There are certain things that a person looks forward to for their entire life and as the event approaches they worry that it will never match their long held expectations. This was how I felt about my visit and tour of Lord’s. Fortunately, despite my concerns, the grand old cricket ground didn’t disappoint.

Michael Vaughan and the England management will undoubtedly have made meticulous plans ahead of this highly anticipated series with South Africa, and things could not have gone much better after the opening three days of the series.

A dangerous game we all play at some point is virtual history, that is what if? But the weight on England’s shoulders these last three years has been the monumental Ashes victory in 2005 and many have said that England have wished to replicate too much of the same thing since. The focus of the English on the Ashes above all else has been a constant criticism both at home and abroad and too many selections have said to have been based around the yearning for those magical days in the fantastic summer that was 2005. Is this fair? Have English selections been unduly influenced by a desire for what was? Was the Ashes victory of 05 detrimental to English cricket. What would have happened if the series had ended all square and the Aussies kept hold of the urn?

The evolution of batting in one day cricket has made it increasingly hard to compare the greats. A method to measure the value of contributions across time has been devised.

As the ICC ruminates and fumbles with the game’s future, the time is ripe for change. A fundamental shift in thinking about cricketing governance is required.

If you think a string of recent retirements means Australia will automatically lose top spot in the world of cricket, guess again.

Despite no longer being able to call on modern greats like Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist, no country is better able to minimise the effect of these departures than Australia.

Once again we find ourselves debating whether now is the right time to tamper with England’s top six in the Test batting line-up. In such situations the old adage of form being temporary and class permanent rings very true.