed suave relaxed appearance) on Channel 4, the thought we might hear his dulcet tones on the radio was quite cheering on a work morning.

However, it seems that Mark's broadcasting career has taken a different turn. Channel-hopping this afternoon, I thought I was having an hallucination. There, before my eyes, on ITV, in the middle of the afternoon, was Mark Nicholas fronting up a cookery competition. A quick trip to Wikipedia confirmed that I was neither mad nor delusional. He is indeed presenting the (un)imaginatively titled "Britain's Best Dish".

This seems a sad fall from grace for 2001's Sports Presenter of the Year, and he seemed profoundly uncomfortable in the role, and with the use of the autocue. It was a painful experience watching the show, but gripping in a kind of car-crash TV way as Mark tried to squeeze in the odd cricketing word or two - I think he actually said the contestants were batting on a tricky wicket at one point.

Signing off with a phrase we have heard him utter on many occasions: "It's been an interesting day here", I felt only biting his tongue prevented him adding "at the Oval".

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

Video: Nike India TV commercial

Can't imagine an ad like this one being made about a traffic jam in Piccadilly Circus can you?

Theme tunes for cricketers

Not so long ago in pre-T20 days, the powers-that-be thought cricket needed a bit of a push to reach the Yoof of today, so players were invited to pick a song to accompany them to the wicket. Every bit as lame as it sounds, but that hasn't stopped the Trumpet (right) reviving the idea with the first of an occasional series of theme songs for cricketers. Over the jump, you'll find the first three.

When the injuries pile up in Sri Lanka and New Zealand over the winter, will the selectors pick England's outstanding batsman? Here's a tune for Ramps.

Andrew Symonds thinks that teams don't have to play well for very long to win a T20 game. He's right, but Roy...

Only one song for Colly after his "interesting" evening on the tiles.

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image:Getty] [Clips: Youtube]

The Thunder Downunder: Secrets of an Immortal

Last summer during the second Ashes Test Shane Warne recorded what the host broadcaster labeled a masterclass. It was perhaps the best live cricketing television you could hope to witness and there is no doubt that this 10 minute film will become as iconic as any image or writing that the cricketing community has ever produced. Barring the complete collapse of civilization there is little doubt this instructive piece will be watched and studied for centuries to come.

It is brilliant in its simplicity and content and Mark Nicholas plays the role of cajoling interviewer with a boyish-like enthusiasm which is a joy to witness. The WACA looks a picture under an azure Indian Ocean sky and Warne, out in the centre, is comfortable, entertaining and in his element.

Warne demystifies his art with demonstrations of each of his deliveries and speaks about some of the tactics and techniques he employs to dismiss the best batsman on the planet. Shane does not only talk of the mechanics of his art but also about the intangibles. His advice for young spinners is especially insightful. He says you need to have good mate as captain, a lot of courage and plenty of love from family, team and friends.

Although this video is instructional in the art of wrist-spin it is also an invaluable insight of the art for batsman. If you understand the position of the hand for each type of delivery reading wrist-spin is as easy as reading these words.

Click, watch, listen and learn. Get out in the backyard, street, corridor or park and try and bowl a leggie, a toppie, a wrong-un, a zooter and a flipper. It’s not as hard as you think and I guarantee that when you finally land one you will feel elated. A warning however, bowling wrist-spin is addictive and an eccentric skill and if you are not careful it can change the way you perceive the world.

{Nesta Quin} [Image: Getty]

12th Man - Australia vs India

You can never have too much 12th Man, and here is Richie giving us the lowdown on Aus vs India.  Absolute gold.

Performance of the Day - Sky Sports

Yesterday's Twenty20 Finals Day was a magnificent festival of cricket, as is evident in the reports of our very own Carrie. But it was also a magnificent festival of television sport.

Whilst Sky are not to everyone's taste, subscribers were treated to 12 hours of wonderful coverage from Edgbaston, striking exactly the right tone between the serious cricket and the entertainment, with no issue ducked in the player interviews and no replay of the Mascot Race left in the can. It may stick in the craw to say so, but thank you Sky for delivering exactly what I pay for - and here's a PotD in recognition.

