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WHAT A HARMY, BARMY SUMMER: IT HAS been an amazing season, one which saw the tearful departure of Michael Vaughan as England captain and the spectacular arrival of a new era led by Kevin Pietersen. It also saw the surreal arrival by helicopter at Lord's of an American called Allen Stanford, who promised to make the England players very rich indeed, and further dramatic developments in the Twenty20 revolution which promised to transform the game. Here, in my final column of the season, I look back at an eventful six months and hand out my end-of-season awards … PLAYER of the season: Steve Harmison. Looked certain he would never be seen at the highest level again after a desperate performance in the first Test in New Zealand. How pleasing it is that he now looks as hostile as ever. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KP KEEPS CALLING, BUT I WON'T BE BACK: HIS EYES light up with the enthusiasm of a self-confessed 'cricket nut' as he talks about the prospect of being in the first Somerset team to win the County Championship, but Marcus Trescothick now knows there is more to life. The past two-and-a-half years have ensured that. He lived and breathed the game until his complete obsession with it brought him to his knees. But Trescothick hopes he is over the worst of the mental illness that not only robbed England of one of the best batsmen of his generation but, more importantly, threatened the family life he holds so dear. He has emerged stronger and wiser but with a tinge of regret at being cut off in his international prime. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE England wicketkeeping merry-go-round looks sure to claim another victim, with Tim Ambrose the latest to struggle with the unique demands of trying to fill the gloves vacated by Alec Stewart. The man originally earmarked for the job, meanwhile, continues to quietly go about his business as the best keeper-batsman in the country. James Foster, then 21, was selected in Stewart's place for the tours of India and New Zealand seven years ago and he might still have been the man in possession of what has become a poisoned chalice but for an accident that threw his career off track. Foster, who will be one of the key men for Essex in Saturday's Twenty20 finals day at the Rose Bowl, was not wearing an armguard when he batted in the nets at Chelmsford early in 2002 and a ball from team-mate Andy Clarke broke his forearm. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

WHO CAN lay claim to being the cricketer of the season so far? Kevin Pietersen, perhaps? Ian Bell, for the best Test innings of his life? How about a 28-year-old from Colchester who has lived the life of a journeyman for the past 10 years but who has been catapulted into the spotlight by the most spectacular month of his career? Just occasionally, sport throws up unlikely feelgood success stories that prove nice guys can prosper. The case of Graham Napier is just such a tale. Three months ago, a cricketer barely heard of outside the domestic circuit was seriously considering his future and a new life as a photographer. Well, Napier can forget about all that now. As well as leading Essex's challenge in next week's Twenty20 finals day and next month's Friends Provident Trophy final, Napier looks certain to play in next year's Indian Premier League and could be selected for Allen Stanford's challenge game in Antigua, gatecrashing the richest match in history. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THIRTEEN years ago, a group of England's best young players enjoyed a highly productive 'A' tour of Pakistan, impressing on and off the field under skipper Nasser Hussain. ONE of the best things about the English game is the diversity of characters within it. THE subject of his 100th hundred is off-limits now as every dismissal adds to the tension of the time bomb that is Mark Ramprakash. I'VE JUST been to Hove where Lancashire looked more likely than Sussex to make a push for the title, with a potent homegrown pace attack of Sajid Mahmood, Andrew Flintoff and Glen Chapple complemented by the probing spin of Gary Keedy. I AM losing patience with the England one-day team after their performances against New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

FAMOUS 5 ON TOP OF THEIR TV GAME: MOST people are happy to watch one television screen when the cricket is on. Mark Lynch sits and stares at 78 of them. Mind you, Lynch is not just any old viewer. As the director of Sky TV's Test coverage, he has to watch the action from every conceivable angle via 31 cameras all complemented by the various gizmos that are such an integral part of the pictures these days. To cap it all, Lynch can tell the operator of each camera exactly what he wants to see. His choice automatically becomes the viewer's. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The man behind the 2005 Ashes triumph has been seething quietly since he quit after the World Cup. Now he is ready to lift the lid on his reign and starts with a withering attack on Andrew Flintoff's leadership of England's tour Down Under: Duncan Fletcher sits in the shadow of Table Mountain and ponders his next challenge. At 59, he looks fit and healthy and ready to consign to history the bitter end to his time with England. What he has in mind will surprise you. 'I spent two years in county cricket and I'd like to do that again,' said Fletcher. He is back home in Cape Town and this is his first interview since resigning as England coach in April. He is in combative form. 'I think I have become a hell of a better coach since my time at Glamorgan and I know how to handle situations better. Having gained the experience I gained with England, it would be nice to go back and put into practice what I perceive to be missing in county cricket.' Hold on a minute. Is Fletcher not the man who had a barely concealed disdain, even contempt, for county cricket as he battled to ensure the England team always came first in the often confused priorities of the domestic game? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

