New Zealand’s call-up of the aptly-named Jesse ‘Wider’ Ryder to their one-day squad to face England may have been a surprise to some, but he follows in the knee-deep footsteps of a number of players of equally epic proportions who have made a considerable impact on the game – and on the ground when they landed on it.

It’s remarkable how two miles and two weeks can spin your life around on its axis, thrusting you from one side of a situation into the other, and forcing you to question everything you think, and everything you believe in.

Today we would like to announce the latest update to the Cricket Mail service. With immediate effect all accounts will now have a massive 500MB of FREE space for you to store all those messages!

Following a miserable tour to Sri Lanka, Kevin Pietersen will be intent on filling his boots against a New Zealand attack that may well be powerless to stop him.

In the second edition of Ask the Spider, we bring you the most successful wicketkeepers, the lbw record, the inflated averages, and the truths about the myths of bowling speed

Adam Gilchrist may have announced his retirement from international cricket, but is this the last we’ve seen of the greatest ever wicketkeeper-batsman?

Sometimes I feel sorry for Eddie – not often, of course, but every now and again I’m really broken up for the poor old git. Winter time is a terrible time for him and he mopes around the house all day shivering, just waiting for the new cricket season to arrive.

It occurred to me this afternoon that I’d never bothered to properly introduce myself in last week’s column. So for those of you who’ve never found yourself being triggered by my right index finger, here’s the first draft of my autobiography.

Many things came out of India’s Test series in Australia – they tend to when these countries meet, really. There was the usual mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly – and it is certainly the ugly that will linger longest in the memory, with the SCG Test and subsequent fallout placing a terrible stain (as well as strain) on the game.

To introduce myself I am Andrew Gale and am currently a professional cricketer with Yorkshire County Cricket Club. I have been with the club for the last five years and have come right through the junior ranks before making my debut 3 years ago. Since then I have been a regular in the one day format and now hope to cement a place in the championship side. I have also represented England at U15 and U19 level.