[The Tooting Trumpet]

Performance of the Day - Mike Selvey

I've never liked it when the ex-players in the press box and commentary booths leap to defend players' poor conduct with the whiff of self-interest (for fear of a refusal of that exclusive interview or an awkward silence on the first tee) seldom far away. Nevertheless, the times they are a-changing, with Nasser psychologically (and with a dad like Joe, no doubt genetically)incapable of not saying exactly what he thinks.

After the tedium of the dissection of the Jelly Beans, the more serious matter of Sree Santh's beamer, and beamers in general, was raised by Mike Selvey (right) in forthright terms in today's Guardian. He names names - a refreshing, and PotD winning, departure from the omerta of the ex-players' club. There's a excellent debate following his piece, with some bloke calling himself "Mouth of the Mersey" making a very telling point about the impact of Hawkeye and other technologies on the old canard, "It slipped".

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

Performance of the Day - Sky Sports

There is more than one way in which Rupert Murdoch (right) cuts an unattractive figure, but, using that unattractive cliche, he does what it says on the tin. Sky subscribers could start their Thursday (as I did) watching Phil Jaques scrape around trying to find a run, before retiring to bed (The Trumpet, not the Aussie) only to wake and discover that Phil had his ton and the Aussies were (surprise, surprise) well placed at the end of Day One. What was Jayawardene thinking of with his insertion?

To the day's viewing, with Sky offering a red button choice between a nip and tuck first day's Test cricket between the evenly matched Saffers and Kiwis or a pyrotechnic India - Pakistan ODI cliffhanger in Mohali, eventually won by Younus Khan's class and Boom Boom Afridi's clout.

The only problem? I missed the lot. I was at work earning the money to be able to pay for the subscription!

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

Mark Nicholas, oh dear

This morning I was idly musing over Mark Nicholas's whereabouts and wondering whether with Ashley Giles not showing up in Sri Lanka, Mark might turn up on Test Match Special. As one who always enjoyed Mark's contributions and commentary (and indeed suave relaxed appearance) on Channel 4, the thought we might hear his dulcet tones on the radio was quite cheering on a work morning.

However, it seems that Mark's broadcasting career has taken a different turn. Channel-hopping this afternoon, I thought I was having an hallucination. There, before my eyes, on ITV, in the middle of the afternoon, was Mark Nicholas fronting up a cookery competition. A quick trip to Wikipedia confirmed that I was neither mad nor delusional. He is indeed presenting the (un)imaginatively titled "Britain's Best Dish".

This seems a sad fall from grace for 2001's Sports Presenter of the Year, and he seemed profoundly uncomfortable in the role, and with the use of the autocue. It was a painful experience watching the show, but gripping in a kind of car-crash TV way as Mark tried to squeeze in the odd cricketing word or two - I think he actually said the contestants were batting on a tricky wicket at one point.

Signing off with a phrase we have heard him utter on many occasions: "It's been an interesting day here", I felt only biting his tongue prevented him adding "at the Oval".

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

Video: Nike India TV commercial

Can't imagine an ad like this one being made about a traffic jam in Piccadilly Circus can you?

Theme tunes for cricketers

Not so long ago in pre-T20 days, the powers-that-be thought cricket needed a bit of a push to reach the Yoof of today, so players were invited to pick a song to accompany them to the wicket. Every bit as lame as it sounds, but that hasn't stopped the Trumpet (right) reviving the idea with the first of an occasional series of theme songs for cricketers. Over the jump, you'll find the first three.

When the injuries pile up in Sri Lanka and New Zealand over the winter, will the selectors pick England's outstanding batsman? Here's a tune for Ramps.

Andrew Symonds thinks that teams don't have to play well for very long to win a T20 game. He's right, but Roy...

Only one song for Colly after his "interesting" evening on the tiles.

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image:Getty] [Clips: Youtube]

The Thunder Downunder: Secrets of an Immortal

Last summer during the second Ashes Test Shane Warne recorded what the host broadcaster labeled a masterclass. It was perhaps the best live cricketing television you could hope to witness and there is no doubt that this 10 minute film will become as iconic as any image or writing that the cricketing community has ever produced. Barring the complete collapse of civilization there is little doubt this instructive piece will be watched and studied for centuries to come.

