What have we learned from the fourth Test? Well, we saw plenty of Led Zeppelin from the new captain - a whole lotta love.

I don't know what he was playing in the dressing room before the Test match but it must have been 'Love is In the Air' by John Paul Young or 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer because Kevin Pietersen was certainly in an amorous mood at The Oval.

Pietersen: lots of love to give

There was all sorts of bottom-touching going on during the match and Ian Bell in particular seemed to enjoy the touchy-feely approach.

In all seriousness, I enjoyed Pietersen's captaincy and he's been saying all the right things. He wants the team to play like him and to attack, which is good to hear, and I was pleased that he said the batting was a concern.

The bowling's fine, but if you look at the statistics, South Africa got seven centuries and we got four. That's why they won the series, it's as simple as that.

I think it's time for a change. You've got to look at the opening batsmen and Andrew Strauss is the obvious candidate to go with Robert Key coming in.

The other guy who should be next on the list to come into the side is Owais Shah. It seems Ravi Bopara is preferred at the moment, but I feel he's second division.

There's a big difference between first and second division and for me it's Shah who should be knocking on the door.

A whole lotta gloves

As for the wicketkeeper, it seems that if you own a pair of gloves you might as well write to Geoff Miller because you'll get a game.

The merry-go-round continues and we're now going back to Matt Prior for the one-dayers. There's no reason why Tim Ambrose shouldn't come back for the India series but I personally feel the best two wicketkeepers are James Foster and Chris Read.

It seems the selectors don't like Read, while Foster hasn't had a look-in since his Essex colleague broke his arm when he was the England wicketkeeper. He's a far better keeper now than he was then.

I know the selectors like somebody who can do something with the bat, but on the hot, unresponsive pitches of India you need to take the catch if you get a nick off Rahul Dravid or Sachin Tendulkar.

I'd rather have a rock-solid keeper than somebody who can cobble together 30 or 40 runs at number seven, so I'd probably favour Foster.

Pain on the train

I had a nightmare travelling home from London on the train on Tuesday night because some silly sod had strapped himself to a bridge near Stoke and was threatening to chuck himself off.

They had to turn all the electrics off and I was stuck on the train for three hours. They should have let him get on with it if you ask me.

Speaking of difficult travel arrangements, I'm now faced with the task of sorting out a hectic winter.

I've got to sort out visas, flights, passports, hotels, connections and everything else for Pakistan, India and Antigua this winter, which is a very long process. It takes a lot of work to make sure the Sky Sports commentary team get to these matches.

It looks like I'm going to be flying back to London at about 7pm on Christmas Eve and it will be a real race against time to get to Manchester for Christmas. It's touch and go whether I'll be there.

I'm not saying there's downsides to this job, but it's a real adventure trying to get everywhere that I need to get to.

Hotel horror

Myself, Bob Willis and Walter (Paul Allot) will be down at the U-19s match this week and we're fed up of stopping in hotels - so we're stopping in a pub instead!

I'm tired of the impersonal style of hotels when they're a bit fancy and up themselves. Sometimes you go to reception and they turn the other way and start playing with bits of paper and I'm left shouting 'hello hello' at the backs of their heads.

I also don't understand why they ask you for a credit card when you arrive to pay for the 'extras that might be accrued'. If I'm there for six days, they take £50 a day off my credit card for 'extras' that I'm not going to use.

You get it back when you leave, but it seems stupid to pay for something that you don't want. In a pub you pay for things AFTER you've used them - and they don't charge you £3.50 for a pint either!

So the three of us are stopping in a nice pub this weekend, and we're hoping for a nice little lock-in while we're there!

Losing my Mojo

I had a bit of a disappointment this week, involving my favourite band The Fall.

A few weeks ago, their lead singer Mark E Smith was presented with a Mojo Award - but in typical fashion he gave it away because he didn't want it.

It's fallen into the hands of the guys on The Fall's Internet forum who are raising money for charity in honour of one of the forum members who died recently.

They decided to auction it on eBay and they said it was going to be put up in mid-August. Unfortunately I haven't been online as much as I should have and by the time I got to a computer I'd missed the end of the sale.

It went for £720 and I'd have paid more than that. So if whoever has bought it wants to sell it on for a bit more (say, £725...) then I'd be a willing buyer.

Give me my cap back

I'm rather annoyed with Hyndburn Borough Council (known as Accrington City Council in the good old days) after a chap called Chris Yates cleaned out a storeroom at the council offices and found my England cap in there.

I only played about nine times for England and I presented the cap to the town of Accrington on a permanent loan for them to display.

Anyway, my England cap has been stuck in a storeroom for years and years so I've asked for it back. However, the council have responded by saying they're 'not keen' to return it.

I'd love to know why they won't send it back to me because I really would quite like it. Can anybody help me?

Please get in touch if you can help. I want my cap back!

Bumble answers your questions...

Send your questions to Bumble by filling in the feedback form below. Or you can mail them in by clicking HERE

UP FOR THE CUP
Bumble... I see Accy won the Wood Cup final the other day. Many congratulations and your boy scored a fifty. But what's this I've heard that it was more like a Wild West punch up between the two sets of supporters. Neil Taylor.

BUMBLE REPLIES: Actually, it was the Worsley Cup final but I know what you mean. I had a phone call from my daughter who told me to get down there because the fans were all fighting. It sounds like there was a bit of a fracas between the fans which was totally unnecessary and the police had to sort it out. Otherwise, it was a good day for Accrington and I'm sure they had a beer with the Todmorden lads afterwards.

I want to play again, but the lads are going so well at the moment I can't get in the side. As well as the cup final, they're top of the league with about nine matches to go so I'm not sure I'll get in.

PRETTY GOOD POLLY
Hi Bumble. Being a South African fan, it was a joy to watch the series! A great victory indeed. Just one question. What do you make of Polly's commentary? He's new to the job and obviously has plenty to learn but what are your first impressions of him? Steve Farrell.

BUMBLE REPLIES: That's a good question and thanks for asking. First of all, he's a terrific fellow and a number one bloke. Furthermore, our technical people say he's the best South African commentator. We work with all of them, but they say his voice, his input, his knowledge and his discipline makes him stand out. He's with us for the one-dayers so we'll be hearing plenty more from him too.

Send your questions to Bumble by filling in the feedback form below. Or you can mail them in by clicking HERE

back to top