Nous

So, Smith and McKenzie (both sometime Somerset players, as various people with Taunton connections have enjoyed pointing out) broke the world record, and South Africa beat Bangladesh. It didn't make very much impression on me, though. Although some highlights were shown in the UK I didn't manage to see them, and, for all the intermittent signs that Bangladesh are improving, they remain Test cricket's biggest whipping boys.

However, it's good news for South Africa ahead of their trip to England this summer, and a feather in the cap of a player (McKenzie) who, until fairly recently, had joined my mental 'what happened to him' file. Not bad for Smith either, but then he's a bit more used than most to scoring Test double centuries.

No, for me the most enjoyable and resonant cricket of the weekend encompassed Tendulkar's match-winning ODI ton at the SCG. As the commentators never stopped telling us, he hadn't previously made a one-day century in Australia, and it was clear from very early on that he really wanted this one. Personally I think the small signs of age-related decline have been observable in him for some time now, but only in so far as he bats like a player who is merely outstandingly good rather than apparently immortal. Innings such as yesterday, all command and nous (apart from some of his running), serve to remind you what a great batsman looks like, even if it's one who won't see his 34th birthday again.

This is not something which can be said about Rohit Sharma, who gives off unmistakeable signs of class and temperamental solidity.

I suspect that he'll be around long after Tendulkar has left the stage, but, for now, all that matters is what happens in Brisbane tomorrow.