Test cricket will always be the pinnacle and the one I want us to win most but in a context of football I view test=the league, 50 overs=fa cup and t20=league cup. Theses days on paper there's a very distinct pecking order of importance between the competitions but cricket as with football when we are playing they all seem equally important.

408-9 in 50 overs is most unlike England. Butlers last 200 runs have come from 101 balls

That was awesome. We had little to shout about in first 38 overs, particularly painful in the rowdy part of the western terrace but the last 2 overs were well worth waiting for. I felt butler owed us after a poor showing at t20 finals day and how he repaid us. Needed 32 off last 11 balls so even the most optimistic of us had given that up. Or as the bloke behind us put it "you lot need a 6 every other ball to win now. You've no @#/? chance. Yarkshire Yarkshire Yarkshire."

We're off to skeletors lair aka dirty Leeds to watch the mighty Lancashire take on Yarkshite in the t20 today. We always have a good crack at this "away day" although wins have been like rocking horse @#/?. A win today would be very sweet seen as though the savile lovers are currently under the impression that they are gods gift to cricket. Won't hold my breath though. Oh lanky lanky...

Disappointed to lose today but over 10 days of test cricket England were lucky to get a draw this series. I think had it gone 4 or 5 like the ashes England would have struggled. I've been very impressed by the way New Zealand play to say we were 199 away from them we still batted 40 more overs. In fact their 2 innings total of 804 came at basically 5 an over vs our standard 3 an over. They could well have set the blue print for how to play test cricket. Well how to play thrilling test cricket anyway hope we take note for the main ashes event....

That was pretty emphatic. Sure his talent will become clearer when he fights someone who can fight back. But credit where it's due for all Kevin Johnson is finished the likes of vitali klitschko didn't manage to knock him out. I'd like to see him fight price, chisora then fury clean up the domestic heavyweights and perhaps a fight with deontay wilder or wladimir if still about in a few years. I know it was only fraudly Harrison. But wilder looks a beast.

Just re read that didn't phrase it brilliantly. I meant keep it here in that when the Australians bring it back over with them it remains here. There's always one

Don't know a lot about him but his main experience/success seems to come in the form of t20/50 overs so could be a move from the ecb to improve that format. Just hope tests, which I will always view as more important, aren't affected. Will have to see how he gets on. Hope he keeps the urn here

Excellent, memorable test match. At various points we looked nailed on for a loss, defeat and draw. Even Cook's captaincy shows some promise wonders will never cease. Interesting stat most runs (1610) in a test match that 40 wickets have fallen since 1925.

Apparently ali should have been in after bell. However, he was stuck practicing in the nets so stokes came in. True professional set up. One has to wonder if the venkys are moonlighting as the ecb.

Thought we'd struggle but Jesus 30/4 this isn't going well at all. Guptil, Williamson, Taylor, mccullum are useful. As are boult and southee. One of best ever NZ side to tour here I reckon. The pessimist in me says, ballance has only ever batted well for England on flat pitches, moeen is not up to it, broad is on a downward curve, bell has struggled massively since Antigua, lyth and wood are unknowns against a very decent attack. It will swing at headingley too, and cook is under pressure as a captain. We've no coach and any new coach is being told who he can and cannot pick kp. Massive question marks all over the whole set up. 2 games before ashes. Brilliant.

25/3. Hmmmm.

Think it's down to tradition. If in 1870s ish the powers that be formed a Lancashire football team instead of each town I suspect people from all towns (that currently dislike each other) would get along. Also think football is more tribal and parochial than cricket is. That said my mrs once said of me that if I'm in the company of foreigners I'm staunchly British, if in company of Brits staunchly English, if with English very northern, if with northerners proudly Lancastrian, if in Lancashire very anti Burnley. I don't think it goes further down than that but could develop a snobbery within the BB postcode. Maybe I'm just an awkward bugger. I'd even begrudgingly consider myself European for 3 days every 2 years during Ryder cup.

The ecb are considering a franchise based system for t20. So instead of lancs v yorks it could be Manchester v Leeds. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/32745399. Can't see them going through with it but if that happens I'm not sure I could get on board with that. I think Lancashire and Yorkshire towns will be equally irked at that. The venkys and the ecb are really doing their best to ruin my two favourite sports teams.

With kp he is still our best player but I think it goes beyond just an iffy personality. When you start texting the oppo on how to get your opening batsman out and reportedly laughing as he tossed his wicket away down under he can never play again. In the same way in footy john Terry is the best English centre half but because of all that's gone before he can never play again either. The ecb are in disarray at the moment with a bit of a revolving door policy. Graves in downton out. Gooch out ramprakash in. Flower out Moores in, Moores out someone in. Presumably Strauss has replaced someone. Tom Harrison in as chief exec. With dodgy selection issues 2 tests vs New Zealand is a tough ask to get things right before ashes.

A mate of mine sent me this yesterday so assume he's worked it out: The only scenario where rovers can go down is if Sheffield Wednesday win, millwall win one of last two, Peterborough win, Barnsley beat Huddersfield 1-0, and rovers lose to Bham 15-0 going down behind Huddersfield on -22 goal difference to their -21. A scenario bookies have at 949-1. Think would get better odds on losing by 15 clear goals let alone factoring in all other results.

I can also hope to spend a night with Jennifer Aniston but I can tell you, just as the prospect of the venkys running it properly, it ain't going to happen. No matter how much I have hope that it will. Having said that I do admire a rovers fan with hope after all this mine left me about 6 months ago, that after 18 months of thinking it must/will get better. If anything it gets worse