The cricket season is far from over, so what are these footy ruffians doing?

The football seasons just get longer and longer. Gentlemen of the game played in heaven, February is NOT winter. It's hot and humid – perfect cricket weather!

Australia should trust in pace, not try and beat India at their own game

Australia have decided that they will better India at their own game on the upcoming Test tour. This is a tactical decision that has been made based on generalisations about the enemy's grounds and misunderstanding Australia's resources.

Cricket Australia's programming is the very definition of Lynnsanity

Cricket Australia has made a rod for its own back with the current programming, an evolutionary rather than revolutionary schedule that Charles Darwin may have described.

Endless search for an all-rounder far from our top priority

The priority for the Australian cricket team right now is not to find or invent an all-rounder to ease workloads, it is to confirm a No.6 who can play spin well and find a wicketkeeper who can keep on spinning wickets. Both of these categories are normally filled by experienced cricketers who have learnt their skills over a period of time, in different environments, against varying opponents.

Pink-ball Tests just another evolutionary step in cricket's long history

I'm not sure how deep the objections to playing Ashes Tests under lights truly run: some players want blue skies and cherry-red balls; others seem to be coming around to the idea.

Underestimate them at your peril, for this is a very different Pakistan

The Pakistan cricket team has the reputation – some of it deserved, some not so much – for performing in an enigmatic and unpredictable fashion. Through the decades, Pakistan have won easily on home surfaces and lost regularly on the road, much as any other national team, yet they have been tagged like no other.

Cummins' return to one-day side another step on long road back

Patrick Cummins has been on the national scene for what seems like a longish time. He made his debut for NSW at 17 and for Australia at 18. He has played just that one Test match at the Wanderers were he took seven wickets and hit the winning runs. In total he has played eight first-class games, the equivalent of less than a single season of Sheffield Shield.

Bold selections must be given time to mature

• ANALYSIS

In selecting Matthew Renshaw ('Matthew Who?' doesn't work as well as 'Peter Who?') , Nic Maddinson, the returning Matthew Wade, Chadd Sayers, Peter Handscombe and Jackson Bird, who is also a newbie as he wasn't officially in the Hobart Test squad , Australia have picked six new members of the Test side, with perhaps four debutants. It is a rare occurrence in Test cricket.

Test team is paying the price for years of neglect

In sport, as in life, you can't enjoy the highs without suffering the lows.