Phillip Hughes, Australia’s next big batting thing, had a torrid time against Andrew Flintoff in the Ashes, losing his place after two Tests of nervous jerking and hopping around the crease, avoiding short balls.

He next appears on the global radar forming an impressive opening partnership with David Warner for New South Wales in the Champions League. At the start of the semi-final against Victoria, he was the tournament’s leading run scorer.

But these two performances, once you see them in the flesh, are surprisingly similar. He’s got a big glitch in his technique – he got found out in the Ashes and is riding his luck for his state.

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The failure of any of the three Indian Premier League teams to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League has been treated by some like a victory for pure sport – as if such a concept exists any more – over its adulterated cousin. But, for county cricket, the IPL’s under-performance has also been a handy smokescreen. Because let’s face it: Somerset and Sussex haven’t exactly matched the Diwali fireworks either.

Six games involving the two counties yielded five defeats (one of them following a Super Over in which Sussex lost wickets to the first two balls) and a victory that said as much about Deccan Chargers’ disarray as it did about the fighting spirit of James Hildreth and Alfonso Thomas. If the inaugural Champions League has flown the flag – get that pennant a sponsor! – for Australian competitiveness and the national pride and broad blades of Trinidad & Tobago, it has also cast yet another shadow over the quality of our domestic game.

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