Finally!

So Duncan Fletcher does like Monty after all. But Monty will not find it easy in Australia. For one thing, Australian batsmen are better players of spin than the Pakistanis, and they will make sure they go after him. He will be mercilessly barracked on the boundary (most of it won't be too witty), and there will always be the temptation to drop a spinner and play a quick instead. But some of those things could work for him. Attacking batsmen give more chances, and if Monty can keep his head, stumpings and caught behinds could drop into his bag. More than anything else, he'll need a sympathetic captain who won't mind setting attacking fields for him.

In case anyone is wondering why I've been going on about Monty, well, its partially ethnic pride, in seeing a fellow Punjabi do well. Partly its a desire to see the new multicultural England do well. But I think more than anything else, he makes England into a more interesting team, and interesting teams are always good for world cricket. Freddie Flintoff did the same last year, and Monty is keeping it going this year (Kevin Pietersen? Pshaw!)