Hello everyone and welcome to the second article reviewing the week that was in the world of cricket. And as usual it has been a fairly hectic week with plenty of talking points.

First up this week is the ICC's decision to change the result of the infamous “2006 Oval Test” (as it's become know), from an England win to a draw. Quite frankly I find this decision absolutely unbelievable. It sets a very dangerous precedent in my opinion.
Let me take you back to that day in August. England were struggling in the test match, with Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell having got England a slender lead of thirty three with five wickets remaining in the second innings at Tea on Day four. I was sitting in the stands at the Oval. Out come Bell and Collingwood for the final session of the day, but no Pakistan. Cue confusion all round. News started to filter through that Pakistan had refused to come out, in retaliation to umpire Darryl Hair's decision to award England five penalty runs for ball tampering. To cut a long story short, Hair awarded the game to England and that was that.

Now I do feel a sense of sympathy towards Pakistan here I must say. They were probably hard done by and the on field matters could possibly have been handled better. But many teams over the years have felt a sense of wrong doing at the hands of the umpires from one time or another, but they certainly didn't'refuse to play as a result. Never, in 129 years of test cricket has it happened before. How many teams have been denied victory by a wrong decision? Never have they refused to come out, until that afternoon in South East London, when all known forms of normality went out of the window. The match was rightly awarded to England. I felt at the time it was the only logical conclusion

Now what the ICC have done is undermine the decision, and as I said, they have set a dangerous precedent. Just imagine, the 5th Test in the Ashes, England are 2-1 up but losing the fifth test heavily. Could they just refuse to come out and play and match be declared a draw? Ok, I admit it would never happen, but a precedent is a precedent and the ICC need to be careful. Above all else, the decision could well affect England's standing in the ICC Test rankings, they are currently second, one point ahead of South Africa.

The decision has resulted in Michael Holding resigning his position n the ICC council. He makes his views quite clear when he states "That game should never, ever be a draw. When you take certain actions, you must be quite happy to suffer the consequences. You tell em Mikey!

Anyway, next on the agenda, congratulations to Sri Lanka who have won the Asia Cup, held in Pakistan. They have defeated India by exactly 100 runs in the final, held at the National Stadium in Karachi. This was a good win for Sri Lanka as many believed India to be the Kings of Asia when it comes to cricket, but Sri Lanka have proved, for now at least, that they reign top dogs. It may not mean much in the world of cricket to those of us not on the sub-continent, but the Asian community take this competition very seriously indeed, and this will mean a lot to Sri Lanka. It is also a huge confidence boosterahead of their forthcoming series when they host India for three test matches and five one day internationals starting on the 23rd July. I will be previewing this series later in the month, so make sure you keep an eye out for that one.

Incidentally, just when batsman around the globe were starting to exhale a huge sigh of relief at the thought of Murali coming towards the end of his career, Sri Lanka have found a new spin magician in the name of Ajantha Mendis. This kid is just twenty three years old, and he has been around the national squad for short while now and I have been keeping a close eye on him to see if he's “got it”. And believe me he has. He has every delivery in his armoury, googly's, leg spinners, top spinners, off breaks and flippers. This guy will be the spearhead in the team for a long time to come, and eventually will succeed Murali as Sri Lanka's premier bowler. Don't get me wrong, he still has a long way to go and he will need to develop a stock delivery to be as effective in Test Matches, however the world's top batsmen should be getting very worried. Expect orders of DVD's and videotapes of his spells to be at the top of the Christmas wish list.

The hosts Pakistan didn't make it to the final of the Asia Cup, and the pressure is building for captain Shoaib Malik and coach Geoff Lawson. Rumours that the duo are in the final throngs at the helm are gathering pace. They have had few successes since Malik took over the captaincy from Inzaman Ul Haq in October 2007. They haven't beaten a major country in a test match series or one day series since then. In that time they have lost ODI series to South Africa, India and now the Asia Cup and lost test series to both India and South Africa. They have a three game series of ODI's coming up against New Zealand, and failure in that series or the subsequent Champions Trophy that they are hosting, could spell the end for Lawson and Malik in their respective roles.

Meanwhile in the Caribbean, Australia's dominance over the West Indies, and indeed world cricket in general, is continuing. They are currently 4-0 up in the five match ODI series, and barring an absolute miracle are about to make it 5-0. All this after wrapping up the test series 2-0. Many people believed that
their reign at the top of the tree was about to come to end following the retirement of their starts Warne, Mcgrath, Langer and Gilchrist. But they seem to be in good hands if recent performances are anything to go by. Ok, with all due respect, it is only the West Indies they are beating, and they will face stiffer opposition when they travel to India later in the year, and then to England for the Ashes, but, apart from a quality spinner, they seem to be right on track to remain top dog.

