Root's sweep, Woakes' drive

Award of the day

Kevin Pietersen was awarded a silver bat by Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, on the out-field during the lunch interview to recognise his achievement of becoming England's leading run-scorer in the history of international cricket. It was another reminder of Pietersen's immense contribution to England's success over recent years and how far the team have come over the last 12 months: this time last year Pietersen was out of the side due for disciplinary reasons.

Review of the day

At Old Trafford, the Australians missed an opportunity to dismiss Pietersen when he walked down the pitch at Shane Watson and missed his attempted flick to leg. The appeal was turned down on field and Pietersen was so far out of his ground that the Australians declined to ask for a review. However, a minute later, a signal from the dressing room told Michael Clarke the decision would have been overturned on Hawk Eye's projection. So when at The Oval a similar appeal was turned down - Peter Siddle to Pietersen walking down the pitch - Clarke thought he would try his luck. Alas, on this occasion, Hawk Eye showed Pietersen had been hit outside the line of off stump and Kumar Dharmasena's decision stood.

Sweep of the day

There are English fans who wake up in the middle of the night sweating in a panic because they've just dreamt that England have decided to bring the sweep back. Over the last few years it is a shot that made even the most accomplished English batsmen look like a bloke they'd selected from the pub. Joe Root missed out on those times, he clearly doesn't know what sort of psychological torture a sweep shot can do to his nation. With England coasting on a dull pitch, Root played the sweep to Nathan Lyon, took the edge and ensured that the conventional sweep-shot dismissal is not dead in English cricket.

Start of the day

This has been a tough match for debutants. Quite apart from Simon Kerrigan's stage-fright, the new seamers on each side - Chris Woakes and James Faulkner - found little to encourage them in this desperately slow pitch. But, facing his first ball in Test cricket, Woakes drove Mitchell Starc beautifully for four through extra-cover - left knee on the floor, confident follow-through and the sweetest of timing - to underline the impression that he is a highly talented batsman who just might be able to forge a career at this level irrespective of his success as a bowler. He was the first England player to start his Test career with a boundary since Richard Johnson, the Somerset and Middlesex seamer, did so against Zimbabwe in Durham in 2003.

Gesture of the day

For the first time in a Test, the England team wore a charity logo on the collar of their shirts to raise awareness for Cricket United Day. The day saw the three biggest cricket charities in the UK - The Lord's Taverners, Chance to Shine and the PCA Benevolent Fund - join forces to help raise awareness and create a lasting legacy from the Ashes. Many spectators also wore blue to show their support and the charities soon ran out of the t-shirts they were selling to raise funds. The England players have signed their shirts and they will now be auctioned off for Cricket United.

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Ganguly to head Bengal's coaching committee

Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, has been named chairman of Bengal's cricket coaching committee. The committee's primary job will be to organise coaching camps in Bengal to develop the cricketers in the state.

Ganguly was previously head of Bengal's cricket development committee, which included former cricketers Ashok Malhotra and Arun Lal.

According to PTI, Cricket Association of Bengal president Jagmohan Dalmiya said that that particular committee was unnecessary at the moment. "As of now there's no need of cricket development committee," Dalmiya said. "If need be, we will once again call the committee."

Malhotra will take over as coach of the Bengal senior team for the 2013-14 season, replacing former India batsman WV Raman, who had cut his term short last month citing family reasons.

Malhotra, a middle-order batsman, had played seven Tests and 20 ODIs between 1982 and 1986. He was prolific on the domestic scene for Bengal though, at one time the record holder for the most runs in the Ranji Trophy: 7274 at 52.49 with 18 hundreds. After retiring, Malhotra had a run as a Test selector.

Bengal had a poor last season in the Ranji Trophy, winning only one game in eight and losing four to finish seventh out of nine teams in Group A.

