I grew up a huge West Indian cricket fan. I always admired their philosophy on cricket: bowling as fast as you can and hitting the ball as far as you can.
In one of my first 1st class games, Mike Watkinson even described me as “the first white West Indian to play for Yorkshire”, something I obviously took as a huge compliment.
But I’m slightly worried about this current West Indian team coming over to England so early in the summer given the current conditions we are experiencing.
It's not just the bowler-friendly conditions; their best players, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, are still busy filling their deep pockets in the IPL and, as comical as it sounds, Marlon Samuels got stuck in transit returning from the IPL where he’s being talked about for all the wrong reasons.
As I write this, their two Guyanese players, Narsingh Deonarine and Assad Fudadin are still in Jamaica trying to get their visas. Can it get any worse?
The Windies, currently ranked the seventh best team in the world, are coming up against a confident and strong all-round England side still ranked No 1 that will believe they can thrash the tourists 3-0.
When you look at the West Indian bowlers, you think about the serious pace of Kemar Roach and Fidel Edwards leading the attack. They’re very small for quickies - not exactly Walsh and Ambrose – but that doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous.
Look at Malcolm Marshall, the greatest West Indian bowler of them all. He destroyed England many times – but what he had was control as well as express pace.
Roach and Edwards will certainly set the English batsmen’s hearts racing and Strauss, Cook, KP and co will have to watch them carefully but overall, with Ravi Rampaul and Darren Sammy supporting the quicks, the Windies bowling might not be strong enough.
Their spin threat will come from Samuels and Shane Shillingford, both of whom have had problems with their bowling actions. Shillingford is the better of the two, having picked up 14 wickets in the series against Australia at an average of under 30.
For me, it’s the batting front where the Windies will struggle, paying the price for leaving out good technical players like Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dion Nash – who are both playing in our domestic game for Leicestershire and Kent.
They will rely heavily on the middle order of Shiv Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo.
Chanderpaul has just become only the second West Indian batsman to reach 10,000 test runs. He’s a man who has terrific insight into English conditions and, more importantly, he’s a man in form having made 346 runs in the test series against Australia at 86.50. He’ll have to anchor the side as the top order won't be able to handle Jimmy Anderson with the new cherry in his hand.
Bravo is another player who has experienced English conditions thanks to a short spell with Notts last season. He averages just under 50 in Tests and, for the Windies to stand any chance of avoiding a whitewash, he’ll have to do more than just share the technique of his cousin Brian Lara, he’ll have to play like him too.
If the weather stays fine and the tourists win or even draw a test, they’ll feel they’ve had a successful time of it and can remain positive about the future of West Indies cricket.
My all-time West Indies XI
- Gordon Greenidge
- Desmond Haynes
- Viv Richards
- Carl Hooper
- Alvin Kallicharran
- Gary Sobers
- Jeff Dujon
- Malcolm Marshall
- Curtly Ambrose
- Andy Roberts
- Michael Holding
Who’d be in your greatest ever Windies side?
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To keep up with the county scene I'll be hosting a new monthly show called Goughie's LV county catch-up at ecb.co.uk/LVCC. You can watch live editions of the show throughout the summer at www.facebook.com/englandcricket
Over the past five years, I wish I had a pound for every fan or ex-cricketer who said to me the Indian Premier League would have been right up my street.
Let me tell you: of course it would be! A million dollars to bowl a maximum of four overs per game over six weeks work! It’s the dream ticket.
The IPL organisers do a superb job: plenty of razzamatazz, colour and personality which make it a truly spectacular event. Don’t forget about the dancing girls, fireworks and Bollywood stars on show!
I reckon all those fans and ex-pros might be correct in thinking I would have loved the whole package of the IPL. Well, one of my many nicknames was ‘Box Office Gough’.
I believe India will be the only country that will enjoy continued success with this T20 format. That won’t just be down to the cricket mad culture in India, but also the fact that India is home to some of the richest businessmen around.
All they want to do with their spare cash is boost their egos and mix with some of the best cricketers from around the world, so what do they do? Buy their own franchise and the players they want (but probably not who the coach wants).
There are nine teams in this year’s IPL with each team playing 16 games. By the time the final is played, there will have been a mammoth 75 matches and, remarkably, most of those games will have been played with huge crowds cheering on their teams.
A lot of cynics didn't think the IPL would last but here we are in year five and the tournament is getting bigger and better. Cricketers from around the globe are desperate to get picked up in the auction with a chance to showcase themselves onto the world stage.
