Neither side is at home in these conditions because they don’t come across them very often and are used to coming at the ball forcefully whereas at Leeds you have to let the ball come to you. It’s the sort of thing I learned by playing on uncovered pitches for 18 years of my career.

In 18 year old Mohammad Aamer, the left arm seamer, Pakistan have a real talent. I remember seeing him at the start of his career and being impressed but now he gets in closer to the stumps more often and swings the ball late and at pace. He’s got aggression and the heart to go with it and he could become even more dangerous when he gets even closer to the stumps. But he produces some great deliveries and the one he got Mitchell Johnson with in the first innings was a cracker that would have got many a better batsman out. As Fred Trueman would have said of such a magnificent delivery: “It were wasted on thee, lad”.

On a level playing field you’d back Australia to win every time and good though the Pakistan bowlers were, their batting is young, talented, naïve and folds under pressure. They had seven down at the end even though the Aussies didn’t bowl very well; too short and wide where at Headingley you need to be full and straight.

The Australians no longer have great bowlers like Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne to get them out of jail now and they paid the price for Ponting’s crass error of judgement. Well done Pakistan.

The citation said it was in recognition of my ‘outstanding contribution to sport’ and I was immensely proud to receive it. Leeds Metropolitan University is rated best in the country for women’s sport and second for men and they have around 35,000 students taking courses in all manner of subjects. On the day of my presentation there were a number of awards for graduates in the medical profession and it was a great day for us all. The vice chancellor presented my award and she is like the chief executive. The Chancellor is an honorary figure and the position is currently vacant after Brendan Foster retired. I loved the pomp and ceremony so much I might put in my papers for the job! So it’s Dr Geoffrey Boycott OBE, PhD now!

Rahul Dravid told me the other day that youngsters in India are now growing up with an ambition to get a contract in the Indian Premier League not play for their country in Test matches and he added that Anil Kumble’s son, who is about ten years old, refers to his dad as the captain of Bangalore Royal Challengers, not the great spin bowler who took all ten wickets in a Test innings, one of only two men to have done that in the history of the game. He took 619 wickets in 18 years representing India and only Murali and Shane Warne have more; yet his boy never mentions that glorious career and only sees him as the captain of the T20 team.

It’s easy to understand why. The IPL brings huge financial rewards, exposure on television, public acclaim which in turn leads to advertising and endorsement contracts and the chance to climb the social ladder and mix with the rich and famous. At the after the match parties in the IPL there are the stars from Bollywood and the multi millionaires who own the franchises so it’s little wonder these young kids want to hob nob with them and are dazzled by it all. This is happening all over Asia and Rahul says that practice now consists of lads throwing the ball at batsmen out in the middle to see how far they can hit it. That’s baseball by another name!

Current players are thinking the same too. Dirk Nannes, the Australian, is an exceptional fast bowler and he should be in the Test team. But he doesn’t want to play one-day internationals nor Tests because he can make enough money without the hard work, bowling a couple of two over spells in T20. He’s played for the Netherlands, Middlesex, Delhi Daredevils and Victoria at the short form of the game and why wouldn’t he? It’s easy money.

Shaun Tait is going the same way. He can bowl at 100mph, as he did at Lord’s, and what a sight that would be in the Ashes series this winter. But no, he says his body can’t stand up to it and he can only manage T20 and ODIs. Both these fast bowlers, and a lot of others, know that there’s enough money about in T20 without all the hard graft of five day cricket.

Closer to home we’ve got ‘Freddie’ Flintoff who is desperately trying to get fit for the next IPL. Bowl four overs, slog a few runs and pick up a £1million for six weeks work. That’s the formula that is concentrating the minds of ambitious youngsters.

Many ex-players like myself consider that Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game; it’s how you are judged against the best, how history assesses your record in matches which don’t have restrictions on where fielders can be placed or the number of overs allowed each bowler. If we believe it’s the highest form of the game then the International Cricket Council has got to do something to see that the rewards reflect that status. The members of the ICC, who are the chairmen of the ten leading countries, have to convince each other that Test cricket is worth the same money to players as T20 because that’s the only way to win over the kids who want the good life. It may not be cheap but if that’s what it takes we have to do it.

The obvious choices are Surrey and Middlesex with the latter the ideal because the Lord’s ground staff are there full time and if you want to play anywhere in the world it’s the best, the Mecca, the place to be.

Overseas players don’t have the same emotional attachment to counties as those who have grown up through the academies and second elevens. The county doesn’t mean as much to them as those players who have spent all their cricketing lives there.

