This is the first Six and Out post here on CaughtBehind, and I’ve thought long and hard about what to write. I could have done a nice newsy piece, or even a simple intro, or even just a flagrant advert for Six and Out. But then it occurred to me - what better way to open my account here than by having a go at someone, cause a stir, even. And who better to have a go at than… well, the Australians.

The first time that a young talent called Ramnaresh Sarwan attracted worldwide attention was in a West Indies v Pak series in the Caribbean in 2000, one which ended in a cliff hanger of a final Test, featuring an epic bowling effort from Wasim Akram for the losing side. Sarwan was an extremely attractive batsman then, perhaps even more than he is now, and with supreme wrists and concise footwork he looked capable of scoring in bulk for his once-great side against bowling of all kinds during the years to follow.

It’s quite a rarity. Durham will be seeing more of Steve Harmison this season than they have for years. England’s selectors have decreed that Harmison is not sufficiently match-fit to earn a place in the Test side.

We’re disappointed about this because Steve Harmison’s one of our favourite players. It’s also about time that Destructive Steve Harmison showed his face, rather than Faintly Underwhelming Steve Harmison. We’re not as big a fan of Faintly Underwhelming Steve Harmison and he’s been playing more and more matches for England recently. Stephen Fleming once described Harmison as ‘like Glenn McGrath, only more dynamic’. We’d like to see more of that guy.

In a typically whimsical fashion, the International Cricket Circus Council has decided on it’s interpretation of a “quality” test match pitch.

The good news is that pitches are allowed to support bounce, seam movement and turn. The bad news is that the ICC has decided that a good pitch is one which has good carry and seam movement for the first 92 minutes 30 seconds of play on days one and two, ensures balls seaming away to the extent of five degrees between lunch and tea for the first four days and does not allow the ball to turn any more than 3 degrees between tea and stumps on the first three days and between lunch and stumps on the last two days. Good luck measuring that!

Richard Boock of the NZ Herald, who always seems to have the inside oil, says that New Zealand Cricket is about to cut the contracts of four long serving New Zealand players. It is no surprise that Chris Harris, Paul Wiseman and Daryl Tuffey are for the chop. Harris and Wiseman have both hit the late-30s and haven’t done an awful lot to impress over the last year and Tuffey has yet to return from a long lay-off due to injury and public humiliation. The one player who might be a surprise casualty is Craig McMillan.