A momentous season is coming to an end and, in our final World of Cricket of the summer, Paul Newman gets together with Sportsmail columnists and Sky commentators Nasser Hussain and David 'Bumble' Lloyd to discuss the highs, the lows and the downright ridiculous…
NEWMAN: Gentlemen, this has been the year when England reached the top of the Test world. What stands out for you?
BUMBLE: It has been a vintage year because we can reflect on just how good England have become. It will be more difficult when we go abroad but for now we can all bask in the glory because there's no-one to touch England. Only South Africa come close.
Looking back: Bumble (left), Nasser (centre) and NewmanWhat stands out for me is that their fielding is out of sight from what it used to be. They genuinely enjoy stopping the opposition scoring runs. In the past we would talk about a player in selection meetings and say, 'He can't field but…' If anyone can't field now they don't get into the side. Simple as that.
NASSER: It has been a vintage year in the cricket England have played but not necessarily the opposition! The Sri Lanka series was a bit low-key with England doing what they had to do, but the bigger the series now the bigger England deliver and they were outstanding against India. I thought they would win but I didn't think it would be 4-0.
Top dog: Anderson has impressed this yearWe can talk about India being a disappointment but let's remember the bad old days when England would struggle. We should congratulate them now. I've said it's the best England team I've seen in my lifetime and I stand by that.
NEWMAN: Who has most impressed you this season?
NASSER: It has become almost a cliche to say Jimmy Anderson is the leader of the attack but that's exactly what he is. He is always the man for Andrew Strauss to turn to, and he and Dale Steyn are way ahead of all the other fast bowlers in the world. Stuart Broad, too, was always there at the big moments and well done to the selectors for standing by him.
BUMBLE: Alastair Cook is such a strong character. People say he's not good to watch. I think he's terrific to watch. Jonathan Trott is a machine, Kevin Pietersen is his old self again, a cut above, a special player. Ian Bell oozes class and Matt Prior is now the best keeper-batsman in the world. He got ridiculed at one point but he went away and worked at becoming the best.
Anderson gets under your skin, Broad is Mr Nasty, too, and I've got a soft spot for Samit Patel. The list goes on! I haven't mentioned Ravi Bopara. What a good player he is. Some of these lads are playing at the wrong time! A mention, too, for MS Dhoni. A lot of India's players have gone home but the captain has stood tall.
Three and easy: Broad took an impressive hat-trick earlier this summerNEWMAN: Do the achievements make you proud as a former England coach, Bumble?
BUMBLE: Yes, they do. It's all different now. I had David Graveney with me and he was brilliant in helping me fight battles. The trouble was, we didn't have the money then. We used to go cap in hand to the counties and say, 'Please rest him', and they were usually reticent. We had to educate the players, too. Can you imagine trying to get someone like Angus Fraser to have a rest? We'd get an earful from county members whenever we tried to do something to benefit England.
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NASSER: I enjoyed Bresnan v Tendulkar at The Oval. You could feel the tension as the Little Master moved towards his 100th hundred. Then the ball hit his pads, it didn't look plumb, but Rod Tucker gave it without the fallback of the review system. We all waited for HawkEye and that said he was right. Can you imagine if he'd got it wrong? Part of me wanted Sachin to get it so I could say I was there but I also thought it would have papered over the cracks.
NEWMAN: What are your thoughts on the domestic season?
NASSER: It's clearly been a good year for young players and the likes of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, James Taylor and Alex Hales are progressing nicely. They are all batsmen, though. I do worry about the bowling, but having said that Jade Dernbach has come through the county system with his variations. Scheduling is still all over the place. I enjoy Twenty20 and I still like finals day but the competition was too long.
BUMBLE: Everyone has realised there are far too many Twenty20 matches. That's being addressed. There's still a big appetite for it, but people are picking and choosing what they watch. We should have semi-finals played at different grounds with the final at Lord's. I reckon it would stand alone.
People go to a football match that lasts 90 minutes so they would travel for a three-hour cricket match. Finals day is very long for youngsters and, going back to the mission statement of 2003, this is a game for families.
NEWMAN: What has been the funniest moment of the summer?
BUMBLE: Taking my little Jim Bowen zapper thing into the commentary box. It kept on saying 'super, smashing, great. Let's have a look at what you could have won'. Shane Warne was in tears of laughter! In the end our producer confiscated it. He said, 'I think we've had enough of that…'
NASSER: Bumble getting thrown out of the Old Trafford pavilion!
Steady head: Cook has enjoyed a superb year with the batBUMBLE: Two directors came to my house and apologised for that and I just hope they put it right. Everyone up here is taking the mickey out of me. I went into Waitrose and someone said, 'You shouldn't be in here. You'll get thrown out'.
The sadness is that there are so many people who do so much for that club, like Lee Morgan and Jeff Durbin. But it's clearly a problem the ground has. Someone contacted me and said they had taken their girlfriend to her first game and she had a tiny bottle of perfume confiscated! She was told, 'You might break that and stab someone with it'. Health and safety gone mad! She said she will never go to a cricket match again.
Howzat: Bresnan took Tendulkar's wicket as the India star was closing in on his one hundredth tonNASSER: My favourite moment was actually seeing Bumble hit Murali for two sixes in that charity game. When he was our coach he would tell us never to sweep, to use our feet to the spinners, and we used to say, 'OK coach, whatever you say', and ignore him. Then the old boy showed us the way to go against a bloke with 800 Test wickets…
NEWMAN: Dare I say it but it's been the year of the donkey, too. Mike Atherton called Cook one and now India have taken offence at you saying a couple of their fielders were donkeys, Nass.
BUMBLE: Questions have been asked in the Indian parliament! It's a common term in cricket. I remember someone once saying, 'We flipping murdered 'em', and causing a stir so I'm keeping out of it!
NASSER: I don't want to say too much about this because I have found the reaction amazing. I just can't believe the fuss over what is a bit of cricket slang. It's a term I used all the time when I was a captain. Nothing personal was intended.
NEWMAN: Anything you would change?
NASSER: The Tiflex ball in the second division doesn't work. I can't understand why we are using it. It's not developing England players. Why would you want to bowl fast when you can take wickets nibbling it around?
BUMBLE: Fielders should not have a substitute unless they are seriously injured. Also, lads, let's have a bit more respect for the officials, please. The majority were players once, just like you.
NEWMAN: Gentlemen, it's been a pleasure.
NEWMAN'S FINAL WORDMost impressive ground: Edgbaston. The new development is fantastic. That's the way to do it, Lancashire and Yorkshire…
Grounds for concern: Will Cardiff ever be a viable venue for international cricket? Glamorgan's very future may depend on it.
Moment of the summer: Stuart Broad's hat-trick at Trent Bridge. A class act showed that form may be temporary…
Most disappointing recruitment: Notts exploiting the regulations to sign Riki Wessels on an 'entrepreneur' visa. The county game has moved on from myopia and doesn't need that. Also, why did Hampshire try to sign James Foster when they have such a talented young keeper in Michael Bates? It's time we remembered that top keeping is a skill that should be respected and preserved.
Man of the summer: Andy Flower - the colossus in a mightily impressive England set-up. It is a pleasure to follow them around the world.