When I was playing for Yorkshire and first got into the England team there were 17 counties playing 32 three-day games, plus first class games against Oxford and Cambridge, the tourists and MCC twice each. That’s 114 days and on top of that the Gillette Cup (later the NatWest Trophy) started in 1963, the 40 overs a side Sunday League in 1968 and the 55 overs a side Benson & Hedges Cup in 1972.

If I played in all five Tests in a series I missed two county games for each England match and therefor was available for 28 three-day games as well as the one-day competitions. Because I was born and raised in the county I had an emotional attachment and allegiance to my roots, just like Fred Trueman and Brian Close.

The modern centrally contracted players can’t have that same attachment because they’re hardly ever there. It’s not their fault, it’s not of their making, but there is so much international cricket, 45 days in the English summer this year plus training and practice days, that it’s only fair that sometimes they’d like to go home and see their families, get a bit of rest and get mentally refreshed.
When you take all that into consideration there’s very few times when they could play county cricket so over a few seasons they’re bound to lose contact with their county clubs.

In KP’s case I’ve worked out that in five and a half summers he’s played in seven county championship games for Hampshire and 19 one-day fixtures making a total of 47 days, about eight days a season! How can anyone expect any sense of belonging or loyalty ? The answer is, you can’t. KP is so tied up with England that he’s only looking for the odd game and somewhere to practice and like other top players he’s lost contact with the county game.

It’s a pity because that devalues our English first class cricket because youngsters don’t get the chance to grow up playing against the best and finding out how good they really are before they reach Test level. The standard of overseas players has dropped just as steeply as well. There’s no Clive Rice and Richard Hadlee at Notts, no Malcolm Marshall, Barry Richards or Gordon Greenidge at Hampshire, Viv Richards or Joel Garner at Somerset nor Clive Lloyd and Wasim Akram at Lancashire. Those and many others like them provided a real test for up and coming youngsters but it’s a fact of modern day cricket life that the best players are lost to the counties.

In 1968, Geoffrey suffered a back injury while playing for England in the 3rd Test Match against Australia at Edgbaston. The injury, a swollen disc and loss of fluid, threatened to bring his career to a premature end. Following two months of fast and intensive physio, he eventually returned to the game. But the problem had not gone away. Due to the loss of fluid in the disc, the spaces in the vertebrae narrowed and, over the years, the discomfort grew worse. Years of physiotherapy could not resolve the pain. Then, by pure chance, he hit on the idea that the problem could be directly linked to posture.

The idea came to Geoffrey during an evening at a theatre in Singapore in which the seats were very low. He noticed that a child’s booster cushion had been left in the empty seat next to his and he decided to sit on it. As a result, he enjoyed the show and did not suffer from the usual discomfort in his back. Geoffrey realised that today’s so called comfortable armchairs and soft padded settees are often too low to the ground, causing a sitting posture where the knees are above the level of the hips, causing the back to hollow.

Various experiments with different types of cushion ensued until Geoffrey was able to come up with an exact specification for a cushion that was firm, to aid posture, but with sufficient ‘give’ to make it comfortable when used for a long period. Most importantly, the depth of the cushion ensured that the hip to knee alignment was just right. He also specified a removable cover and, critically, a carrying strap so that it is easy for him to take a cushion with him wherever he goes. Geoffrey has had these cushions manufactured, for several years, to his specification, by a UK company. He uses them in his home, in the car, in restaurants, the theatre and, of course, in commentary boxes across the world. Since using the cushions, his back problems have disappeared.

So many people suffer from back problems and Geoffrey is convinced that many of these problems could be alleviated by using his specially designed cushion, which are now available.

Priced at £30 (plus £4 P&P to the UK – overseas prices on application). Click here to order online or phone our order line on 01274735056 to order yours today.

In 1990, Geoffrey was preparing to give his first TV commentary of West Indies vs England – it also happened to be the first cricket match broadcast live by satellite TV. Geoffrey was working alongside Tony Greig, Tony Lewis, Michael Holding and Tony Crozier. It was agreed that Geoffrey should do the pitch report, something that involved standing outside in the burning Caribbean sun while waiting for the camera crew to set up. He recalls:

“As I prepared to go down to the pitch, Tony Greig warned me that I’d need a hat to prevent sunburn. They were wise words indeed as the conditions on the pitch were like an oven. So, I grabbed a hat and that’s where it started. I’ve been wearing one ever since.

“It is even more important to me now. After my tongue cancer, the radiation treatment that was necessary on my cheeks and neck has left my skin needing protection from any direct sunlight – even in England.”

