Good week for...

The game of cricket

It's long overdue, but finally we have a roadmap that could move the game's governance into the 21st century, from what could be loosely described as democratic feudalism.

Should Lord Woolf's proposal for the ICC be implemented, it would eliminate the current trend of the game being run by the strongest nations, for the strongest nations. Inclusivity would be encouraged, with the door finally opening to Associate nations - something which would genuinely grow the game.

Two major obstacles now stand in the way. The first is obvious - will the current board agree to relinquish their stranglehold on power for the good of the game? Not only does the 'turkeys don't vote for Christmas' slogan apply, but several Directors on the current board would have to give up either their position as ICC Directors or their role on their home boards.

Should they approve the report's changes, the second issue will be finding the right men to take the game forward. The new setup would place huge importance on the Chairman and Independent Directors, so the concern could be that the bigger nations use their clout to vote in individuals who would be sympathetic to their desires. That could compromise the whole system going forward, so the initial appointments would be key.

For the moment though, it's worth celebrating the fact that someone has called a spade a spade and offered a way forward.

Spin bowlers

After Pakistan toppled England for 72 all out in the second Test in Abu Dhabi, it was once again the spin bowlers coming to the fore. The surprise this time, however, was that it was left-armer Abdur Rehman who was chief destroyer and match winner rather than the more feared Saeed Ajmal. It was not just the Pakistani spinners who are in the action, however, as Monty Panesar got six for 62 in the second innings.

Of the 40 England wickets to have fallen on their tour of the UAE, 34 of them have fallen to spinners. It's no surprise then that England's fear of spin reached the point where the coaching staff recruited four young doosra-bowling spinners in the UAE to bowl tireless spells to the English batsmen in the nets.

Whether it helps the England batsmen or not is yet to be seen, but the session did provide valuable experience for the four men from the Irfan Cricket Academy.

Perhaps England's bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed should recruit his former team-mate Saqlain Mushtaq to have a word with the batsmen. After all, he is the man credited with pioneering the off-spinner's "other" ball.

Bad week for...

Zimbabwe's batsmen

Thirteen of the 20 wickets that Zimbabwe lost in their short Test in Napier were caught behind the wicket. Naturally the percentage wasn't quite so high in the one-day international on Friday, but Zimbabwe's batters still struggled with the moving ball.

While the flat pitches back home achieved the desired result of making Zimbabwe more competitive on their Test return, they are feeling the negative effects of it now. While pitches around the country have grown more sporting this season - they had to after a turgid series of draws on slow decks in the 2010/11 season - they still aren't equipping batsmen with the skills to survive on sporting wickets.

The issue needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency, because the slightest bit of life in New Zealand's pitches have left Zimbabwe's batsmen all at sea.

Brad Haddin

The official line may be that Brad Haddin is being rested for Australia's upcoming ODI tri-series, but even the man himself knows that Australia are quietly checking out their options.

Having retired from Twenty20 cricket, Haddin's absence from the current run of fixtures against India was expected, but the retention of Matthew Wade for the 50-over series is a different matter altogether.

The initial pressure on Haddin has come from a poor run in the Test arena; in the past year he has managed a meagre average of 23.46 with just two fifties in 17 innings. However, his form in the ODIs has hardly been any better, with 459 runs scored at an average of 28.68 and a strike rate of 72.97.

Add to this a spell of sloppy work behind the stumps and the calls for the New South Welshman's head hardly come as a surprise.

One of the reasons Haddin may have remained in the team for as long as he has is that Tim Paine, who appeared his natural successor, has been hard struck by injury. However, there is now a new man on the block - youngster Wade.

One swallow does not make a summer though, and Wade's 72 against India in the opening T20 should be seen as a good start rather than proof that he's ready to take over from Haddin in all formats. Regardless, Haddin has every reason to worry that he may struggle to return to the coloured clothing of Australia.

All eyes on John Inverarity when Australia announce their squad after their first three Commonwealth Bank games then.