In the beginning there was Test cricket.

At some points it was timeless, at others it was six days long with a day off in the middle, but it was always the longest, most testing, and most revered form of the game.

Then, to spice things up, there came limited-overs cricket. 60 overs-a-side, then 50, with World Cups and coloured clothing and excitement. It got a little stale, and there were too many meaningless (and occasionally suspect) bilateral and tri-series in far-flung venues. Eventually, it lost its crowds.

And then there was Twenty20 cricket, with its three-and-a-half-hour format, its

Martin Guptill, barring a miraculous recovery, has played his last match in this series.

But the New Zealand opener is no stranger to miracles, prising victory from the jaws of defeat for England after coming out to bat having retired hurt after pulling a hamstring.

People who look like walking is an intense effort (Mike Gatting excepted) are not generally associated with great feats of batsmanship.

And nobody would have begrudged Guptill an evening with the medics, assessing his injury and working out what the best way would be to get him ready for the Tests next month.

But Martin Guptill is

England have gone to India and lost an ODI series once again - but 3-2 sounds an awful lot better than the 5-0 drubbing they suffered in 2011.

There were positives; England will point to the fact that the result came without the likes of Jonathan Trott, James Anderson and Graeme Swann, all of whom would surely command a place in the side had they not been rested.

But there were familiar failings, as two predictable batting collapses took the wind out of their sails, and the wicketkeeper and strike bowler got changed midway through the series.

So with the series done and dusted, all that's

Keeping wicket for England in limited-overs cricket is, it seems, an impossible task. Many have tried to fit the role, but all have fallen short of what was expected and have been duly replaced.

Jos Buttler, the 22-year-old Somerset star from Taunton, became the 13th different wicketkeeper England have employed in the one-day format alone since 2002, and he is unlikely to occupy the position for an extended period.

Perhaps more than with any other position, wicketkeepers are constantly scrutinised, with runs, catches and stumpings closely monitored and compared with all the alternative

Stuart Broad isn’t in India because it snowed so much that he ended up coming home from Heathrow Airport yesterday. What’s the rest of the England ODI team’s excuse?

England lost the toss in the third game of the series against India in Ranchi, but they were given a chance to bat on what looked a very good pitch, because of concerns over bowling in the dew later. No matter – by the time they were all out, there was precious little chance of either side having to cope with the moist ball in the Indian evening.

What followed was everything that was wrong with England’s ODI batting over the last

Cow Corner gets things right with the regularity of a stopped clock, so you’ll forgive it taking you back almost two years to the day that Jade Dernbach was parachuted into England’s World Cup squad.

Dernbach was a surprise inclusion, and Cow's concern back then was that the Surrey bowler had been picked on potential, rather than performance:

‘Never mind his credentials as a cricketer, Miller explained that the Johannesburg-born bowler is "a talented athlete".

Now, forgive Cowers if he is overly cynical in this regard, but that very term used by Miller to justify the decision is in keeping

It’s a New Year in cricket, so that can mean only one thing: new rules for one-day internationals.

The ODI is a curious beast – it lacks the depth of Test cricket, and it does not possess the dynamism and pace of T20.

In a calendar that is bursting at the seams, it’s the format that has the least powerful compelling reasons to continue. The argument that it makes a stack of advertising rupees in India is not, despite certain influential voices to the contrary, a particularly good one.

So what’s the answer? Give the format a little tweak. Not a Shane Warne-esque rip, not a even a Graeme

Looking back at 2012, it was not the greatest year for England after the glorious successes of the previous campaign, but it ended with a stunning success in India.

From the Kevin Pietersen debacle and under-performance in the World Twenty20, to the poor performances against Pakistan in the UAE and a home series defeat to South Africa, England did not have much to remember fondly until the winter tour.

But the colourful triumph of a resurgent West Indies side in the shortest form of the game and the unwavering rise to glory from South Africa provided much to be admired.

There have been