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Count the drinks, not the runs

It was a day where patience was tested all round; the batsmen showed, the bowlers used and the crowd had to find it

"Smaaaassshh itttttt!" came the cry from the behind the long-off fence. The man's voice was breaking almost into a falsetto, the kind of panicked, manic noise you'd expect to hear from a prisoner on the rack over the river at the Tower of London. Chris Woakes didn't oblige. He tapped the next ball away defensively off the gentle legspin of Steven Smith. And the next. And the next. And the next.

The spectator by now had turned his attention to more important matters: calculating the contents of his plastic cup of beer, and presumably how many more he could consume in the final few overs of the day. This was a day of beer snakes, of the crowds entertaining themselves. A day of Bronx cheers for each scoring shot; there were only four of them in the last 10 overs before stumps.

It was a day on which patience was required, from the batsmen, and therefore from the bowlers, and therefore from the viewers. Not so much patience as was needed at the Gabba in 1958, when Trevor Bailey lived up to his 'barnacle' tag in an England innings that brought 1.24 runs per six balls; here England comparatively raced along at 2.12 an over the course of their innings so far.

Australia's bowlers tried to build pressure. Maidens accumulated, the fieldsmen kept things tight, but there was little in the pitch and chances were rare. That they winkled out four wickets was not a terrible result - except that the fourth day is expected to be largely washed out. It was not an unfamiliar situation for the Australian attack.

In Adelaide last November, South Africa scored at a rate that made Kevin Pietersen look like he was playing Twenty20 cricket by comparison. Chasing an unrealistic 430 for victory, the South Africans hunkered down like professionals, trickling along at 1.67 an over to salvage a draw. But there, the Australians were down a bowler, after James Pattinson broke down in the first innings.

Here, they not only had a full attack, they had one extra option due to the inclusion of James Faulkner, although as it turned out he bowled instead of Shane Watson, not as well as. But on a pitch as dead as the series, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Starc, Faulkner, Nathan Lyon and Smith could do only so much against an England batting order unwilling to play shots.

Of course it can be argued that England should have been more proactive, tried harder to force a 4-0 outcome. But they were playing the long game - in every sense. Their objective was clear: stop Australia gaining any sort of confidence from winning a dead rubber. Stop them from remembering how to win ahead of the return series.

In doing so, they have all but ensured a 3-0 series result, which would push England to second on the ICC Test rankings and drop Australia to fifth. That South Africa and England, the best two sides in the world, are prepared to grind like this is a lesson to Australia. Besides Chris Rogers, it is difficult to imagine anyone in Australia's batting line-up having the patience to bat a day out like this.

"We did bowl well, we did build a lot of pressure and we were consistent in our areas and I guess we made them play that way," Siddle said. "It's one of the better innings that we've bowled in this series. We knew we had to try and get the breakthroughs, push the game forward. It's been hard work out there. The pitch has been hard work and they have been very patient.

"We're the ones who have put ourselves in this position [at 3-0 down] in the first place so it is disappointing. We did start this game off well and put the pressure right on them. If they want to play that way they do. We've put ourselves in that position so we can't control it."

Nor can they control the weather. All the bowlers and fieldsmen can do on a day like this is be patient, build the pressure and grab whatever chances England deign to provide. All the spectators can do is entertain themselves and line up for their next drink. And the next. And the next…

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Lehmann's comments 'incitement' - ECB

The ECB has stepped up the pressure on Australia's coach, Darren Lehmann, for his attack on Stuart Broad by accusing Lehmann of "incitement" and warning that they will take "all necessary steps" to ensure Broad's safety in the return Ashes series in Australia this winter.

England's unforgiving response looks bound to lead to the safeguard of additional security for Broad throughout the Australia tour in case Lehmann's comments on a Melbourne radio station lead to threats of aggression against him.

It is not clear whether the player has expressed concerns about his safety. Neither has there been any indication from Cricket Australia about whether they regard any such fears as remotely justified.

Lehmann, the first coach to be fined by the ICC for making comments about an opposition player, pleaded guilty to a charge of "publicly criticising and making inappropriate comments" about Broad during an intemperate interview, characterised by laddish banter, on the Melbourne radio station Triple M on the eve of the Oval Test.

