Well it's nice to see the England selectors following my advice (I still haven't quite fathomed how to write ironically without reading it back and thinking it may be mistaken for arrogance - hence this clumsy parenthesis) having picked Matt Prior as wicketkeeper for England. It is unfortunate that he has yet to score a run in two innings with England losing both games to go 3-0 down in the series. I would still maintain that he should not be opening and bat in his normal position: if we are really struggling to find an opening partner for Strauss after the numerous partners he has been paired with it may be worth letting Alistair Cook maintain his test place given the run of form he is currently in and that he has improved as a one day player since he last represented England in that format. Since Strauss came back into the team after succeeding Pietersen to the one day captaincy in the 2008/09 series against India he has been partnered by Prior, Davies, Kieswetter, Trott, Wright, Denly and Bopara and upto his return the openers consisted of a combination of Bell, Bopara, Cook and Mustard for the previous 18 months.
   Such inconsistency has not helped England's cause although there is an "after the Lord Mayor's Show" feel about this series with the impression that England have relaxed somewhat after winning the Ashes. This is dangerous with the World Cup approaching if a little understandable. I wonder if tours would be better served if they had the one day series as the starter to whet the appetite of the main course that is the test series. If the public are not too full after that a couple of 20/20 games for dessert should provide a fun end to long tours.