GRAHAM THORPE gazed out at The Oval ground where he spent 18 years with Surrey and smiled as he contemplated his new life as the Pom who has been asked to teach the Australians to play cricket. Even by the standards of Thorpe's eventful life, it is an unlikely twist to the tale. This is a man whose personal problems were played out in public when an acrimonious divorce threatened to force him out of cricket prematurely before he was denied a part in the Ashes success of 2005. Now, having survived all that fate could throw at him, he has rebuilt his life in Sydney with his second wife and their two children. Dull it is not. Thorpe is the new assistant coach of New South Wales, a promotion which has followed two years as a batting advisor to Australia's premier state team. It is a rare invitation for an outsider into the harsh world of Australian cricket, and one that could well see him emerge as a candidate for the top coaching jobs in this country. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ONCE again, the World of Cricket's 'three wise men' dispense wisdom on the burning issues of the day. Sitting around the table are Surrey captain Mark Butcher (top, right), Hampshire's former England batsman John Crawley (middle) and Lancashire's adopted Aussie Stuart Law (bottom). Cricket correspondent Paul Newman is in the chair. Paul Newman: Gentlemen, how was Twenty20 for you amid the deluges? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TWENTY20 NO LONGER JUST A HIT AND GIGGLE: THE sold out signs are going up outside county grounds across the country. Twenty20 -- cricket's biggest phenomenon -- is back. The fifth season of the Twenty20 Cup begins tomorrow and the short form England gave the world is more popular than ever. International cricket is finally catching up with a fashion set by the counties and the first Twenty20 World Cup will be held in South Africa in September. The two England v West Indies matches at The Brit Oval next Thursday and Friday have been sold out since Christmas. But it is in the domestic game that the impact has been most profound. From players to administrators to commentators, converts can be found everywhere and even traditionalists have started to accept it as part of their cricketing diet. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

MICHAEL Vaughan's 'Fredalo' spat has been the hot topic of the week as once again we bring together our 'Three Wise Men' of county cricket -- Surrey captain Mark Butcher, Hampshire's former England batsman John Crawley and Lancashire's 'English' Australian Stuart Law -- to tackle the burning issues of the day. . . PAUL NEWMAN: You have all been around a long time and know how dressing rooms work. What did you make of the row between Vaughan and Flintoff that overshadowed the build-up to the third Test? STUART LAW: It reminded me of last winter when England left Monty Panesar out of the first two Ashes Tests. After that Duncan Fletcher started saying things like 'I don't pick the team on my own' and basically put the blame on to Freddie. Now Vaughan also decided to kick Flintoff in the guts when he didn't have a leg to stand on by bringing up something that happened months ago and was dealt with at the time. That can't go down well in a team environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A TURBULENT journey that began amid triumph in Kennington, south- east London, reaches its defining moment after almost two years of continuous setbacks amid the architectural splendour of Florence tomorrow when the career of one of England's most popular figures could conceivably come to an end. On a day when Andrew Flintoff -- England's biggest 2005 Ashes hero -- was suffering another injury blow, one of the other key figures from that momentous final day at The Oval was in Tuscany awaiting his appointment with destiny. Few Italians would have recognised the man on crutches, but then anonymity has been the constant companion of Ashley Giles during his long and lonely struggle through two hip operations. Giles sees the man he calls 'Mr Hip' tomorrow for an assessment on his troublesome joint knowing that, if the news is bad, his career could come to an abrupt halt. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ENGLAND'S incredible journey towards the summit of world cricket is facing an examination every bit as fierce as that provided by Australia during the unforgettable Ashes summer. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss has welcomed the inclusion of the Test series in the ICC's referral system experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE time for concentrating on who knifed Kevin Pietersen in his battle with Peter Moores, who is friends with whom and how much money is sloshing around in the Indian Premier League should be over. Now must be the day when all England's energies are focused on beating West Indies and gaining momentum ahead of the Ashes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

SEVEN English players have made the final cut in the Indian Premier League auction and will go forward on a 'short-list' of 43 overseas players for around 12 slots in Friday's auction in Goa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ANDREW FLINTOFF will today continue his attempt to be fit for tomorrow's first Test but still has work to do here to convince England he can get through a five- day match after damaging his left side during practice in St Kitts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

