That Piers Morgan will write a vitriolic article in the next edition of The Mail on Sunday about England cricket selector Geoff Miller who has had the temerity to drop Morgan's best buddy, Kevin Pietersen, from the team.

 

Pietersen is a hugely talented cricketer who England need in good form.

 

Just for the record, in the series against Pakistan, Pietersen scored 140 runs at an average of 23 and, if we are being honest, didn't look like he knew one end of a cricket bat from the other!

 

Miller has done the right thing - Pietersen can now find his form playing county matches for Surrey and then, with luck, come out firing against the Aussie's in Brisbane in a few weeks time.

Blair:

 

"Brown lacked emotional intelligence"

 

Whatever next - will Blair exclusively reveal that the Pope is Catholic?

After the News of the World's revelations concerning certain Pakistan cricketers I dread to think where the investigation will lead.

 

Already newspaper stories are examining recent games concerning the Pakistan team - notably the Test Match at Sydney a few months ago where Pakistan managed to seize defeat from the jaws of victory.

 

It is no great surprise that bowler Mohammad Asif has been implicated in this matter - a hugely talented player but one with a murky past.

 

It is perhaps more worrying that 18 year old Mohammad Amir, perhaps the most talented young bowler in the world, appears to be up to his neck in this.

 

I sincerely hope that I am wrong but looking at the performance of the Pakistan team this Summer there have been times when they have been so inept that one started to query if we were watching professional players.

 

I fear that more players will be implicated and that the immediate future of Pakistan as an international cricket team is going to be thrown into doubt.

 

So far, Asif, Amir, Captain Salman Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal have been interviewed by the Police.

 

We know that the evidence against Amir & Asif appear to be strong, we know that the Captain determines which bowler delivers each over and we all saw Akmal's awful 'keeping in the first test match.

 

I seem to recall that in the inquiry into the failure of the Australian tour the Pakistan Team Coach, Intikhab Alam, accused Kamran Akmal of involvement with bookmakers.

  

We have also seen catches that a child could take being dropped by numerous players - it really doesn't paint a pretty picture.

 

I can't see how the one day matches scheduled to start next weekend can continue - although no doubt the "money men" at the ECB & ICC will do their best to make the games happen.

 

This has been an awful couple of days for cricket and I fear things are going to get worse - along with cricket lovers around the world I hope that the authorities have the guts to impose life time bans on any players proven to have cheated for financial gain.

 

Just as an aside this story is splashed over just about every news website in the cricket playing world - however if you glance at the ICC (or ECB) website there isn't a single mention of this scandal.

 

Wouldn't you think that there might be some objective, facts only item about this incident on the website of the games governing body?

Bayfordbury Estates, the developer for the proposed "Brookfield Riverside" development have just started a public consultation exercise.

 

The Mercury website article gives some useful background on the proposal and highlights the consultation website.

 

Bayfordbury Estates have also set up a Facebook page - log into Facebook and search for Ask Brookfield.

 

It's going to be really interesting to see the response to the consultation.

 

The press has consistently reported the views of opponents to the proposal - I wonder if this will be reflected in a wider consultation exercise?

 

The Pakistan floods have now extended well into Sindh Province.

 

This evenings news stories have been accompanied by some truly distressing pictures.

 

It is heart-warming to see that the British people have shown their customary generosity and have raised more than £30 million via the Disasters Emergency Committee website.

 

I guess that Sindh isn't a part of the world many of us know too much about.

 

My only previous awareness of this part of the world came from reading about the famous Latin pun from General Charles Napier in the middle of the last century.

 

After effectively conquering Sindh (and in doing so exceeding his orders) Napier sent a single word message "Peccavi" back to headquarters.

 

This translates into "I have sinned" - a pun that was good enough to feature in Punch Magazine.

 

Anyway, one can only hope that aid reaches the people of Pakistan quickly and that the rains stop soon.