It is brilliant in its simplicity and content and Mark Nicholas plays the role of cajoling interviewer with a boyish-like enthusiasm which is a joy to witness. The WACA looks a picture under an azure Indian Ocean sky and Warne, out in the centre, is comfortable, entertaining and in his element.

Warne demystifies his art with demonstrations of each of his deliveries and speaks about some of the tactics and techniques he employs to dismiss the best batsman on the planet. Shane does not only talk of the mechanics of his art but also about the intangibles. His advice for young spinners is especially insightful. He says you need to have good mate as captain, a lot of courage and plenty of love from family, team and friends.

Although this video is instructional in the art of wrist-spin it is also an invaluable insight of the art for batsman. If you understand the position of the hand for each type of delivery reading wrist-spin is as easy as reading these words.

Click, watch, listen and learn. Get out in the backyard, street, corridor or park and try and bowl a leggie, a toppie, a wrong-un, a zooter and a flipper. It’s not as hard as you think and I guarantee that when you finally land one you will feel elated. A warning however, bowling wrist-spin is addictive and an eccentric skill and if you are not careful it can change the way you perceive the world.

{Nesta Quin} [Image: Getty]

12th Man - Australia vs India

You can never have too much 12th Man, and here is Richie giving us the lowdown on Aus vs India.  Absolute gold.

Performance of the Day - Sky Sports

Yesterday's Twenty20 Finals Day was a magnificent festival of cricket, as is evident in the reports of our very own Carrie. But it was also a magnificent festival of television sport.

Whilst Sky are not to everyone's taste, subscribers were treated to 12 hours of wonderful coverage from Edgbaston, striking exactly the right tone between the serious cricket and the entertainment, with no issue ducked in the player interviews and no replay of the Mascot Race left in the can. It may stick in the craw to say so, but thank you Sky for delivering exactly what I pay for - and here's a PotD in recognition.

[The Tooting Trumpet]

Performance of the Day - Mike Selvey

I've never liked it when the ex-players in the press box and commentary booths leap to defend players' poor conduct with the whiff of self-interest (for fear of a refusal of that exclusive interview or an awkward silence on the first tee) seldom far away. Nevertheless, the times they are a-changing, with Nasser psychologically (and with a dad like Joe, no doubt genetically)incapable of not saying exactly what he thinks.

After the tedium of the dissection of the Jelly Beans, the more serious matter of Sree Santh's beamer, and beamers in general, was raised by Mike Selvey (right) in forthright terms in today's Guardian. He names names - a refreshing, and PotD winning, departure from the omerta of the ex-players' club. There's a excellent debate following his piece, with some bloke calling himself "Mouth of the Mersey" making a very telling point about the impact of Hawkeye and other technologies on the old canard, "It slipped".

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

To Sky or not to Sky?

Both here on the GU Over-by-Over coverage and here on the GU blog, debate has raged over the benefits (or otherwise) of cricket's relationship with Sky Television (controlled by the lovely Mr Murdoch, right). 

Here's the Trumpet's view.

The BBC hate cricket - when they had it, they relied on the sublime Richie, but invested the minimum in cameras etc and did nothing to innovate. They would cut out of cricket at the drop of a hat (Gooch going to 300 at Lord's anyone?) and even in 2007 show highlights after midnight. They couldn't be bothered to bid last time. Sod them.

Sunset and Vine were brilliant, but Channel 4 insisted on early starts and finishes (else it would interfere with Hollyoaks) and would cut to horse-racing whenever possible.

Sky give us tremendous coverage not just of home but of overseas series and not just of England's matches - there are times when I wonder how much better it could be, so good is it.

Finally re paying for it. When the BBC had cricket, the licence fee paid for it - the ultimate regressive tax. When C4 had cricket, advertising paid for it - the penultimate regressive tax. Now I pay for the cricket, but my mother doesn't - I think that is fair.

What do Googlyers think?

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

The Greatest Fielder at his best - Roger Harper

No words required.

