Good Week For...

New Zealand

The focus has largely been on the weakness of the opposition, but there's no doubt that New Zealand have a new ruthlessness about them.

Last year they allowed Zimbabwe to chase down a record total in the third ODI of a series that the Black Caps had already won. But this time around the Kiwis have not only sewn up the series whitewash they should have had last year, they've also won each game of the one-day series by bigger and bigger margins.

There seems to be a new sense of belief about the squad, which has seen the size of its base grow as new players come in and make impressive contributions.

Their performance on Thursday led one C365er to remark that South Africa may well have their work cut out for them on their upcoming tour, and SA bowling coach Allan Donald - who coached the Black Caps in the lead-up to last year's World Cup - seems to agree.

"I've seen in the media that they are thinking of taking us on on green wickets," Donald told the South African newspaper Business Day. "That tells you what a difference John Wright and John Buchanan have made. The Black Caps are playing with more self-belief than I've seen in years."

Ian Bell

While a sorry end to an entirely wretched series for Bell should have him in the latter category of our weekly judgement, the plighted Englishman can take solace in not being selected for the limited-overs series.

Monday's dismissal for just 10 capped a mere 51 runs in six innings against Pakistan. Add to that the duck, dozen and three he scored in the UAE warm-up matches, and the right-hander will be happy to get away from Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Instead of waiting his turn, hoping to crack the nod ahead of Jos Buttler or Ravi Bopara, in the ODI and T20I starting XIs, Bell is instead afforded the chance to head home, clear his head, and correct his mental game ahead of the Tests in Sri Lanka.

The 29-year-old is historically a fragile character. Rather than riding the chop-and-change nature of England's rotating limited-overs teams, time in the Warwickshire nets will serve him well. Let Bopara, Buttler and Samit Patel have their day in the sun. This is not the end of the road of Bell, as coach Andy Flower has confirmed time and time again this week.

Affiliate nations cricket

Just four years ago, Afghanistan were battling in Division Five of the World Cricket League, playing against countries like Japan, Botswana, Nepal and Vanuatu. These days they find themselves not just participating in Division One, but battling competitively against Ireland, Kenya, Scotland and the Netherlands. This week the Middle East nation stepped up to an even higher level as they play their first full ODI against a Test-playing nation in the form of Pakistan.

They are already making strides in Twenty20 cricket having played at the 2010 World Twenty20 and, despite losing their two matches to South Africa and India, Afghanistan are heading in the right direction.

There are plans to get Afghanistan up to Associate status which brings extra funding from the ICC, and a good showing against the Pakistanis could go a long way to helping them achieve this goal before the end of next year.

There is already talk of another ODI against Bangladesh, but that is yet to be finalised and with four qualifying places up for grabs for the 2015 World Cup, matches against other Test-playing nations will go a long way to strengthen their cricket.

Bad Week For...

England

During the first Test, the Sky broadcast team brought up a list of statistics for each of the English batsmen against spin. All of them averaged over 30, some of them more than 40, leading the commentators to state that England's batsmen are rather good at playing spin.

So much for that prognosis.

Of course what the commentators failed to point out was that very few of the runs shown on screen had been scored in Asian conditions. Facing Michael Beer in Australia is a different prospect to Saeed Ajmal or Ravichandran Ashwin on dry pitches, and while the England team management surely would have recognised this before the Pakistan series, it could be argued that they did not appreciate how wide the chasm is between those two experiences.

To be fair to Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower, they did acknowledge last year that the toughest test was probably yet to come. The one-day series against Pakistan surely comes too soon for them - learning to counter spin in Asian conditions is not something that can be learned overnight.

After all this is nothing new - the statistics show that since 2005, England have struggled far more than Australia or South Africa have in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, with a pitiful win-loss ratio of 0.12 and an overall batting average of under 30.

But it will be fascinating to see whether a team that has consistently met their challenges head-on, and generally come up trumps, can now solve this latest riddle.

The number one ranking rests on it.

Mitchell Johnson

Past years have seen Mitchell Johnson turn down contracts in the Indian Premier League to rather concentrate on national duty.

This time around, however, the struggling Australian was all too happy to accept the $300 000 offered to him by the Mumbai Indians. Meanwhile, the left-armer has expressed an interest in clinching a deal with Glamorgan.

Twenty20 cricket isn't his favourite format, admitted the plighted fast bowler, but these days, with his international career waning, it seems he will take what he can get.

While patriotism and loyalty were the top of Johnson's agenda a couple of years ago, a severe drop in form and injury have brought a change of priorities. Sure, he'd like nothing better than another crack in the Baggy Green, but for now Mr MG Johnson's bank account needs buffering.