You may remember in one of my articles I talked up Luke Ronchi, Australia's new wicketkeeper / batsman. Well he has just smashed 64 off just 28 balls in the fifth ODI and seems to be keeping very tidily indeed and could well be giving Brad Haddin a run for his money in the near future. Plus with powerful hitting like that, could they have found the next Adam Gilchrist, or perhaps, the first Luke Ronchi?!Johnson and Clarke seem ample replacement for Mcgrath, and Phil Jacques at the top of the order has stepped in where Justin Langer left off.

In other news, Mark Richardson appears to have upset the New Zealand cricket camp with his recent article criticising most of the team and the way they play. He waxed lyrical about their poor performances in Test matches and One Day games, and his comments have led to Scott Styris revealing that the New Zealand players “Hope he dies choking on his own **** that he speaks” Very very harsh in my opinion, so don't go upsetting Mr Styris in the near future would be my advice!

South Africa are continuing their tour of England this week, by playing Middlesex on a seemingly belter of a wicket where they racked up 359/5d, before Middlesex replied with 311/5 until rain halted play early on Sunday. Nice of the Uxbridge grounds man to prepare a nice flat wicket to give the South African boys a chance to chalk up some juicy scores and build up their confidence. South Africa now head to Lords for the first test which begins on Thursday. More about that test match in my preview in the middle of the week.

South Africa do seem to be in decent form though, with Amla, Prince and Kallis all racking up centuries so far.

Dale Steyn had a run out against Middlesex and returned figures of 0-51 off seventeen overs, and so Far Morne Morkel is the teams leading wicket taker out of the two tour matches vs. Somerset and Middlesex.

England v South Africa should be a good test series, one I have been looking forward to for a long time, and it will be a good indication of how well England are progressing in the test match arena after a tough tour of Sri Lanka preceded two easier series against New Zealand home and away, which to be fair England were expected to win.

Andrew Flintoff has been ruled out of the first test at least with Geoff Miller indicating he'd like Freddie to have “more miles in his legs” before submitting for a test match. Personally speaking I think this is an excellent
decision by the head selector. Flintoff has hardly been in any sort of form with the bat, and England can ill afford to risk their talisman so soon with a hectic schedule of five tests in five weeks, plus five One Day games and a Mickey Mou…..sorry a 20/20 game as well, before they fly out to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. They know what he can do with the ball, and a few more games for Lancashire in the County Championship won't do him any harm at all.

So, England have selected an unchanged twelve from the squad against New Zealand to face South Africa.

Other news regarding England is the return to full fitness is Simon Jones. We all remember how Jones' reverse swing at 90mph severely troubled Australia during the Ashes 05. He has signed for Worcestershire this season and is bowling well, taking wickets and getting his speed up. Well he is finally on the way to making his first international appearance for three years after England named him in their provisional thirty man squad for the Champions Trophy. This is excellent news for all concerned, and don't be too surprised if he makes a guest appearance later in the summer against South Africa. Geoff Miller has indicated this could be a possibility, stating that “He's not made himself unavailable for Test cricket, so if he keeps performing consistently, of course he's got a chance. There's the pace angle, and what he could do with the reverse swing. If he can perform like he did in the Ashes, then we've got something special there. It would be absolutely fantastic if he's knocking on the door. It would be a problem we look forward to." Exciting news then…..

On the English domestic front, Essex and Kent will contest the Friends Provident Trophy Final at Lords in August. Kent overcame the challenge of Durham at the Riverside on Friday before Essex saw off Yorkshire to set up the clash. Joe Denly scored a magnificent century along with Dutch international Martin Van Jarsveld to help Kent through, while tight bowling for Ryan Ten Doschate and Pakistan international Danish Kaneria ensured that Essex's target of285 was more than enough.

So sadly there will be no Lords final send off for Darren Gough who sadly announced his retirement from all forms of the game this week. The thirty seven year old played 58 tests for England, taking 229 wickets at an average of under twenty nine. A whole hearted competitor, Dazzla captured the hearts and imaginations of cricket fans around the round before he was omitted from the World cup squad in 1997. He announced this week that his second year at Yorkshire will be his last. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of him on our TV screens or in the media, but I for one am certainly sad to see him go. He signed off with a typical Goughie comment, when asked how he thought cricket fans would remember him, he simply said “As a goodun” Top man.

On that note I'll leave you for another week. And what a week it is going to be. England v South Africa. second v third in the world, be sure to catch all the previews and pre-match betting advice right here on www.priceform.com

Stay well all, enjoy the cricket and I'll see you back here soon.