on and on and on...

The below from Brian Viner in The Independent. The frustrations are summed up perfectly. I have got over Graeme Hick's continual domination in county cricket, but they still remain with the ever-bludgeoning Mark Ramprakash: he is indeed a batting genius. With my sponsorship post below, would Duracell not be doing a wise thing to sign these two fellows up?

...Mark Ramprakash and Graeme Hick, who made their Test debuts in the same match against the West Indies in 1991, and who this week frustrated England fans with further reminders of the batting prowess they never consistently demonstrated at international level. At Old Trafford, Hick scored his 133rd first-class century; at Hove, Ramprakash hit his 13th first-class double-century, putting him in the august company of W G Grace, Graham Gooch and Brian Lara. The man's a batting genius, damn him, and I would applaud an England recall, though there's more chance of Jose Mourinho's pooch scoring the winner for Chelsea this afternoon.

Old VHS still stands the test

Surrey's announcement on Friday that Australian Matthew Nicholson would be one of the club's overseas players next year left me wondering where I had heard the name before. Okay, he played for Northants last season but it was something more long-term than that.

It's frantic times in the Nutley household at the moment. Moving house just before an Ashes trip has meant boxes everywhere, keeping tabs on the passport and... and then it hit me. Just as a bunch of old VHS tapes were about to get the chop, I saw one marked 'Eng/Aus '98 Melbourne, 3 Musketeers, You Only Live Twice'. It had to be Christmas.

That 4th Test is one of the great Ashes games. With Channel 9's "Got 'im, amaaazing" commentary it had everything: tons from Stewie and Steve Waugh; a blinding Mark Ramprakash catch with warpath celebration to match; Alan Mullaly hitting Glenn McGrath for consecutive boundaries; an inspired Darren Gough and Dean Headley's finest moment in an England shirt (6 for 60).

It boiled down to Australia needing just 175 to win and the now-fading VHS quality still shows the tension of that last session. Steve Waugh kept running out of partners but you knew, even with a raucous Barmy Army, the home side could still creep home. That is until until Deadly Headley gave England a 12-run victory.

Oh, and Nicholson took four wickets in the match. Unfortunately it was his only Test but he had played his part in a thriller.

Better with age

Graham Gooch managed 6000 runs in his thirties and it looks like the former England captain's adage of "I just got better with age" has rubbed off on more recent county stalwarts. We've already heard about Graeme Hick in this column and now it's the turn of Surrey's Mark Ramprakash.

Not content with stripping off his shirt and waving it around his head in celebration earlier this year, he's only gone past 2,000 runs this season, which includes a triple ton. Amazing, but then speak to any of his colleagues (or read his diary from last year's campaign) and it is no surprise he has achieved the landmark at his age. Technically brilliant, he clearly still has the drive to succeed at the highest level.

Essex's 38-year-old Andy Flower is another who is in a rich vein of form having scored a big double ton recently, and what's to say one of these two won't hand out the same punishment in the fast-paced environment of the Twenty20 finals tomorrow?