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[The Tooting Trumpet - with thanks to GU's Rob Smyth]

The cricket broadcast media closed shop

Cricket has always been, for my money, the sport that represents the pinnacle of journalistic coverage, (ed. and that's just this blog!).  From the poetic musings of John Arlott on TMS; to the tomes of wonderful prose in so many Wisden Almanacks; to the intelligent scribings of Mike Brearley; finally the new media world of top blogs like our friends over at The Corridor and the oft-imitated Guardian OBO coverage; cricket is simply head-and-shoulders above the rest.

I fear this will not be the case for much longer.  Cricket, like so many other sports, has fallen into the trap of exclusively hiring only former pros as commentators. Along with this approach, again like so many other sports, the quality control of the personnel they hire decreases exponentially.

Take Sky for example.  Mike Atherton is as great a pundit as anyone could wish for, he is thoughtful, articulate, small on hyperbole, and brings an incredible cricket mind and wealth of experience to a gentle, informative and entertaining approach.  With this template in mind, Sky presumed Nasser Hussain would bear the same fruit.  He has not, and the less said about the likes of Willis and Allott the better.  TMS is falling into the same trap also - as great a player as Graham Gooch was, he makes terrible radio; and as average a player as Gilo was/is he makes, er, average radio.

That so much broadcast media has become dominated by this demographic of ex-player will be at the cost of the coverage and ultimately the audience figures.  By choosing to ignore journalists who have years of experience covering the game and crafting words in favour of just-retired international players the reporting of the great game will cease to measure up. [Image: Getty]

A bit of Dazz, a bit of Phil, a lot of cricket

Limbering up for my coverage of tonight's Dazz show, I tuned in to the Twenty20 coverage last night (after writing up my Tour report) and found my favourite, Phil Tufnell on the airwaves. As I joined, "The Cat" was describing someone "smearing it all over the pitch". I didn't know who was smearing what, and to be honest I'm not sure Phil did either as soon after he asked not only what the scoreboard said, but where was the scoreboard! Isn't that so the spirit of Twenty20? Mad, confused and exciting. It was just as well that I had that little limber, as tonight, Tuffers was with Goughie for the Cricket Show, and it was another hectic and hysterical affair. A good job that experienced broadcaster Eleanor Oldroyd was there to keep a semblance of control, as otherwise, we'd have had nothing but laughter. Which whilst therapeutic fun would not have been the point.

Gough again managed a stellar line up of guests, starting with Chris Broad - much talk of the selection policy that saw Chris Tremlett get a Test debut ahead of son Stuart (bless him), and a good discussion of Strauss's 96 at Lord's today. All seemed to agree that it was a fine knock and it was only a very typical batsman's wish of making the ton with a four or six that got him out. No criticism at all. After a very interesting discussion of the use of Hawkeye in cricket as opposed to tennis - Chris feels it has a place but there's no substitute for experience in dodgy decisions where even the machine is reduced to guess-work, we had next guest. What an absolutely delightful and charming man Harbhajan Singh is. No bitterness about missing out on the Indian Test side, hopes to get a call for the One-Dayers and answered all questions with openness and a sort of innocence. Questioned about Dhoni's resignation from Surrey - he just said he didn't know details but somehow this was just honest and not avoidence. Also when asked about his non-selection for the India side he told us he'd heard it on TV - but there was not even an undercurrent of unhappiness. He'll be a great addition to the Surrey side and seems to be so pleased to be here.

Next up was David Hussey - the younger brother of Michael, and again another delight. Quite open about his desire for the Baggy Green, but very happy to be here. Then came the Corkster (pictured). To be honest there was so much laughter that I found it hard to keep track of the serious discussions, but there were some. Sensible words about how England disregard players past 28-29, and at 30 you're past it. Fun stuff about heckling from the crowd. Apparently Dom got a bit of crowd-sledging about his waistline recently and riposted with "hey Kojak, pack it in" on seeing the heckler was bald. Well, maybe not top-notch stand-up stuff, but as Dazz said, it's all in good fun.

I had to leave the show before Geoff Lawson's spot, but will try and find that in the ether for another time. All in all, this was another entertaining and informative show - a great introduction to the game for new fans, and a real filip for the old and jaded. There is an utter magic between Dazz, Dom and Phil that puts some other cricket broadcasters to shame.

