It was a disappointing end to the first half of the summer of cricket for England, with the Kiwi’s really gaining momentum and winning three ODI’s on the bounce. And now comes the real test for the team, as the South African’s are in town.

I’m really looking forward to this series, its going to be a hard one but an interesting one which will really give us a good test before the Aussies arrive next summer. Yes, there is the KP and Graeme Smith rivalry (well, KP and the whole SA team really) but there is more to it than that. Not long ago this was the battle to call yourself the best Test side (behind the Aussies), but although it isn’t quite so clear cut now it still gives good bragging rights.

The Proteas bowling attack is going to be a real test for the England batsmen who are going to have a battle on their hands. KP has been ‘found out’ a little in recent times against quick, short bowling and the likes of Steyn, Ntini and Nel will give him plenty that’s for sure. Steyn is one of the best bowlers in the world right now, add in the aggression from the other two and backup such as Kallis and, like I said its going to be a battle for the batsmen!

Their batting isn’t quite so aggressive and intimidating, but that is taking nothing away from their top order. Gibbs isn’t around any more, but the line up is still headed by Smith, along with Kallis and De Villiers. Amla, McKenzie and Duminy aren’t quite as established in the test arena in my eyes, but with Boucher coming in after them you see how strong they are.

Having read all that you’re probably not surprised that I’m tipping SA to win the series. We weren’t that outstanding against NZ and the step up to this series is too large in my mind to see us win it. We’ll probably win a test when everything comes together once, but our batsman just don’t have the confidence right now to hit match winning scores. It’ll be really good to watch how KP attacks the series and how the sledging he’ll get will affect him. We know from previous occasions that he thrives on it so the Proteas will do well to greet him with silence on his walk out to the crease on the first test. One thing is for sure though….. I can’t wait!!

We’re lucky in the cricket world that it is still a gentleman’s game. And that was kind of shown yesterday when I personally don’t think that much wrong at all was done in a competitive game of cricket, yet Collingwood has said that he maybe did the wrong thing. If you don’t know what I’m on about, go and read the report quickly at the BBC website.

As I was watching it on Sky and the Kiwi commentator was going completely over the top about the incident, Nasser Hussain’s comments that “something didn’t feel right” were my feelings also, but it was the sort of feeling that you couldn’t pin down.

Looking at the replays it is obvious that Sidebottom is going for the ball, Mills is running like a madman when there wasn’t really a run there and Elliot choose the wrong side of the wicket to run. Collision occurs, two players are down but Elliot gets up and continues running without hobbling or holding his leg. It is only after he is run out that he starts hobbling and suggesting he is injured – but seriously, look at the incident again and he gets straight up at the time of collision.

They were attempting a run, a collision occured but it is part of the game and there are situations it has happened before (KP being run out in SA a few years ago for one) – it wasn’t willful obstruction and I don’t see why Collingwood should have called him back. The fact he apologised for maybe being wrong in upholding the appeal does put quite a quick end to any ill feeling but I don’t feel he should have to.

Maybe I’m not being a “gentleman” about it all, but the situation does make us feel lucky being cricket fans when you compare it to a football game where any advantage people can get they will take. Maybe cricket is headed that way, with the money involved currently a big talking point and we could see more contentious situations in the future, but at least it makes life interesting!

Well I did see some cricket at Edgbaston in the end after endless rain delays, and as you will all probably know by now there wasn’t a result. If I’m honest I went out of the ground thinking there had been a New Zealand win, and that kind of just summed up the poor communication that was received throughout the day. We weren’t informed enough of inspections, match rules (overs per bowler etc), and then we had the delay between innings but we still had a laugh (even though we paid full price for a match which turned out to see less than half of the overs paid for).

But we were entertained by Luke Wright, Dimi and Colly with the bat and NZ came to the party both then and in the game at Bristol on Saturday which at least means we can’t rest on our laurels for the rest of the series. The series against SA doesn’t seem that far away now and we’ll have to up our game to win those series.

Otherwise there has been plenty of Twenty20 action on Sky Sports which has been good viewing, although right now i couldn’t pick a winner as many sides seem to be able to raise their game on the odd occasion, but who will be able to carry it forward to the semi’s and final? We’ve had more ludicrous cricket politics coming out of India saying who will and won’t be able to play in the ‘Champions League’ – saying players which have played in the rebel IPL won’t be able to take part. I don’t care for cricket politics right now – it bores me and I have no interest in talking about who can and cannot play – just show me some cricket.

I often hit a point in the season where I get bored of playing and talking about cricket and I think that has come about now, hence why I havn’t updated the site for a week – anyone want to lighten the mood and write about something fun and related to cricket please drop me a line and I’ll publish the best!

Over the weekend we were entertained by KP, and you will have no doubt heard about his cross hand shot which he hit maximum’s with twice, but there are mumblings that the MCC will be looking at the shot, and commentators such as Michael Holding saying it isn’t a fair shot.