He had invited the Australian public to target Broad and accused him of cheating for not walking during the first Test at Trent Bridge when he clearly edged a catch which rebounded to first slip off the wicketkeeper's gloves.

"I hope the Australian public give it to him right from the word go for the whole summer," Lehmann said. "And I hope he cries and goes home… Certainly our players haven't forgotten; they're calling him everything under the sun as they go past. I hope the Australian public are the same because that was just blatant cheating. I don't advocate walking but, when you hit it to first slip, it's pretty hard."

Lehmann has been widely condemned in the media and by former players including the ex-Australian captain Ian Chappell for double standards and unprofessional behaviour.

He was also fined 20% of his match fee by Roshan Mahanama, the ICC match referee after an intervention by the ICC's chief executive Dave Richardson.

Richardson said: "Whilst noting the context and nature of the comments made, showing mutual respect for one's fellow professionals - including for coaches, players and match officials - is a cornerstone of how we play the game."

The ECB has decided, however, that the matter should not end there, issuing a statement on Friday evening which read: "England and Wales Cricket Board, having reviewed the disciplinary process undertaken by the International Cricket Council overnight, have welcomed the swift action taken and also noted Cricket Australia's acceptance of the sanctions handed down to their team coach Darren Lehmann.

"The ECB, in supporting its players, management support staff and their families, believe no one in the game condones incitement of any kind and we will take all necessary steps to ensure safety on tour. The ECB now wishes to bring this disappointing incident to a close and will make no further comment."

Lehmann, it seems, has yet to adjust to an increasingly globalised world where somebody in his influential position can no longer temper his message to a selective audience without it becoming more public knowledge.

It remains to be seen whether his relaxed, outspoken attitude can prove successful in the present-day environment where every comment is logged, analysed and held to account.

England's public statements, by contrast, are repeatedly criticised as anodyne, but they generally possess a measure of self control which ensures they are not left open to the same allegations.

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Borthwick keeps Tremlett at bay

Durham 309 for 5 (Borthwick 135, Tremlett 5-51) v Surrey
Scorecard

If anyone in the England camp takes a look at the scorecard from this game, it will be noted that Chris Tremlett, who missed out on selection for the fifth Test at The Oval, was the only name to feature in the Surrey wickets column. A five-for kept his team in touch against Durham and will provide further grist for those questioning England's decision-making.

That the home side were not too inconvenienced by Tremlett was largely down to the efforts of Scott Borthwick, a local lad who made his third first-class century of the season. England may well be interested in that, too.

Durham is a proudly local county cricket club. Every time an outsider visits Chester-le-Street the sense of community and the bond between supporters and players is tangible.

The man who leads them in their cricket, Geoff Cook, Durham's first captain in first-class cricket and now their coach, is a Middlesbrough native. Cook is recovering from a heart attack but the spirit he brought to the club after a career with Northamptonshire and England pervades the place. His captain, Paul Collingwood, born in Shotley Bridge, has been playing for them long enough now to be termed a stalwart, and nobody in Durham will hear a word said against him.

Borthwick and Will Smith, another who warrants acceptance as an adopted son, provided the runs that gave Durham cause for satisfaction at the end of a day which started with Surrey winning the toss and putting the opposition in. Whether Collingwood would have made the same decision as Gareth Batty had the coin landed the other way up is debatable, as his side entered the fixture with a depleted seam attack.

Borthwick, who has been capped three times in limited-overs cricket, is a Sunderland boy and Smith, while born in Bedfordshire, was educated at Durham University. Between them they contributed 222 runs to Durham's effort. Borthwick came to the wicket in the second over of the match after Tremlett had castled Mark Stoneman. Five hours later he had a hundred and until he was dismissed for 135 he never looked remotely vulnerable. He was tidy, compact, and seized on the loose ball to register 21 boundaries.

