KEY POINTS:
Kevin Pietersen has turned switch-hitting into cricket's hot topic but I don't expect the tactic to become all the rage.
He made headlines by hitting two sixes off Scott Styris, after changing from a right- to left-handed stance.
In reality though, it is not a great six-hitting option. The degree of difficulty is extreme.
And since the main aim of such strokes is to take fielders out of play, there's not much point in adopting an unfamiliar and weaker technique.
The aim of the more common reverse sweep is to encourage the fielding side to take a man out of the leg side and put an extra fielder behind point. That opens up more options for scoring singles.
And that's how I suspect the switch hit will come to be used and even then only sparingly.
There is certainly no need to legislate against it but law makers need to consider how umpires will adjudicate lbw decisions. The left- and right-handed stances are pivotal to the rules, so what happens if a player is hit on the pads when it isn't overly clear if he was in the left- or right-handed position. Glad I don't have to sort out that one.
On the subject of laws, fans should accept that situations such as the bizarre ending to the rain shortened one dayer at Edgbaston will happen.
England did what they had to do to get the no result. Despite claims they engineered a disgraceful go-slow, bowling 19 overs in 83 minutes isn't all that bad. I actually believe these kinds of things add to the drama and romance in the game.
The Black Caps will be keen to get Jacob Oram back into the lineup. His absence leaves a hole. Despite the lack of victories, it hasn't been a disastrous tour.
One positive has been the contribution of Oram's replacement Grant Elliott, and I suspect he will hold his place when Oram returns.
The team has not performed to the level they would have liked to, but they haven't really underperformed either. The senior guys _ Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Oram _ have done pretty well and the team just needs to build its strength across the board.
Whilst on paper the results don't look flash, you need to assess these in the context of the ability of this side. The reality is they are very inexperienced. To beat England in England in the tests was not a realistic goal when you consider that only the 1999 side _ which most regard as NZ's best ever test side _ managed to achieve that.
It would be fair to say that the current team is below the level of its more experienced predecessors and it needs to set its sights accordingly.
