Key's England path

Kennington - What exactly does Robert Key have to do to regain his England Test place? The Kent opener is the hottest batsman in the country at the moment with five first-class centuries to his name, including two in a match against the New Zealand tourists, and on Friday he was a run short of a maiden double ton in a defeat to Surrey. Still, though, there is a queue of batsmen ahead of him, although Nasser Hussain's retirement at least shortens it by one.

With Nasser out of the picture, the England middle order looks pretty settled. Andrew Strauss inked his name on the team sheet for a while after just missing out on his own second hundred in a match against the Kiwis, Paul Collingwood is the heir apparent in the middle-order, and Kevin Pietersen's international debut is the most eagerly awaited for a batsman since, erm, Graeme Hick.

Key himself says he just needs to keep scoring runs for the selectors to take notice – stop me if you've heard this one before. His approach to fitness, he says, was revolutionised a couple of winters ago with a trip to Perth, and Rod Marsh can hardly have failed to sharpen him up at the England Academy, although his physique suggests he could go further.

The 28-year-old's best chance of squeezing back in to gain his ninth cap may come in South Africa this winter. Assuming Zimbabwe are still not judged to be Test standard by November, Pietersen – who is not eligible to appear for England until September – may not be deemed ready for a tough Test series in the country of his birth. With five Tests squeezed into 40 days in the Republic, England need all the experienced back-up they can get, and Key is at his best against pace, of which there will be plenty.

Key pulled Surrey seamer Martin Bicknell brilliantly between fielders set out at fine leg and deep backward square to bring up his 150, and his driving on the off-side was a strong as ever but perhaps most impressive was his ability to leave balls fizzing within a hair's breadth of his off-stump. Bicknell was celebrating later as the stocky right-hander pushed tiredly for a catch behind, understandably as he had spent over 12 hours of the match at the crease.

"He looked a phenomenal player," said Bicknell afterwards. "That's the best innings we've played against for a very long time."

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Spotted

Like the Mexican Wave – which, despite its name, originated at the University of Washington – the huddle is a trait from American sports making its presence felt increasingly in cricket. Quite why players who have been sharing a dressing-room for four days need to get together again on the field leaves many county die-hards scratching their heads.

A big fan of sports psychology, new captain Jon Batty utilises the huddle before every session, but some may not buy into his sombre message of team unity as much as others. Rikki Clarke and Nadeem Shahid, for instance, who were busy pinching each other like naughty schoolboys while the team's arms were all interlocked in fraternal unity.

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Stat of the Week

Of Martin Bicknell's first 1000 first-class wickets, 640 were caught, 213 lbw and 147 bowled. Of those victims, 487 had yet to reach double figures when they perished. Grateful recipients in the field include Alec Stewart (87), Jon Batty (53) and regular slip Ali Brown (36).

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Six sense

1. Yes, it was an odd time for Nasser Hussain to retire, but it was the perfect time. After the criticism he took prior to the first Test against New Zealand, bookies should have refused to offer odds on whether he was going to hit a century. Steve Waugh would have eyed the record books and aimed for the milestone – in this case four more Tests to reach 100 – but Nasser is far more of a boundary, adulation, sunset type of character.

2.It has always been a paradox that the more fast bowlers a team has, the slower they will bowl. Slow over-rates are a regular bugbear for administrators but the County Championship appears to have gone too far in trying to combat it this season. A point is deducted for every two overs a team is above the allowed quota – twice as harsh a penalty as last season. The result is a strange one – often at crucial times in a match part-time bowlers are introduced to get through the over-rate more quickly. The maths justify the tactics, but the game does not.

3. Apologies. More sense next time.