I understand the need for debate, but the main thing I can’t get over is the people who want to stop this type of innovation. Why call it unfair just because the batsman has the skill to hit a great shot with his wrong hands – it is entertaining and makes for a more intriguing game. Yes, we need to clarify the rules of lbw etc for everyone’s benefit, but don’t stop players trying new things or the game won’t move forward which it obviously is at the moment. Bowlers don’t have to tell the batsman when they are about to bowl a slower ball, bouncer, yorker etc, so why shouldn’t the batsman be able to change his approach at the same time?

I’m off to Edgbaston tomorrow and (weather permitting), I hope the shot makes an appearance – with KP currently in good form there is every chance!

I was kindly sent a copy of “The Annual” last week – the launch copy of a magazine written on behalf of MCC and Lords, and as it isn’t the sort of thing you might not know about I thought it would be of interest to give it a bit of publicity.

Available from Lords itself or their shop at www.lords.org, it is an interesting publication which reads a bit like an in depth program you might buy at an international game – and it is the same sort of size which is pretty handy – means it doesn’t take up much room in my cricket bag! It is entirely based (unsurprisingly) around Lords, and through things like interviews with players and ground workers it helps give a real insight as to how the “home of cricket” is felt by players (Sidebottom, Broad, Dimi etc), and how it all functions on the big days.

One part I really liked was “How to play Lords” which gave tips on how to react to the slope etc. Now, given that I’m never likely to play at Lords I don’t know why I found this interesting but I think as it has such a mystique about it, it is nice to know how sportsmen and women approach it!

There are good previews of the England, Kiwi and South African squads for the summer’s cricket – which if you pick it up later in the summer will be a bit out of date, but it gives enough info without boring you if this was the case. It is difficult to try and put up to date info in annual publications like this, but they seem to do it quite well and you don’t get the feeling that its particularly lacking in this area.

Along with some commentary on England’s preparation towards next year’s Ashes and a review and preview of the games at Lords for this year and last, and a couple of other stories there is also a promotional bit for their shop and conference facilities, which is fair enough – it might make me visit their shop over a lunch break in the cricket if I was there watching a game!

I think overall this is a decent publication, well written and with a ‘quality’ feel, it is something I could definitely see myself buying if I was at Lords on a match day for something to pass the quieter periods of a game. I don’t know if it holds as much appeal for someone who isn’t there – it isn’t quite “deep” enough to keep you busy for hours, but as something to drift in and out of it was perfect. In fact I read some of it whilst i was waiting to bat at the weekend, it is perfect for that situation. At 5 quid it might seem expensive compared to a magazine such as All Out Cricket, but compared to match programmes I think it’s acceptable and well worth a shout if you find yourself at Lords this year, or if reading about the greatest cricket ground in England is up your street! Buy from the Lords online shop here.

I’ve a feeling this might be quite a busy week, what with England doing quite well, the Twenty20 starting and all this talk of a cricket “Champions League”. Where to start?!

A quick review of the test is probably a good starting point, which we won convincingly thanks to a number of good performances from the team. When “good” Jimmy A turns up I think we can see what he can do, and for that reason he can be a match winner against the South Africans later this summer. But is he a luxury in a four man seam attack? Something from the Kiwi’s stirred up Sideshow Ryan in the second innings which made his follow throughs and signs to the batsmen he got out quite aggressive which was fun to see, we’ll see plenty of that from Andre Nel and co later in the summer so hopefully he’ll keep it up! Broad showed his talent and potential on a number of occasions and he could turn into a properly good number 8 in the future.

Strauss was named man of the series which is a stunning comeback having been dropped last winter. My hope is that this is a start of a fantastic run of form which will continue through to next summer’s Ashes series, and him and Cook seems a decent opening partnership. Bell and Colly have been a concern, Bell less so in my eyes, but the signs are they are going to be given the time to get it right. I think the one day games have come at the right time for them, more chance to get out there and hit themselves into form hopefully! And Ambrose seems to have done a decent job behind the stumps and has had some good performances with the bat as well, here’s hoping we’ve got a settled player here for a while!

Onto the “Champions League” idea.. I won’t repeat what has been said about the idea, you can read it better on the BBC Sport site. It sounds like a decent idea in principle, and it adds a lot of extra spice to the domestic Twenty20 competition starting this Wednesday, but I’m just worried that it seems to have come in a bit quickly and I’m worried the idea has been a bit rushed. If we had a year to think about it, questions such as who will play in the teams, who should get the money and how the prize money is distributed could be thought about properly rather than what will probably be a rushed decision that no doubt some won’t be happy with. However, it is a good idea and will create International interest, so lets give it a chance and refine it over the next few years.

Twenty20 can wait until another day, it starts on Wednesday – and with good weather expected this week it should be better than last year’s washout! And come Friday we have England and the Kiwi’s battling in Twenty20 of their own, which should be good viewing with a couple of beers and a pizza!