Join them next week and if you can't I'll do my best to bring you highlights.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

Essential radio for sports fans this summer

One of the biggest frustrations of listening to cricket on the radio is the poor reception and constant hum you have to put up with when tuning into 198 Long Wave for TMS, plus the constant breaks in coverage for the shipping forecast and other non-cricketing irrelevancies. 

The DAB Digital radio revolution has helped with this, but you can't exactly carry your laptop around in your pocket, so PURE ONE have come up with the solution: the new PURE talkSPORT family of DAB digital radios. Exclusive to Currys and Currys Digital, the radios all offer one-touch tuning which takes listeners direct to the UK’s leading commercial sports station, talkSPORT.

The radios come in three models, more details after the jump. 

Don't forget that you can catch all the latest technology news, views and reviews on our sister blogs Tech Digest, Tech Reviews, Shiny Shiny, Techscape and Mobile Digest.

The PURE ONE talkSPORT Edition is an affordable, great-sounding DAB and FM portable radio with textSCAN™ (scrolling DAB text) and Intellitext™, which stores text messages so that listeners can review the latest news, results, headlines and more at their convenience*.

The PURE Move talkSPORT Edition is a palm-sized radio which provides over 40 hours of great sounding DAB digital radio thanks to its built-in ChargePAK® battery pack. Move can be used with headphones without extending the aerial so users can listen in the park or on the terraces without disturbing others. Alternatively, the sports results can be shared with friends thanks to the high quality in-built speaker.

PURE’s handheld PocketDAB 1500 talkSPORT Edition is ideal for the style conscious with its sleek, compact looks and lightweight build. To ensure listeners get the very best sound out of their radio, Sennheiser MX300 in-ear headphones are supplied as standard. PocketDAB 1500 talkSPORT Edition also has an integrated ChargePAK, which recharges from the mains just like a mobile phone, to provide up to 24 hours of roaming DAB playback.

Pointless cricket TV innovation: "Sky Pie"

Amidst all of the fantastic coverage that Sky has brought into sport in the UK, it has also had its fair share of howlers, like Rob McCaffrey.  The PlayerCam is one such example from their football coverage.  The idea of a camera that follows one player alone for 15 minutes at a time must have seemed a great idea in the production meeting; "we could watch his runs, see the movement of a class player!"  However the reality was somewhat different, and this bites when you realise you have been watching a grown man walk around, occasionally run, repeatedly spitting, and clearing his nostrils of gallons of snot.  He sometimes receives and passes the ball, however you cannot see who from nor who he has passed it to.  But in fairness you could see where they were coming from with it. This is not the case with the bizarre Sky Pie.

Sky Pie is a graphic used on the highlights show, hosted by Charles "Always the Bridesmaid" Colville with his pundits Ashley Giles and Interesting Bob Willis.  For those that have not witnessed it, it is a pie chart divided up into five sections to represent each day of a test match; each of these sections is then divided into three further sections to represent the sessions of play.  With me so far?  (Apologies as I cannot find an image of it).

At the end of the show each pundit is tasked with deciding who won each session and the segment of the Sky Pie is coloured appropriately.  Unless of course it has rained, then a segment is filled with a graphic of water dripping (can you see what they did there?). They then top up the session won scores to give the absolutely pointless figure of who has won the most sessions in the match.  Thus, according to the Sky Pie, the current "score" in the Fourth Test is England 2 West Indies 3.

Enlightening isn't it?  Is this really what I pay £36 a month for?  [Lee C]

The Gough show: 8 pm start - not in Scotland!

I tuned into Radio 5Live last night for the much heralded Gough Cricket Show, and it got off to rather a poor start. 8pm they said for the start. Well this correspondent lives in the far north of Scotland, but hadn't realised that there was a time difference between London and the Moray Firth. At 20.04 I was still listening to Gaby Logan. Ah me, so far are we from the cricket heartland.