Smith joined Borthwick after a tumbling slip catch by Zander de Bruyn saw off a promising innings by Keaton Jennings, who added 69 with Borthwick. Then the pair dug in and built a partnership of 183 in a little over 50 overs. Smith fell 13 runs short of a century and Borthwick followed him just before the close of play.

Borthwick's innings leaps off the scorecard but look further down it and you find the other outstanding contribution. Tremlett might not have been expecting to play in this game, but he was released by England and made his way up the A1. His presence in the side might well have influenced Batty's decision to bowl first but, while the outcome at the end of the day might have disappointed, his faith in his bowler was justified.

Tremlett took all five wickets to fall, bowling off 17 precisely calibrated steps before leaping into a colossal delivery stride. His accuracy rarely wavered, as evidenced by an economy rate of 2.31 and the modes of dismissal: one bowled, two lbw, and two caught behind the wicket. It was a joy to watch and he will be a potent asset for England in Australia in the winter - though some will wonder if he could have been as effective in south London this week.

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Smith shows a ton of learning

Steven Smith has shown more development than any other young Australia batsmen this year and after missing out at Old Trafford now has a hundred to show for it

It was fitting that Steven Smith brought up his maiden Test century with cricket's equivalent of a home run, for at times he looks more a baseballer than a cricketer. He gets batters out with full tosses, takes one-handed catches and, when the bowler runs in, stands with his bat bobbing up and down ready for a big wind-up. When he clubbed Jonathan Trott over long-on to move from 94 to 100, he rode the shot and punched the air like he'd hit a World Series-winning grand slam.

There is much about Smith that seems made for the short formats. Like others of his age, he emerged in the Big Bash before first-class cricket. He has played nearly twice as many Twenty20 matches as four-day games. Smith is a more compulsive twitcher than Bill Oddie. Between deliveries he taps his helmet, left pad, box, right pad, thigh pad, helmet again, glove, right pad again. It is tempting to think he is a man with no attention span, a pyjama cricketer.

That would be unfair. Batsmen cannot stay alert non-stop for long periods, they must switch off between deliveries, reset their brains. Habits and rituals help maintain that focus; Trott walks halfway to square leg, Alastair Cook marks his guard and twirls his bat, Smith fidgets. More important is his stability and balance at the crease and apart from his nodding bat, he is much stiller than he once was.

It was notable that when Chris Rogers wrote last year of the flawed techniques of many of Australia's young batsmen, including Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh and Callum Ferguson, he singled out Smith as a man who seemed "to be sorting things out". Notably, his six over Trott's head to reach a hundred was not a slog, it was a through-the-line drive, smart and relatively safe against a part-timer.

It is no wonder Smith was pumped at achieving the milestone, for he might have felt his chance had slipped after a horrible cross-batted swipe ended his innings on 89 at Old Trafford. When the coach Darren Lehmann spoke of batsmen needing to play straight after the collapse at Chester-le-Street and of careers being on the line at The Oval, without naming names, it was clear that Smith was one of the men under pressure.

In many ways he was lucky to be here. In many ways he has had a lucky year full-stop. Smith was part of Australia's 17-man squad for the tour of India in February-March but seemed the least likely to play; instead, he got his chances after the homework suspensions and showed his class against spin with 92 in Mohali and 46 in Delhi. Still, it wasn't enough to earn him a Cricket Australia contract for the 2013-14 season, or a place in the original Ashes squad.

But Smith was added to the touring party ahead of the first Test, when the captain Michael Clarke was battling his ongoing back injury, and having scored 133 for Australia A against Ireland, he pressed his case further with runs in the tour match in Worcestershire. Suddenly, he had jumped from outside the squad in front of Khawaja and the banished David Warner and found himself in the side for the first Test.

Still, in the lead-up to this match he had shown glimpses without grabbing his chances, and was averaging 25 for the series. But the selectors gave him another opportunity - one that was not afforded Khawaja, Hughes or Ed Cowan - and he nearly threw it away first ball with an ill-considered slash outside off that was lucky not to have been edged behind. It was the shot of a man feeling the pressure, but gradually Smith calmed his nerves and found his rhythm, leaving and playing on merit.