Players I've spoken to like Ryan ten Doeschate and KP can't praise the IPL enough. They feel that the whole package is a wonderful experience. The improvement it brings to your one day game is obvious to see. Then there’s the improvement to your bank balance of course, let’s not forget that!
The downside of the IPL has been certain cricketers have neglected their commitments to their countries in favour of earning megabucks by becoming ‘freelance cricketers’. I'm afraid to say this is going to be the norm in 5-10 years. In some cases players have cut short their Test careers by two or three years to make sure they don't miss the money train.
Another negative effect of the IPL is the fact that strike bowlers are disappearing from one day cricket. With teams worried about containing the run rate, wicket-taking bowlers are being replaced by part-time dobbers, as we call them up north.
Remember it’s the bowlers that win you matches by taking 10 wickets. Where are the genuine pacemen bowling devastating yorkers?
In the current IPL, only Lasith Maligna, Brett Lee and Dale Steyn come to mind as bowlers able to rip through batsmen with this delivery, and that’s a concern. It’s also why you’ll see too many sixes smashed off mediocre part-time bowlers.
But let’s focus on the positives. In addition to the big shots and the razzmatazz, I feel the IPL has also helped improve the standard of fielding around the world.
With so many close games, everyone can see how a run-saving stop can change the result of a match. Fielding is rightly considered as an important skill, making three-dimensional cricketers a must-have in any team.
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To keep up with the English county scene I'll be hosting a monthly show called Goughie's LV county catch-up at ecb.co.uk/LVCC. You can watch live editions of the show throughout the summer at www.facebook.com/englandcricket
Let’s be honest, England have played five Test matches over the winter, they’ve bowled well in four and batted well in one – and the one they batted well in, they won.
And when you talk about match-winning players, for all criticism he gets and it annoys me that he does get it, this is why you need Kevin Pietersen in the side. The way he played he just took the game away from Sri Lanka in one session. And what was that nonsense about the bowlers complaining about his switch hitting. I think it’s a brilliant shot to watch but I wouldn’t mind if I were an off-spinner and a right-handed batsman started getting bored and trying to play left handed. In fact I’d love it, he’s making it hard for himself and any bowler should want to bowl against a batsman who takes risks like that.
As for the other batsmen, Cook’s obviously done his job. Trott’s played well and steadied the ship but that doesn’t win you games - that’s what I’m saying. He’ll draw you games but Pietersen has got 29 hundreds - more than Graham Gooch who everyone considers a master of both forms of the game.
Bell didn’t get much of a go of it in Sri Lanka but is likely to keep his place. It’s the case that a batsman can go five or six matches without a score then he gets a 50 and earns five or six more. A bowler goes two games without a game and that’s the end of his career; batsmen get more chances.
And Strauss too will feel more comfortable now that No 1 position has been secured for a little longer, it gives him some breathing space to come back in home conditions and get some runs under his belt.
Among the bowlers, you’d expect Finn or Bresnan to make way for Broad, but Bresnan’s got that fantastic record of not losing - would you keep him in for that?
One bowler who is unlikely to feature this summer now is Monty Panesar, unless Swann picks up an injury. Swanny’s all-round ability: his batting, his slip fielding give him the edge but at one point it looked like his position was going to come under serious threat.
Monty will get another chance next winter in India and what a series that is shaping up to be. Duncan Fletcher’s had to go back to the drawing board both in the batting and bowling departments, bring in some discipline, improve fitness levels but by the end of the year his team might well be ready to face up to England. I’m not usually a big one for following the team abroad, I’ve done enough touring in my time but I quite fancy heading out for that.
Of course in the nearer future, we have the West Indies, who though they will be stronger than most people expect, should give England a good chance of a whitewash. Then South Africa, who will want to grab the No 1 slot. I don’t think they are strong enough at the moment. They haven’t got a real wicket-taking spinner or the same depth that England have - our second-string bowling attack could start a Test match.
So I think England will win that series too, even though they still lack a real quick bowler in the mould of Flintoff or Harmison. One player who could turn the tables will be Philander. He bowls a disciplined line, puts the seam in the right place and creates pressure. He’s already acclimatising on the county circuit and picking up wickets so in combination with the strike power of Steyn could cause real problems. But England have shown they’re more comfortable with pace than quality spin and the batsmen we have should be able to cope.
Division two of the LV County Championship is a division clubs do not want to be in. Counties are desperate for promotion which leads to poor pitches prepared to provide results. Draws will not get you promoted. In division one, the pitches tend to be much better as no one wants to risk losing games and getting relegated.
