how wonderful life is, now you're in the world.

england wrapped a 1-0 series win against sri lanka early monday evening after yet more rain in southampton - the match was abandoned after a lack lustre fifth day at the rose bowl. persistent downpours ensured rain was the true winner of the three match test series but it gave england batsmen valuable time at the crease and more opportunties for the bowling attack to shine. these matches were always going to be considered a prelude to india's summer visit but some players had to put in quality performances to sustain their place in the team and then replicate them in a month or so's time.

cardiff was the setting for the first test - still with its doubters questioning why a test match should be played in wales, a place known rather for love of rugby not cricket. after a rainy first day, early friday evening england were put into bat with a target of 401. alastair cook and jonathan trott frustrated the sri lankan bowlers for hours and showed they intended to carry on their winter form, scoring 133 and 203 respectively. a fantastic century from bell, meant england declared on 496-5. however, due to the weather england had incredibly little time on the last day to bowl sri lanka out. the sensational last day at sophia garden was most definitely the hightlight of the series and will forever live in the memory. traditional welsh weather had meant england had just over a session to complete mission-almost-impossible. james anderson had been ruled out of bowling after suffering from a grade one side strain, leaving england a bowler short amd an even higher mountain to climb. luckily the three remaining bowlers stepped up and achieved the unthinkable - sri lanka were bowled out for 82, graeme swann and chris tremlett taking four wickets each. with only three days between the first and second test, it was important that andrew strauss' men did not get carried away with the victory and concentrated on securing the test series win to move england up the world rankings.

sadly, the lords test did not live up to the drama at cardiff, although two factors remained: the good old british weather and sadly, another low score from captain strauss. the batsmen recovered well from the early losses of strauss and trott, the middle order looking particularly impressive. cook was four shy of yet another test century before being caught out, after a risky shot - untypical of cook's usual patience. bell, morgan, prior and broad all scoring strongly and quickly. bell, a consistent performer for england, showed real class with morgan putting england in a favourable position. an entertaining century from wicketkeeper prior plus bonus runs from broad, put 486 on the board. england's huge bowling attack were expected to take quick wickets in reply but a lively innings of 193 from dilshan proved the bowlers were in for a tough ride before a lengthy rain delay. a collapse by the sri lankan batsmen and an upturn in england's fortunes on day four, made for an exciting end to the match. sadly too many overs were lost to rain and the main event from day five was 'windowgate' - less said about that the better.

with the series at 1-0 england, many began to call for changes to the bowling attack - one in particular. after steven finn's four wickets at lords and jimmy anderson's return to fitness, someone had to go. stuart broad had disappointed in both previous tests and england's new t20 captain's place in the side seem to be under threat. i do not believe the ecb would put so much faith in broad over three yeats and then drop him after two average games. broad has the passion and agression which makes him a fantastic team player, alongside the hatful of wickets he's taken in all forms of the game. his contribution with the bat at lords showed yet another reason to keep him in the side.
credit to steven finn, who made the most of his opportunity in the side and earned the plaudits of many, including myself. within two years, he will be an england regular - mark my words.he just has to be patient and keep impressing for middlesex. his time will come and not many were expecting the dramatic upturn in chris tremlett's internation career over the last twelve months.

this brings me swiftly on to the third test where the previously mentioned tremlett, grabbed all the headlines after taking career best figures of 6-48. after dismissing sri lanka for 184, england knew the constant rain delays meant they had to score a lot of runs in a short amount of time, made alot harder by the early wickets of strauss and trott. luckily england had an inform kevin pietersen at the crease scoring 85 off 115 deliveries, adding to his half century at the home of cricket in the previous test. an aggressive pietersen was a welcome sight for england fans and his problems against left arm spin, was temporarily forgotten. yet another entertaining innings from bell kept a rain soaked crowd at the rose bowl happy after more rain and a rather peculiar decision by the umpires on the timing of tea. nightwatchman anderson had contributed 27 earlier on in the day including five fours before being caught by wicketkeeper jayawardene. eoin morgan scored 71 before a flurry of wickets fell - morgan, prior and broad were all dismissied trying to increase the run rate. strauss declared on 377-8, giving england four sessions (weather permitting) to bowl sri lanka out cheaply. stand in captain sangakkara and samaraweera looked in good nick and finally managed to score big runs in england, something previously lacking from their glittering careers. the much forecasted day five rain set in at tea and just before five, the match was abandoned and it was confirmed that england had won the series.

although it wasn't the most exciting of test series, england have much to treasure from these three games, before the real test of the summer - india, number one in the world rankings and world cup winners.

crazy little thing called love.

the newspapers love it, sky sports news are full of it and its all over social networking sites. what is this 'it' i hear you ask. well of course, its the annual 'arsenal are in crisis' stories. we get them around the same time every year when journalists are bored with transfer gossip. 'trouble at the emirates' read the daily mirror, with reference to the 'unrest' concerning arsenal fans. i wouldn't expect it to be anything but dramatised & senstationalised, however the daily mirror failed to focus on the majority of arsenal fans: those who believe in arsene wenger and have faith in him to deliver. this summer, without a ball even being kicked, is an incredibly important summer for the club. time to ditch the deadwood holding us back and invest in quality players, who have the talent it takes to play 'the arsenal way', and have the passion to endear themselves to the emirates crowd.

as a seventeen year old life long arsenal fan, i have no first hand experience of arsenal without arsene. the thought of getting rid of wenger would not even cross my mind. i trust wenger completley. i understand fans' frustration, as am one myself but you must have faith. a fans revolt would fill tabloids and give journalists a field day - that is not the arsenal way, we don't believe in PR stunts and airing our dirty linen in public. its apparent wenger has full support of the players, its about time a certain minority of fans see how important he is, instead of trying to line up his replacement.

the situation at aston villa is a prime example of a 'troubled club' - the story dominating the electronic and print media: arsenal do not need this kind of press attention and we should be thankful that we have a good manager, good board (well usually)and good fans. the trophies will come. we need to remain positive: our hopes have been cruelly dashed every season for six years but we have the quality to change this.