He showed some fight, and that was what Lehmann wanted after the Durham debacle. Smith survived for 567 minutes - nearly enough time for three full Twenty20 matches - before Clarke declared with him on 138. At 24, he was Australia's youngest Ashes centurion since Ricky Ponting. He has also become Australia's second-highest Test run scorer this year, with 499 at 41.58. Only Clarke has made more, or faced more deliveries, or passed fifty more times.

In the latter part of his innings, as the declaration approached, he brought out a few baseball shots. There was even the occasional overhead smash - not surprisingly, Smith was a talented junior tennis player. But importantly, for most of Smith's innings he played not tennis nor baseball but cricket. Test cricket. The No.5 position is now his. He has earned it.

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Rayner's five keeps Middlesex clinging on

Middlesex 249 and 25 for 2 need 272 more runs to beat Derbyshire 385 and 160 (Johnson 59, Rayner 5-67)
Scorecard

After bloodying the noses of Sussex two weeks ago, Derbyshire have the chance to ruin the hopes of another Championship challenger as they enter the final day of their clash with Middlesex needing eight wickets with the visitors still 272 runs short of victory.

Derbyshire's cricket over the last three days against the second best team in the league has been exceptional and their comprehensive nine-wicket win over Sussex in their previous match has shown they have enough about them to compete successfully in this division. Now they just have to show that they have what it takes to stay in it.

Were it not for Ollie Rayner, who knows how worse off Middlesex would be in this match. Much of what you read about the tall offspinner can be filed under patronising, but he would be the first to admit that his season so far has given few reasons for anything more. He is a very self-aware cricketer.

But when his team needed something to keep their title hopes alive, he dug deep and found a superb all-round performance - registering his season's best with bat (52 not out) and ball (5 for 67). His runs ensured his side passed the follow on target - which probably would not have been enforced anyway - before taking the final five wickets to give his senior batsmen a tricky yet mathematically comfortable fourth innings target of 297 runs in 105 overs.

Derbyshire's bowlers were five overs away from the new ball this morning, but before it came they were handed a bonus thanks to some suicidal running from John Simpson, who foolishly chanced Shivnarine Chanderpaul's arm. When they did take it, Tim Groenewald and Mark Footitt used it well to keep Middlesex's scoring down to a minimum. After six overs, it claimed its first victim, as Toby Roland-Jones drove Groenewald wildly to Chesney Hughes at third slip.

Seven and a half overs later, and the Middlesex first innings was finished, with the wicket of Steven Finn, who officially became part of the match, replacing James Harris, when he came out to bat at No. 11.

The game was never going to hinge on what Finn did with the bat. But after the disappointment of another omission from England's Test XI, he would have hoped for more than a pair completed in just five hours and 38 minutes.

The first wrapped up the Middlesex first innings and gave Footitt his 100th first class wicket; the second ended his stint as nightwatchman, after Joe Denly was dismissed just 3.2 overs into the fourth.

Groenewald was the man to remove him second time around, before he had to leave the ground after tweaking his ankle in his run up. Strapping and icing should see him fit and firing for what is set to a big effort in the field tomorrow.

Finn performed well with the ball, beating the bat on countless occasions as he steamed in, initially, from the Racecourse End, before switching to the City End for the rest of his day's overs. He certainly deserved more than just the one wicket he had to his name - that of Chesney Hughes - and was desperately unlucky when he clipped Wayne Madsen's off stump yet, somehow, failed to dislodge the bails. The sound was such that Finn appealed fervently for a caught behind, before following through with the formality of removing the bail by hand.

Middlesex were at their liveliest in that period, buoyed by the dismissal of Ben Slater just two balls into the Derbyshire second innings. At lunch, they had the hosts at a precarious 20 for 3, including the key wicket of Madsen, at which point home fans would be forgiven for casting their minds back to the middle of April where they folded for just 60 at Lord's.