Nonetheless I stayed with it, and within the next few minutes we were treated to some clips from the Dazzler's best international performances and there was a somewhat predictable "Howzat" yelled. But we love this because Darren is now an official treasure. After all, it's not that long ago that he raised the glittery ball trophy, thus proving that cricketers can dance. Which of course every women's bit of eye-candy (wake up Ramps - we're talking about you!) did the following year.

But the show was worth more than a few cheap jibes. We've learned that Plunkett's action has gone "a bit to pot". We couldn't have grasped that before could we? He "should go back to the counties and then come back for the ODIs". Nice. And our fast-bowling fiend Mr Harmison, well Messrs Gough and Cork reckon he'll get 400 Test wickets. Dom reckons that only Harmy and Goughie  can bowl at 90 mph and get wickets. Nice.

Graham Hick joined in and raised the really important question of why do the commentators always talk about golf. Well, good question Hicksie? Maybe because it's what all the retired cricketers mention on interview. Duh! Still some nice (notice my use of this word!) stats came up again. Hick mustered a pretty impressive 40,000 runs in his career and next guest, the ever popular Justin Langer (yes I know we hate him in an Ashes endeavour, but we love him for spending his winters enriching English County cricket - you know we do!) is hacking on towards a 25,000 haul. Not bad, mate. Rather endearingly Mr Langer sounded a bit "tired and emotional". Wonder what his week has been about then? He sweetly changed the topic from batting to bowling and, with the encouragement of Mr Cork at the helm of the interview, revealed that he did take 5 wickets at an average he wouldn't wish us to publish. Bless!

But the man - and let's not forget how awesome this Aussie batsman is - does rate our Googly pick of young Hildreth. You heard it here first. He also was not allowed by Gough and Cork to run away without another Aussie-ism of "Aw look mate"- we love those here. So here it is from the mouth of a master, about the much beleaguered Strauss. "He's a natural leader, he has the shots. The cut, the pull. Aw and mate, Tres is a brilliant bloke."  Yup, bit confused there. Is it Straussy or Tres that he favours? Does it matter? I think not.

We are very impressed that a great Aussie is prepared to turn up on our little radio show here. Talk to guys who don't have as many runs as him under the belt. Rest assured, dear reader. The Googly will bring you the highlights of Goughie's show every week.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

Was yesterday the worst day of Test cricket in history?

Jonathan Agnew thinks so.

He harrumphs: "Purely in terms of the quality of the cricket on display, the second day at Old Trafford was just about the worst day of Test cricket I can remember. Shocking bowling by England was followed by some desperate, nervy batting from West Indies, in which they lost their last six wickets for 13 runs."

And that's not even mentioning the fielding.

Certainly many dreadful one-dayers spring to mind, but thinking about quality of play in the elite five-day game, Aggers might be right. Any thoughts, dear reader? [Carrie Dunn] [Image: Getty]

How good is the internet?

Readers may be aware of the work of Phillip K Dick through his film adaptations, but his extraordinary output is worth exploring, especially in the short story format. One of those, "We can remember it for you wholesale" was Paul Verhoevened into "Total Recall".

Well we can't quite learn tennis the way Sharon Stone did in that film alongside her hologram coach, but the superb Videojug is almost as good, if not quite as memorable as La Stone. See below for a sample, and explore further for a coaching manual suited to any player. [The Tooting Trumpet]

VideoJug: How To Play The Forward Defensive

Taking on Aggers at his own game

I love Test Match Special. It knocks the socks off any other commentary team, and they nearly always have terrific guest commentators for each season. But if you're fed up with them, and doubtless some of you might well be, then take them on at their own game!

Along with the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) and MCC, they're looking for new commentators to portray the game's play in minute detail to aid those not blessed with 2020 vision. It sounds a terrific idea to me. There will be special transmitters and headsets available from June 21 onwards.

Link: BBC SPORT | Cricket | Talking cricket.

BBC secure radio rights in India

The BBC have secured radio rights in India for four years, which is a welcome relief to those who enjoy Test Match Special. The deal allows them to broadcast England’s current tour of India, and other international teams who visit, over the next four years. Sky, meanwhile, are being shafted by Nimbus, who paid an astonishing amount of money (over $600m) for exclusive rights to broadcast cricket on TV in India.