Two excellent Test matches have just concluded. In the first, South Africa has wrapped up the four Test series by winning the third, and taking a 2-0 lead. This is their first series win in England since 1965. Of course, there was an absence of more than 20 years but it is still a long time. South Africa always had the upper hand but Collingwood (135) and Pietersen (94) combined to set South Africa a challenging target of 283. The Proteas did it in style, winning by five wickets, thanks to a matching winning 154 from the captain, Graeme Smith. English captain, Michael Vaughan fell on his sword following the match. Vaughan will not play in the final Test, at the Oval.

In Sri Lanka, India squared the series one all, with one to play. It was a match of twists and turns but it belonged to Sehwag. In the first innings, he carried the bat and scored 201 from a total of 329. He’s a sensation. Sehwag has had his detractors (mostly amongst the Indian selectors) but I don’t understand why. I’m not one of them. India plummeted from 0/167 to all out for 329 and Sehwag held it together. He also hit a quick 50 in the second innings to build a platform for a comfortable win in the end – 170 runs.

The referral trial continues and interestingly, the vast majority have been unsuccessful. In the second Test, there were 13 unsuccessful and 4 successful referrals.