But this is a different Derbyshire, one that has rediscovered the pluck that contributed to last season's promotion year. Weathering a tough afternoon session that saw them add 66 runs for the loss of just Chanderpaul - who looked in good touch - they pushed the scoring along in the evening with the help of a half century from Richard Johnson.

The County Ground was certainly in boisterous mood, with Middlesex fielders greeted by ironic cheers and choice words as they fetched the ball from beyond the boundary after some trademark strikes from Groenewald.

Tonight, Derbyshire are off the bottom by virtue of bonus points in this match. They have played two more games than Surrey, the new bottom club, but it is a start, and one they will be desperate to build on during the final day.

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What's next for England?

The nucleus of this England side is not going to change overnight, but some key players are now the wrong side of 30 and will leave tough holes to fill when the time comes

Whatever else happens over the last three days of this match, England may reflect on the Oval Test of 2013 as having provided a disconcerting peek into their future.

It is not just that their two debutants in this match - Chris Woakes and Simon Kerrigan - have endured tough baptisms into Test cricket. It is that, over the last four years, England have now brought 12 new players into their Test side without any of them making an incontrovertible case for long-term inclusion.

You have to go back to 2009, when Jonathan Trott won his first Test cap, to find an England player who can be said to a have made an uncompromised success of his elevation.

Since then a dozen men have been tried - Michael Carberry, Steven Finn, James Tredwell, Eoin Morgan, Ajmal Shahzad, Samit Patel, Jonny Bairstow, James Taylor, Nick Compton, Joe Root, Kerrigan and Woakes - and, while four or five (Taylor, Finn, Bairstow and Root in particular) may yet prove themselves worthy Test players, none have yet progressed to become long-term, automatic selections.

As a result, England continue to rely on the same trusted characters. But the unsettling suspicion is that, scratch beneath the surface of this strong England side, and there are doubts about their bench strength.

While England look relatively well stocked with top-order batsmen - the likes of Varun Chopra, Luke Wells and Sam Robson - and tall, fast bowlers - the likes of Jamie Overton, Boyd Rankin, Finn and Tremlett, who responded to be overlooked for this match by claiming five wickets for Surrey on Thursday - they are no closer to finding a replacement for the swing of James Anderson or the spin of Graeme Swann.

Maybe that is not surprising. Anderson and Swann are two of the best bowlers England have possessed in decades. But they are both over 30, they are both required to shoulder heavy workloads and neither can be expected to do so indefinitely.

While it had been presumed that Monty Panesar would inherit Swann's role in this side - and there are whispers that this could, just could, be Swann's final Test in England - recent revelations about Panesar have thrown some doubt over his long-term involvement. Suffice it to say, it would be naive to conclude that his bizarre behaviour in Brighton recently was simply an aberration.

That would mean that Kerrigan could be England's first choice spinner much earlier than had been anticipated. Aged only 24 and with an impressive first-class record, Kerrigan no doubt has a bright future. But on the evidence of this game, he is some way from being a Test cricketer.

In some ways, the second day of this Test was even more depressing than the first for Kerrigan. There are caveats to the decision not to bowl him - it was a day truncated by poor weather and conditions favoured the seamers - but to see Trott called into the attack ahead of him hardly provided a ringing endorsement of his captain's faith in his abilities. Perhaps a more sympathetic captain might have found a way to involve Kerrigan a little more.

Any judgement on Woakes' debut depends on how you perceive his role. He bowled tidily enough on a flat wicket and will surely never let England down. Whether that is enough to justify a Test career as a third seamer is highly debatable, though. And, while he may yet score match-defining runs from No. 6, what has become clear is that he cannot be viewed as a viable alternative as the incisive swing bowling replacement of Anderson. England don't have one.