Last year, division two experimented with the Teflix ball which didn’t work. The ball swung around way too much, favouring the likes of Surrey’s Tim Linley, Essex’s David Masters and Middlesex’s Tim Murtagh, who all bowl at under 75mph.
My first tip for promotion from division two is my old club Yorkshire, a team that was too good to get relegated in the first place. Yorkshire are one of those teams that, if things don’t go their way, can get stuck in a rut and don’t seem able to find a way out.
This year could be different as new coach Jason Gillespie will bring a fresh approach and his enthusiasm will rub off on some of our younger players. He's a great character who was hugely respected when he represented Yorkshire as a player and I'm excited about his appointment.
Over the last few years, Yorkshire have relied on Jacques Rudolph and Anthony McGrath too much. This showed last year when Rudolph was only here short-term and McGrath had a poor season. This year we need more from skipper Andrew Gale, Joseph Root and McGrath.
The quality of Aussie test opener Phil Jaques will be needed and expectations are high for the exciting Jonathan Bairstow.
The seam attack is not as strong as Yorkshire bowling normally is. Ajmal Shazad needs to stay fit and show the talent England recognized only 18 months ago.
With Tim Bresnan probably representing England this summer, they will need wickets from the talented-yet-under-achieving leg spinner Adil Rashid.
Hampshire are another team who were probably too good to get relegated from division one. The reason they did was their seam attack was not great and hadn’t been strengthened since Dominic Cork retired.
They missed Dimitri Mascarenhas a lot last year but he’s back fit and firing. They also expect a lot from their young spinner Danny Briggs. If Kabir Ali stays fit, Hampshire will be back where they belong, challenging in division one.
On the batting front, Hampshire have plenty. They’ve signed Simon Katich to partner opener Michael Carberry who, after a serious illness last year, returned in fantastic form scoring an unbelievable 300 against Yorkshire. Carberry will probably be England's next opener after Andrew Strauss decides he's had enough. Jimmy Adams is a tough left hander who tends to be consistent. They will need runs from the young 21-year-old Liam Dawson.
Outside challenges for promotion should come from Kent or Essex. I’m going to upset my old club and say Kent seem more likely to challenge. They have strengthened and signed players to suit their pitch conditions. The ball tends to swing around at Canterbury so in come Charlie Shreck from Nottinghamshire and Mark Davies from Durham to join Simon Cook.
With the bat, Kent can rely on the usual brilliance of Rob Key. They have added a bit of steel to their line-up with the loan signing of Scott Newman from Middlesex, Michael Powell from Glamorgan and West Indian cricketer Brendon Nash, the latter no doubt a pick of new coach, ex-West Indian legend Jimmy Adams.
Read Goughie's predictions for division one of the LV County Championship
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To keep up with the county scene I'll be hosting a new monthly show called Goughie's LV county catch-up at ecb.co.uk/LVCC. You can watch live editions of the show throughout the summer at www.facebook.com/englandcricket
Well, the snow has arrived just as the county season begins, but what a season we should have.
This year’s LV County Championship should be an entertaining one. Last year’s winners Lancashire will once again be tough to beat. Led by captain Glenn Chapple and coach Peter Moores – who is once again proving what a fine coach he is – the defending champions have had a good start in pre-season. Beating an MCC XI convincingly out in Abu Dhabi is a good sign.
The only question mark is whether they can get the same results at Old Trafford as they did on the bowler-friendly pitches of Blackpool and Liverpool last season while their ground was being redeveloped.
Last season’s top run-scorers Paul Horton and Stephen Moore will once again score heavily, as will overseas signing Ashwell Prince, and give top spinners Gary Keedy and Simon Kerrigan – and the reliable Chapple and Kyle Hogg – plenty to bowl at.
Pushing Lancashire will be newly promoted Surrey, a side with experience and youth. They’re a very athletic fielding side who will be pushed all the way by their determined coach Chris Adams and his assistant Ian Salisbury.
Some consider Surrey to be the Chelsea of the cricket world, a club that has gone out and built a team to win trophies. Their strong batting line-up features Jacques Rudolph, Mark Ramprakash, Zander de Bruyn, Steven Davies and skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown.
Surrey’s bowlers are also high in quality. There’s Stuart Meaker, Jade Dernbach, Jon Lewis and the young seamer Tim Linley who took the second division by storm last season. Gareth Batty rounds off their attack with experienced left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, who will arrive after the IPL.