STUART BROAD was a young bowler making his way in the game with Leicestershire when England won the Ashes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE good news for England is that Andrew Flintoff bowled at just under threequarter pace in the nets yesterday and then joined this warm-up game for four overs as a fielding substitute. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BILL FRINDALL, who died yesterday aged 69, was known to millions of cricket fans who followed the game through BBC radio's Test Match Special simply as 'The Bearded Wonder.' Frindall (right), born in Epsom, Surrey, was perhaps the only person to become famous for scoring cricket matches. After joining the BBC team in 1966, he scored 377 Tests all over the world, earning a reputation for accuracy and weird and wonderful facts. Frindall was still going strong in India before Christmas with the drawn Test at Mohali proving to be his last. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE QUALITY of the opposition was cranked up several notches yesterday and England were forced to endure a day of unmitigating toil as a pair of young Trinidadians showed them that this Caribbean tour may be a lot tougher than many expect. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

FOUR more England players have been added to the 114-name list who are competing for 11 overseas places in the Indian Premier League when the second auction takes place in Goa next week. Matt Prior, Sajid Mahmood, Ed Joyce and Dominic Cork have thrown their names into a large hat to bring the England contingent to 19 — Shaun Udal has pulled out to concentrate on Middlesex — but only Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff are guaranteed places. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

STEVE HARMISON must impress over the next three days in England's final match before the first Test if he is to return to the scene of his greatest triumph. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

AS MANY as 17 English players, including Darren Gough and Shaun Udal, could feature in the 50-strong list of names which will be put forward tomorrow for the second Indian Premier League auction. Most will be left disappointed. Only 10 or so places remain for overseas players in the IPL draft, which takes place in Goa on February 6, but the list will include England's Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Jimmy Anderson, Monty Panesar, Ryan Sidebottom, Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Steve Harmison, Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, Graeme Swann and Luke Wright. The six others on either central or incremental contracts — Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan, Stuart Broad, Matt Prior and Tim Ambrose — have elected not to offer themselves but they have until next Wednesday before entry closes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ENGLAND enjoyed a satisfactory work-out in their warm- up match at Warner Park yesterday but their thoughts were firmly fixed a thousand miles west from here on an absent friend. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KEVIN PIETERSEN, still angry at his acrimonious departure as captain, hit a spectacular century on the first day of England's Caribbean tour, then demanded a proper explanation for the messy way he was forced out of office. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE celebration was brief and low key but the satisfaction felt by Kevin Pietersen was immense. Here was the man, whose treatment by England left him bruised and battered, reminding everyone of both his commitment and importance to the cause on a day when his successor was dismissed second ball. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ENGLAND'S top players gained a significant victory over the ECB yesterday when they were cleared to spend three weeks in the Indian Premier League in April, even though it means they will have no firstclass preparation before the first Test this summer. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

MUSHTAQ AHMED was forced to defend his reputation yesterday as he began the task of returning Monty Panesar to the top of the cricketing world. England's new spin-bowling coach has been handed responsibility for restoring Panesar's confidence after a chastening tour of India -- and ensuring Adil Rashid fulfils his enormous potential. Yet England's judgment in bringing on board one of the world's best leg-spinners has been questioned, following his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal that blighted Pakistan cricket a decade ago and the damning verdict on his suitability for high office in an official report into the affair. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ANDY FLOWER will begin work today as England's 'caretaker' coach knowing that Kevin Pietersen wanted him sacked in the bitter battle for supremacy that cost Pietersen the captaincy and Peter Moores his job. Former Zimbabwe captain Flower steps into the shoes of Moores for England's tour of the West Indies although he has insisted on retaining his title of assistant coach. Now he must resume his relationship with the deposed captain which has been tested to the limit by the knowledge that Pietersen wanted him out along with Moores. 'Yes, it was the case that Kevin wanted me to go, too,' said Flower, who was recruited by Moores to be his No 2 when the latter became England coach 18 months ago. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

HIS inauguration may have come 11 days ago at Lord's, but Andrew Strauss was properly sworn in as England captain yesterday when he outlined his vision for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KEVIN Pietersen stopped short of accusing the ECB of betrayal yesterday when he broke his silence on the controversy that cost him his job, but it is clear he feels badly let down by his employers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ENGLAND applied another sticking plaster to their gaping wounds yesterday when they made Andrew Strauss one-day captain even though he has not been deemed good enough for their limited overs side for almost two years. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

NEW England captain Andrew Strauss yesterday backed Kevin Pietersen to score the runs to ignite this Ashes year. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]