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."

---

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.

---

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).

---

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.

Zimbabwe debate dominates Lord's

St John’s Wood - Even in the middle of a tense opening Test between England and New Zealand, the talk is on Zimbabwe.

Preparing for a Test series against the other side from southern Africa has always been an exercise in deception. Take last summer’s visit to the UK as an example.

An under-strength squad prepare to take on a leading Test nation and everyone goes through the motions of talking them up, pretending it could be a good contest, looking at the strong points. The phoney war goes on for the week preceding the opening salvoes. Everybody knows what is going to happen but gives the underdogs the benefit of the doubt.

Then reality soon sets in as inexperienced batsmen are unable to deal with quality bowling, and a green attack is exposed as it fails to adapt to the conditions. Resounding Test defeats have been the norm with or without the 15 players now refusing to play for their country.

In a wider sense the same thing has been going on among those outside Zimbabwe and its cricket community for the last four years. On their first full Test tour to England in 2000, Andy Flower’s men were more than distracted by the reports of President Robert Mugabe’s new land policy at home and the effects it might have on their families.

The realities of the Mugabe regime have become increasingly apparent, the side has been slowly denuded of talent as leading players realise they are better off playing domestic cricket elsewhere and the whispered complaints of race-based team selection have grown increasingly audible.

But the phoney war has been a long one. The time for the meeting of shit and fan has been regularly postponed. Even when England pulled out of the World Cup match in Harare last year – a final decision put off until they should have been putting on their pads – the long-term significance was barely noted.

The future of cricket in the country is probably the least of its worries but it looks pretty bleak, at the top level at least.

Australia have already cancelled their Test series, and freely admit they won’t be rescheduling any time soon and others, like South Africa, who have ignored England’s plaintiff cries until now, have come out of the woodwork to say they will not play the current side in what should be five-day matches.

Zimbabwe’s captain, Tatenda Taibu, is a good example of a batsman forged in the adversity of being thrown in at the deep end, called up while still at school. But he at least had senior team-mates to help him along the way. Taibu, and a handful of others, are now the only experienced players the new crop have to look to.

The ICC appears to believe Zimbabwe can gain the requisite experience playing one-day internationals, but without the ICC tours programme – which demands teams play Tests against each other regularly – they are unlikely to get charitable visits from the big boys, and that is what brings in the revenue.

The sad thing is that the signs have been there for so long, a powder keg waiting to blow, but no one had the foresight to prepare for the final explosion.

---

Spotted

BBC Sport head Peter Salmon enjoying the hospitality of ECB chairman Tim Lamb, on the day before Mark Thompson – the man responsible for Channel Four snatching TV rights to England Tests from the Beeb in 1999 – returned to the corporation as the new director general.

---

Quote of the Week

“Belting a six to win the World Cup at the MCG would be pretty good but I’ll take this as the runner-up.”
- New Zealand opener Mark Richardson after grinding out a seven-hour century at Lord’s.

---

Six sense

1.Andrew Strauss has put massive pressure on the England selectors after his debut ton. Nasser Hussain was under fire already and a choice between the former captain and the young opener could already have been decided. But spare a thought for Paul Collingwood. Had Nasser been axed for the first Test, the Durham all-rounder would have been next in line, but instead the selectors made a like-for-like replacement when opener Michael Vaughan was injured. That policy of like-for-like would not apply if number four Hussain is swapped with opener Strauss, although Vaughan’s form cries out for him to be moved down the order.

2.Test cricket needs more men like Mark Richardson. The five-day game has followed the high octane example of its limited-overs progeny, with mixed results and it takes a throw-back like Richardson to make sloggers see the error of their ways. And he’s a nice guy, refreshingly honest about himself and his team and with a nice line in quotable quotes (see above). Lord’s stood to acclaim his century, and it wasn’t because of the silkiness of his strokeplay.

3.I’m really enjoying the new pairing in the Channel Four commentary box of Dermot Reeve (three Test caps and a nice line in after-dinner speaking) with Geoffrey Boycott (could have had more than his 108 caps if he hadn’t been so bloody-minded and a nice line in telling it like he sees it). Dermot’s teasing has brought the best out in Geoffrey but he should beware stepping over the line – the Greatest Living Yorkshireman could snap him in two.

4.Expect Alex Gidman to be in England’s one-day squad for the one-day NatWest Series when it is named next month. The Gloucestershire all-rounder is a favourite of Rod Marsh’s, bowls decent medium pace, can build an innings well but is unafraid to hoick when necessary and intellectually is old beyond his 22 years.

5.Memo to self : Need Six thoughts for the next column.

6.See above.