	In some ways, the second day of this Test was even more depressing than the first for Kerrigan. There are caveats to the decision not to bowl him - it was a day truncated by poor weather and conditions favoured the seamers - but to see Trott called into the attack ahead of him hardly provided a ringing endorsement of his captain's faith in his abilities

It may be too early to draw conclusions as to the reasons for the struggles of recent England debutants, but part of the problem may lie in the county game. Over the past few years, English county cricket has witnessed the removal of Kolpak registrations - a well-intentioned but not entirely positive move - an increasing difficulty in securing top-quality overseas players, an absence of the top England players on international or even Lions duty and the premature elevation of inexperienced cricketers due to young player incentives.

Every change was well intentioned, but the combination has weakened the breeding ground of England's Test team. There are too many weak young players who might never have made it into professional sport a decade ago competing against one another.

Compare it to the side that took England to No. 1 in the Test rankings. It contained four men in the top seven (Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Trott and Matt Prior) who had scored centuries on Test debut, two more (Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen) who had scored half-centuries and a bowler (Anderson) who claimed a five-wicket haul.

Every one of them had been developed in county cricket at a time when young players had to fight for inclusion among Kolpak registrations, experienced England players and some excellent overseas cricketers. County cricket prepared them much more thoroughly.

There is a strong suspicion that the next few months will witness a changing of the guard in the management of this England side, too. Andy Flower, arguably the most positive influence on England cricket in a generation, may well step down from his day-to-day coaching role with the side after the tour of Australia this winter.

While he is highly likely to remain involved in a role overseeing the England teams - a position similar to that undertaken by Hugh Morris at present - it is anticipated that Ashley Giles will assume day-to-day coaching responsibilities.

Sooner or later England must embrace change. The next test for them will be to see whether the improvements of recent years are the result of a once in a lifetime collection of players - the likes of Pietersen and Cook and Anderson and Swann - or whether, with all the money invested in age-group teams, talent identification and coaching, the national centre of excellence and a dozen other schemes, the entire system has been transformed to ensure continuity of excellence and a constant conveyor belt of quality players.

The evidence of this Test has not been especially encouraging.

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Misbah calls for Pakistan's T20 league

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has suggested the idea of having a franchise-based Twenty20 league in Pakistan to groom young talent in the absence of any international cricket.

On his return from West Indies after featuring in the Caribbean Premier League for St Lucia Zouks, Misbah stated that a T20 league would help youngsters as it would give them an opportunity to play with international cricketers. "Though PCB is doing its effort to bring international cricket back [to Pakistan], in my opinion, we also should have our own [T20] league," he told reporters in Lahore. "It is necessary to have it either in Pakistan or in Dubai as it will allow our youngsters to play with international stars.

"Our players are not properly groomed because of no international cricket, and other countries get their young players groomed by having leagues where they get a chance to play with international stars. India is the biggest example where they are holding the league and getting their players well groomed."

Pakistan have been deprived of international cricket since a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009. Since then, Pakistan have mostly been playing their home series in the UAE. Bilateral series for the youth teams, A team and academy level are on hold, which hinders the development of upcoming players.

During Zaka Ashraf's regime, the PCB was desperate to bring international cricket back to the country, but failed to convince any team to tour Pakistan. The board then launched a franchise-based Twenty20 tournament called Pakistan Super League, but it had to be postponed indefinitely due to logistical issues.

Before 2009, Pakistan used to organise reciprocal tours around the world at all levels, apart from national bilateral series, but the practice has been put on hold as junior teams are also reluctant to visit Pakistan due to security issues. Though the board has managed to host international teams outside Pakistan, it has failed to afford a similar series for junior teams due to the lack of sponsors.

Pakistani players featured in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League but have been ignored since relations between the two countries took a dive in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008. Pakistan's domestic T20 teams had also been ignored for the Champions League T20 until 2012.

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The New Zealand great recalls his tours to India, his battle with depression, and speaks of the challenges facing modern-day allrounders

India A look to make recce lessons count for bigger test (40)

While the A tour has helped India's young cricketers, it's unlikely it will give the senior side any advantage when they tour South Africa later in the year

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