The Day's News

In New Zealand England are stuttering through their one and only proper warm-up match for the Test series, and, in Bangladesh, Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie are really putting Bangladesh to the sword. In all probability Roy and Mankad's age-old record will fall early tomorrow.

There's every chance that England will, in what is now the traditional manner, enter the Test series under-cooked, with a keeper making his Test debut. However, it's encouraging that Steve Harmison is finding the cut strip with regularity and it was good to hear Kevin Pietersen declare this morning that he was only interested in playing for England and all the money in the world wouldn't tempt him away to the IPL.

I believe him. For the time being.