2008 and 2009 champions Durham could mount a sneaky division one title challenge too. They’ve got gaggles of batting in the form of Michael di Venuto, Dale Benkenstein, Paul Collingwood, Ben Stokes and the consistent Ian Blackwell, who amassed 900 runs and took 36 wickets last season.
Durham’s challenge is to keep Steve Harmison on the pitch. Last season he only managed to play in six matches but if Harmison and fellow bowlers Graham Onions and Mitchell Claydan stay fit, Durham could mount a serious title challenge. Look out for their young and talented leg spinner Scott Borthwick who everyone is expecting to shine this season.
Read Goughie's division two preview
Follow Darren Gough on Twitter
To keep up with the county scene I'll be hosting a new monthly show called Goughie's LV county catch-up at ecb.co.uk/LVCC. You can watch live editions of the show throughout the summer at www.facebook.com/englandcricket
After a disastrous showing against Pakistan where we were crushed 3-0, England now move onto the most difficult conditions in world cricket to take on Sri Lanka where the heat and humidity are almost unbearable - especially in Colombo.
We all know England will have to play spin on the slow, low pitches a lot better than we did against Pakistan where our lack of technique was highlighted in the three tests.
It will be a strange series as there are only two tests: the first one being at the port town of Galle where there's been only one draw in the last six tests. The second test will be held in Colombo where Sri Lanka have a great record.
England need to be ready and prepared and, with two wins since they arrived in the country, it looks like they are. All the batsmen have scored runs, except Ian Bell who once again just can't get started which is a little concern.
England’s last two tours to Sri Lanka have gone against them, losing their last two series 1-0. Obviously, a challenge awaits England if they want to remain the best test side in the world.
After losing Murali, Sri Lanka are not the force they once were but they are an ever-improving side. They have just won a test in South Africa and got to the final of the tri series in Australia knocking out India along the way.
Their strength lies in their batting where they have high quality players with experience in Kumar Sangakarra, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene, who is once again named captain for a series against England.
Sri Lanka’s seam attack shouldn't trouble England’s batting too much. The hosts will rely heavily the two spinners they've selected - Sujay Randiv and Rangana Herath. Randiv has been recalled after taking 37 wickets for his club in five first-class domestic matches. Herath is the customary left arm spinner teams love to use against England’s batsmen, especially Kevin Pietersen.
Surprisingly Sri Lanka have left out their only mystery bowler Ajantha Mendis due to poor form. I reckon he could have troubled the techniques of some of England’s batsmen.
Preparing for a tour of Sri Lanka takes a lot of dedication to fitness, more so than anywhere else in the world due to the heat and humidity. When we toured there in 2001 and won, it was the peak of my fitness and definitely the fittest team I was ever involved in.
I prepared by spending lots of time in a sauna fully clothed doing press-ups and sit-ups, getting used to the effects it had on my body and I'm sure with the success I had it definitely worked.
I remember the day we arrived. We all had to do the customary bleep test and get to level 12.2 to be available for selection. We did it at lunchtime in heat of 120 degrees on a tennis court with no shade. Everyone passed which was unreal as there's always one or two that fail every tour. 
Looking back at that bleep test, I can see what the manager/coach was doing to us. He was testing us mentally and physically for what we had ahead.
What’s it like playing a test match in Sri Lanka? For a start, you seem to be drinking water non-stop to try and replace the fluids you lose during the heat of day. You get weighed in when you get to the ground and your weight is monitored after each session as you can lose up to 4kg in a single day, which you need to replace.
Whether you’re batting, bowling or fielding, it takes great concentration. When I bowled in Sri Lanka, we came up with a plan in the hottest part of the day of bowling one over spells so we were able to give our all for longer.
The new ball is important. It will swing early on and offer chances to make early in-roads. As the day goes on, you use clever variations of speed to preserve your strength.
England’s two spinners will be vital, bowling in tandem, hopefully creating pressure and taking wickets when they can before another new ball becomes available.
I've a strong feeling England will have learned from their mistakes against Pakistan and claim the series. Alastair Cook should once again score heavily - in 15 innings against Sri Lanka he averages 60.21.
Good luck, boys. Be prepared for a hard few weeks with plenty to drink and plenty of ice baths. Win the series then enjoy the victory as England do best!
A great ambassador for the sport of cricket; the perfect role model for youngsters all around the world; a gentleman on and off the pitch. What better way to start your press conference than with the words:
"My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple: it was about giving everything to the team, it was about playing with dignity and it was about upholding the spirit of the game."