Geoffrey’s trademark hats are now available to all cricket fans who like to enjoy the game whatever the weather.

The Geoffrey Boycott hat is available in natural straw colour with signed hat band in three different colours (light blue, navy blue and milk chocolate). Priced at £30 (plus £3.50 P&P in the UK – overseas prices on application). Click here to order or phone our order line on 01274 735056.

The key ingredients for longevity in sport are ability, desire and fitness. You can be the fittest on the planet and desperately want to play against the best but if you haven’t any talent it’s all a waste of time.

Murali has an abundance of talent, gifted beyond the norm like Shane Warne, and both have captured the imagination of the cricketing world through their spin wizardry and the publicity and controversy which has followed their careers.

Both had the unique knack of imparting huge spin on the ball, and I mean HUGE spin, far more than anyone else, while exercising fantastic control and one without the other isn’t much good.

Murali started the ‘doosra’, bowled it with magical skill and this delivery more than any other has revolutionised off spin bowling. In the last 20 years pitches in international cricket have got better and flatter for batsmen making off spinners into defensive bowlers, used to give the quicks a breather, or entirely redundant. The ‘doosra’ gave them back the ability to attack, being able to beat the bat on either side.

As you get older it becomes harder to get up in the morning and look forward to a day’s cricket when you’ve done it so often, travelling all over the world, living out of a suitcase in lots of different hotels. It can become tiresome and if it becomes like just another day at the office, then you seriously need to consider retirement.

Murali says he still likes playing but his body is telling him it’s nearly had enough. There’s bound to be wear and tear on his shoulder and there’ll be lots of aches and stiffness after a long bowl which weren’t there when he was younger. Strains and injury are more likely in elder statesman bowlers than batsmen and Murali has had some problems with injuries recently.

All his career he has bowled long bamboozling spells in his 132 Test matches but that’s become more taxing on his body and he’s already said that he’s looking forward to bowling more manageable 10 and four over spells in one-day cricket. The fact is that as he gets older he becomes tired, that’s a fact of life and there’s no shame in that. Old Father Time has caught up with him as he does all of us so we should all enjoy his last appearances before he leaves the stage.

The controversy about throwing will never go away. He’s lived with it all his life and it will follow him to the grave. I’m confident, whatever the rights and wrongs, that he just bowls and had no intention of doing anything illegal or to gain an unfair advantage.

He is, and will remain a remarkable, likeable man.

When England played Australia it used to be a mouth watering event which took place once every four years in each country. But last summer we had the Ashes, T20s and five one day internationals, and now the Aussies are back this summer for another five ODIs and two T20s, they visit in 2012 for more ODIs and T20s and it’s the Ashes in 2013. So the only year they’re not in England is 2011 and what was once a special occasion is not any more.

It’s all too much and it’s taking its toll of the players. Australia started resting some of their team a while back, India do it now and England have started to do the same. But as soon as we get a break in the international calendar the IPL comes along, takes up six weeks and tired or not the players are going to go for the large sums of cash on offer.

The game has become just a money-go-round for players and administrators.

The men who run cricket in the various countries know the TV companies are queuing up and can’t get enough of it. It’s a sellers’ market because many of the satellite TV stations have between three and seven sports channels and they need to fill that air time. Cricket is ideal because a Test takes up six hours, a one-dayer seven and when you add on lunch and tea intervals, the pre match show and the post match discussion and analysis by us experts it easily rolls into a nine or ten hour slot. So the TV stations are mad keen to out-bid each other and the administrators know it’s easy money. All they need to do is ring round, arrange another competition (it doesn’t matter what it’s for) and just count the money as it rolls in. It’s got to the point of over-kill and now a one-day international is just another day at the office for the players.

This is the sadness of it all. Many of us who love the game want to see quality and it’s ridiculous that some players are totting up 500 ODIs in their career.

The administrators say they need the cash to feed the grass roots of the game and they produce figures to prove that’s what they’re doing. But, as Benjamin Disraeli said: “There are lies, damned lies and statistics”.

The part of the game that is suffering most is Tests and outside of England Test matches are played to nigh on empty grounds in some countries. They have suffered from this saturation coverage and eventually ODIs will too because people will say ‘we’ve seen it all before’.

But while TV is ready to pay there is no chance of it ending, particularly in Asia where cricket is so much more popular than golf, football, tennis or rugby.

You might have a favourite meal but you wouldn’t want it for breakfast, lunch and tea seven days a week. Too much of anything is no good and we’ve got to make cricket special again if that means putting cricket first and taking less money, then so be it.