New Zealand and Australia have announced that they will play a Day/Night Test match in 2015. This is something that has been under discussion for as long as there have been floodlights, and that has been a while.
The final nail in the coffin of Cook's captaincy came on the fourth day of the Headingley Test versus Sri Lanka. He was lost, clueless, devoid of inspiration and an embarrassment to the role of England skipper.
Here are a few memorable last stands by bottom order batsmen that just-just failed to save the day, either by falling a few runs short of a win, or by being dismissed in the final moments.
The second Test in Leeds was a thriller that saw Sri Lanka win with one ball to spare, with Moeen Ali's all-day resistance nearly saving the game for England. There was much scrutiny over Alastair Cook's captaincy though.
A batsman of pure grace, poise and class are the reasons why Kane Williamson is fast becoming a serious candidate to take over the New Zealand Test captaincy within the next few years.
The second Test between England and Sri Lanka at Headingley marks Ian Bell's 100th Test for the Three Lions, having made his debut nearly 10 years ago at The Oval. Here are some random numbers relating to his career.
The obvious conclusion from a game in which England had the final five balls to take the last Sri Lankan wicket was that the pitch was way, way, way too flat and is precisely the sort of thing that is going to 'kill' Test cricket.
South Africa veteran Jacques Kallis was signed by the Sydney Thunder for the Big Bash League, and former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting commented that he'd retired two years too late. 'Is Kallis making the same mistake?' was the immediate thought.
Unleashed from the shackles of Andy Flower and his laptop (there's a band name there), Cook is sounding more relaxed, more free and more human. He's beginning to throw off the role of Automaton and is thinking for himself.
You do wonder, when Bell shouts at himself after failing to execute a shot, whether he is trying to make each innings a Mona Lisa, each false stroke sparking a desire to slash the canvas and start again.
We published a story this week by regular columnist <b>Freddie Wilde</b>, in which he put forth the case for franchise cricket in England. While some agreed with him, some did not, and loyal reader and Twitter follower, Bob Bamber, responded.
In the likely event of our cricketing summer perpetuating the trend for tits to go up - both with Team England and cosmetic surgery - it might be worth speculating as to who might take over the captaincy.
Needless to say, the majority of the outrage came from English journalists and former players, while more neutral commentators landed on the side of the Sri Lankans.
England still want tried and tested senior senility, even if that means Matt Prior turning up next week at Lord's having kept wicket just once in a first class game since December.
We've done a quick wrap of the names in the 15-man squad, and recapped their time since the international and domestic seasons ended three months ago. Let's look at what they've been up to.
Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has announced his return to competitive cricket, nearly five years after his last professional match, and will turn out for Lancashire in the T20 Blast.
The feelings I have about this are similar to the ones Woody Harrelson had when Robert Redford offered him a million dollars to sleep with his wife. That is to say, I am a little conflicted about it.
Cricket has been rocked in recent weeks by allegations of match fixing in the sport. It is nothing new. There has been talk of matches being for years now, with many suggesting that it was well established in the seventies and before.
So often county cricket gets berated for not being exciting, for not having world class performers and not providing a spectacle that thrills the watcher. When we are given all of those things in the form of Ajmal people call him a cheat.
Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen launched his Dubai-based Academy on Wednesday, complete with a flashy website. We trawled it in search of some notable, if sometimes poorly written, quotes.
England captain Alastair Cook is by all accounts a lovely man, who is calm, polite, and charming on and off the field. He's not won a cricket match in a good long while, but that is immaterial, according to Giles Clarke.
It is important to remember that Vincent is not some kind-hearted cricketer who was appalled by what he had seen. He is a cheat who got caught and is selling out his fellow swindlers to save himself from a prison sentence.
We've put together a mini-preview for each of the 18 teams involved in the T20 Blast over the next 10 weeks, where the Northamptonshire Steelbacks will be looking to defend the title they won in the final against Surrey last year.
Cricket and advertising has never been the chummiest of relationships. Cricket takes itself so seriously that when it tries to be funny it often fails. It has a forced feeling about it. Like the school bully making a joke about himself.
