Hello and welcome once again to Paul Seaborne's view on cricket. Plenty going on this week to talk about and I hope you enjoy this weeks offerings.

We'll start this week in Pakistan, where the ICC have confirmed that this years Champions Trophy will go ahead as planned, despite major concerns over security. I fear there could be a bit of a player revolt over this decision, with many cricket boards including the ECB and the ACA voicing their concerns over player safety, despite Pakistan recently holding the Asia Cup without any alarm.

Leading the attack though has been South Africa, with their spokesman, Tony Irish, quoted as saying “The South African team are very disappointed with today's decision and remain extremely concerned about safety and security in Pakistan and we hope Cricket South Africa will sit down with us and talk to us about whether they are seriously considering sending a team to the Champions Trophy in Pakistan or not."

Ouch

Concerns over whether the top players will indeed travel has led many to believe that the trophy will be a watered down version of successful championships in the past.

Top players have already come out and said “We will be looking closely at the matter in the coming weeks” which in my opinion roughly translates to “If you think I'm travelling you've got another thing coming”. Unnamed stars from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England have reportedly expressed serious concerns about taking part.

We have to say that is it really worth having a tournament of this nature without the world's best on show? To counter this, Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, has stated that he isn't too fussed if the big players play or not, stating that it didn't hamper the first ever 20/20 World Cup that was held in South Africa last year. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't remember many big players missing the 20/20.

The ICC, for their part, has stated that no Cricket Boards shall be punished if they fail to send a full strength team to the event, due to be held in September. A commendable view, but one which will seriously deflate the impact of this tournament in World Cricket.

The future of the 50 over format of the game is already in doubt and under scrutiny from the thumping success of the 20/20 version of the game, and this latest event is not going to help much, in addition to the farcical events in the West Indies during the ICC World Cup last March/April, the ICC are in real danger of losing this format of the game for good.

Talking of cricket in Asia, Sri Lanka have just recorded their third biggest victory in their history by thumping India by an innings and 239 runs.

I'm sure you remember a few weeks back I talked up the new big thing in Sri Lankan cricket, Ajentha Mendis. And if you don't, then you should do, because this boy has just taken ten wickets in his debut match and along with our old friend Murali, is going to torment teams for years to come.

You have to say, that if India cannot pick this guy's variations, then the rest of the world can't have much chance. India have long been renowned for being the best players of spin in the world, and they were simply clueless as this boy, who is only 23 years old, fizzed, whirled, dipped and bamboozled his way through the Indian batting line up like a little boy knocking over his power rangers in the back garden, simply deciding that when he was bored with a particular player, he would just send them on their way.

Awesome stuff, and if the champions trophy does indeed have a weaker set of teams than normal, then Sri Lanka could well turn out to be the surprise package of the tournament.

India on the other hand, have some work to do if they are to salvage this series. Do not forget, that India have aspirations to be the number 1 ranked team in the world, with a potentially mouth watering series against Australia coming up in October. First up, they have to learn to play this whizz kid, not an easy task I'll grant you. But more importantly than that, if they want to challenge the likes of South Africa and Australia , then they need to work on their bowling and their fielding.

Long have India been criticised for their apparent lack of skill in the field, and whilst once a humorous by-product of their amazing batting talent (one can overlook a miss- field or two when you have racked up 500/5 declared) it is now a more serious issue. It has cost them in the past and looks like costing them for the foreseeable future. You simply cannot concede 600 runs in a test match. The pressure builds immensely. Even when the chips are down, you have to keep going, as conceding 500 runs is a lot better than conceding 600. For a start, you only need 300 to avoid the follow on, instead of 400.

A lot of the errors made in the field can be put down to India 's wicket keeper, Dinesh Khartik, who had an absolute shocker standing in for MS Dhoni. He dropped a lot, fumbled a few, and most importantly missed several clear cut chances that hurt India badly. Don't be surprised if Parthiv Patel gets a call for the second test which starts in Galle on Thursday.

Like I say, for a side aspiring to be No 1 in the world, they are miles behind the current top two, South Africa and Australia .

One talking point to come out of the first test was that history was made with the introduction of a referral system on decisions made by the umpire. This involves each team being allowed a maximum of three unsuccessful referrals per innings. So if a bowler thinks a batsman has edged the ball, but the umpire declares Not Out, the bowler can ask for the decision to be referred to the third umpire. And similarly, if a batsman has been given out LBW and cannot believe the incompetence of the umpire, he can ask the third umpire to have a look at it. How the players of many games played on cricket greens across every nation every weekend of the year wish they had this technology! I can tell you it is very infuriating to travel 20 miles to a game on Saturday morning, only to be given out caught behind by your own umpire when the ball was no where near your bat!

Ah well, I guess the village greens up and down the country will continue to witness howling decisions. And long may it continue.