That statement sums him up perfectly. Nicknamed 'The Wall', he was a man who stopped so many fast bowlers in their tracks and left them frustrated and out of steam. His solid technique stood up all around the world, and was proved by his record of becoming the first Indian batsman to score a century in all 10 Test-playing nations.
In an era of natural stroke players who tended to take the headlines - like a certain Tendulkar, Ponting, Lara, Kallis - Dravid fitted in the background, matching them run for run but almost going unnoticed.
However, I can assure you that the majority of fast bowlers around the world paid attention when he came to the crease, saw them off and sent them to bed totally drained by their efforts. He revelled in moments of crisis. He was the Indian batsman who always put his hand up when the ball was moving around and had sent back Sehwag, Ganguly, Laxman and Tendulkar.A lot of this was down to that exemplary technique which is the reason he excelled where othe Indian batsman failed in seamer-friendly conditions. Just look back to last year when England embarrassed India with a 4-0 drubbing: Dravid hit three centuries of the five he scored in the second half of 2011.
So why now people ask?
Well, after an unbelievable career spanning almost 16 years of Test cricket, beginning with that opening knock at Lords of 95, he seems to have decided enough is enough.
164 test matches, 13,288 runs at an average of 52.31, he is second only to Sachin Tendulkar and just ahead of Ricky Ponting. In addition he has 344 ODIs with 10,889 runs at 39.16.
These are quite extrordinary stats which are hard to keep up, especially as the years pass by. And after another drubbing by Australia I reckon he thought it was time for the youngsters to step up to the plate. On his final tour he was clean bowled six times in eight innings which tells you something was happening technically with his game.
Had he lost that desire he'd always had in abundance to go away and put in the hours required to fix your game or was it time to have some fun in the T20 and spend time with his family .
I wish a great player and a great man all the best in his retirement, but I'm certain we will see The Wall involved in Indian cricket again sometime as a coach or even the top man at the ICC.
What an amazing turnaround in form by Kevin Pietersen! Give him the white ball, a blue shirt and a 2lb 10oz bat and the world's his oyster - that and obviously not having to face spin at both ends when he first goes in as England decided to open the batting with him.
It was great to see KP's swagger back: the high bat lift, the intimidating figure coming running at the bowlers, that big lunge forward and, of course, the usual array of shots through the leg side as if to say to the bowlers: 'You can't bowl that rubbish to me'.
Having known KP for such a long time, as well as being his best man when he married Jessica, I know what makes him tick. After that match-winning knock, he'll have had his usual couple of beers and been talking cricket with his teammates with that smugness I absolutely love to bits.
Kevin always loves proving people wrong. Even when he was in a bad place form-wise, when most people would want to curl up and hide, he didn't. He came out to his hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers, admitted his form was not good enough and had to get better.
Then what did he do? He did what he always does. He worked his socks off to improve and find away to play Pakistan's impressive spinners.
In the one day series, KP definitely changed a few technical bits to his batting against spin. He looked to stay leg side, especially to the left arm spinner. He ran at Ajmal to hit him down the ground. He used the extra pace of Afridi to deflect the ball. He might have also slightly changed his top hand grip as well.
All this is typical KP, always working always trying to better himself. What really frustrates me, and always has, is that the general public don't see that side of him. What they see is a showman with class cars, expensive clothes and a pop star wife - he has everything and doesn't care.
Well, you're so wrong. I see an awesome talent who is always trying to better himself. Even with a £1.3m contract with the Delhi Daredevils for six weeks' work, he's not walked away from England's one day set up.
He wants to be remembered as one of England's finest batsman, if not the best. If his last two innings are anything to go by, he might just prove that.
Now Kevin has to get back to scoring consistent big scores in Test cricket, where you earn the real stripes as Ponting, Tendulkar and Dravid have done. That won't be easy with the next tour being to Sri Lanka where once again spin will try to come back and haunt him.
Congratulations to England on the clean sweep; four truly impressive performances totally outclassing Pakistan in all departments, even after bringing four players into the last game to give them a run out.
Blooding new players is vitally important with the next World Cup approaching fast. We need to get as many of what Andy Flower thinks our nucleus of players will be to 30 caps just as India, Sri Lanka, Australia and South Africa do leading into every World Cup.
Darren GoughFormer England strike bowler and Yorkshire captain Goughie talks all things cricket and occasionally shows off his knowledge of other sports...