Incidentally, Tilikeratne Dilshan has made sure his name will be mentioned on Sports Quizzes across the globe from now on, as he was the first man to have a decision overturned by the third umpire on referral, after being given incorrectly out caught behind. With Dilshan on 1, he reached for a ball, a puff of dust, a noise, and was given out by umpire Mark Benson. India were delighted, Dilshan, however, was going nowhere fast. He asked for a referral and the replay's showed he hadn't touched the ball, and was given in. To rub salt into India 's wounds, he then went on to make a quite brilliant 100 not out.

I think the referral system is a good idea in general. It's swings and roundabouts really. As much as we mock, the umpire's job is an incredibly tough one, and anything that can help them, and ensure that the decisions given are the correct ones, has got to be good for the game. I can see this becoming a major part of the game in the future.

Talking of South Africa , they have been dealt a massive blow to their hopes of securing a series win in England this summer with the news that fast bowler Dale Steyn is out of the third test, and possibly the fourth as well, with a fractured thumb sustained during the 10 wicket victory at Headingly last week. Andre Nel is 99% likely to fill the spot left by Steyn.

South African coach Micky Arthur has said Nel is extremely fired up and is raring to go. I have to say I've yet to see an occasion when Nel isn't fired up and raring to go! He has played one game on the tour so far, against Bangladesh A where he took 3 wickets and scored his maiden first class 50.

I like Andre Nel. I like his attitude, he has fire in his belly and always gives 110%, and as a captain you can't ask for more than. He isn't in the same class as Steyn, but will still cause ask a few questions of the England batsman. Nel last played a test match against the West Indies in January, and has played once before against England , returning figures of 6-81 in the first innings. Yikes.

England themselves have a selection dilemma ahead of the third test. Darren Pattinson is likely to be another of England 's one test wonders. Not his fault, he should never have been picked, but he rocked up, did his best, got a couple of wickets and will now go back to Nottingham, good luck to the lad.

Ryan Sidebottom appears to be fit and raring to go again after recovering from his bed-induced bad back. The other name recalled to the test squad this week is one Stephen Harmison. Harmison has made no secret of the fact that he wants to play for England again, despite his obvious hatred of going away from home, and has performed gallantly for Durham this year. I've seen him on a few occasions around the county circuit and I have to say I've never seen him bowl faster. In addition to his speed, which he always had, he is bowling accurately and aggressively, and fully deserves his recall. Whether he makes the final eleven or not is still to be seen, but I for one would love to see a fully fired up Harmison and Flintoff bowling in tandem at Edgbaston.

England 's top 5 seem to be fairly secure, but the problem lies after that. I said last week that I was baffled with England 's selection at Headingly, with Ambrose at 6 and Flintoff at 7. Personally I'd like to see Collingwood reinstated at 6, Flintoff at 7, Ambrose at 8, Sidebottom 9, Anderson at 10 and Monty at 11. But we shall see, there must be a reason I'm not chairman of selectors.

Staying in England for the time being, Middlesex were crowned the domestic 20/20 champions for 2008 after an exciting 3 run win against Kent on Saturday evening. Now we all thought that this would mean they, along with Kent, qualified for the new Champions League, die to be held in India in October. However, the ECB won't be present at a meeting due to be held this week, prompting fears that no English team shall be present during the Champions League. Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said We are going ahead with the tournament whether England joins up or not, "Modi said. " South Africa and Australia are fully on board with the various rules and regulations but the ECB is being unreasonable and continues to have objections to issues like the shareholding pattern and the governing structure. But we can't wait any longer and we are going ahead. It's now up to the ECB to decide whether it wants to join us or not."

In a counter attack, the ECB is now toying with the idea of holding its own champions league, and addition to the new EPL, to be held in Abu Dhabi. It rather seems to me that the ECB and IPL and like two of the biggest children in the playground, squabbling over who has the best toys.

I also fear that the world of cricket is going to be flooded with all these 20/20 events and no one will have any respect for it. So far we have….the ICL, the IPL, the EPL, the Stamford 20/20, the 20/20 World Cup, and now the two Champions League tournaments. Can you have two Champions League's? Surely the idea is the winner of the Champions League is the champion? I dunno, all a bit stupid if you ask me, we never had this when cricket was cricket. 3/4/5 tests, a few one dayers and Australia was always the best.

I fear for the 20/20 game (or not, as the case may be, but that's another story) and feel it is going to burn out very quickly when people get bored of it.

I've said all along it is an entertaining version of the game, but should be restricted to a World Cup every two years, a domestic tournament every year and a game on every tour, for a bit of fun.

Well that's about I have for you in this weeks article. It's been an interesting week to say the least, and hopefully next week will be just as exciting. With two test matches coming up, more to come on the Champions League, and I'm sure more to come on the Champions Trophy, be sure to keep checking www.priceform.com for all the latest news and reviews.

Of course, I'll be here during the week to post my thoughts on Sri Lanka v India 2nd test, and England v South Africa 3rd test, a game England must win if they are to have any chance of winning the series.

Until then, be lucky.

All the best

Paul