Ian Bell had a stomach bug before the third Test against Pakistan. He probably made more runs than in the whole series. While three of England's top order currently average under 10 in the Middle East, there is another man, Shaun Marsh, who has just averaged less than three in six Test innings against India. When a batsman loses form, the ball looks like a pea and the bat feels like a stick of rhubarb.

JP Duminy lets Christmans go to his head
Duminy hasn't held a bat in a Test match for exactly two years. After a stellar start to his career, including a brilliant 166 in Melbourne, Duminy endured a horror trot from Boxing Day December 2009 to February 2010, when he recorded scores of four, duck, duck, 36, seven, nine, duck and six.

"It wasn't easy," he said. "I got to a stage where I was training harder and harder and nothing was changing."

Nasser Hussain plays like a drain
While England were embarking on a run of four series victories in a row during 2000 and 2001, including Sri Lanka and Pakistan away, Hussain's batting collapsed like a Zimbabwe follow-on.

As The Oval celebrated a series victory over the West Indies for the first time since 1969, Hussain had just completed a pair to bring his tally of runs in the summer of 2000 to 91 in 10 innings, three of which were against Zimbabwe.

For a proud and passionate man, playing like a passenger must have hurt. A lot.

Rahul Dravid's winter of discontent
Dravid was India's only saving grace in England last summer, but he has just endured a very mediocre series against the rampant Australians. Things have been much worse, though. When someone who averages well over 50, scores 11, 11, duck, three, three and four, it's a full blown crisis. Especially in the Indian media. The wobble for 'The Wall' started against Australia in 2008, when he was not only finding runs hard to come by, but scoring them at Geoff Boycott-esque pace too.

In his 40th year, does he have one more great year left?

Ravi Bopara's swagger turns into a limp
At least Duminy has put in decent performances against Australia. Bopara, like Ian Bell before him in 2005, was in no condition to take on the number three spot against the Aussies in 2009. Bell had seven single figure scores in his 10 innings against them. Bopara managed 105 runs in seven innings.

His mental training beforehand had consisted of facing West Indian bowlers, who looked and played like they wanted to be in the Leeward Islands rather than Lord's. Or chilly Chester-le Street...

Bopara also endured another wretched series on his international debut against Sri Lanka, managing three ducks in a row. The way Eoin Morgan is playing, it looks like Ravi will be having another crack in Galle next month...

Ricky Ponting gets stung by Singh
At least Marsh isn't the only Australian batsman who has managed 17 runs in a series against India. Ponting may have played himself back into form recently, but endured a complete and utter shutdown during one of the greatest Test series in 2001. His returns of duck, six, duck, duck and 11 ensured a measly average of just over three. His tormentor on each occasion was Harbhajan Singh.

Hansie Cronje fades away
Perhaps the final Test matches of his career gave us a clue about what was going on inside. In his last nine innings, Cronje managed five scores of two or under and had a top score of 28.

Professor Tim Noakes, who worked closely with the national team recalls: 'Cronje's own performances were the key failure for South Africa in the 1999 World Cup in England and that has never been acknowledged. I knew something was wrong in England. I called some senior people involved and tried to find out what was going on. They all agreed something was badly wrong, but wouldn't do or say anything.'

Jack Richards suffers from Ashes crash
Richards was one of England's heroes in the glorious win Down Under in 1986. After vital contributions during that series with the bat, including a century in Perth, he suffered a massive hangover on his return to Test duties in England. Mustering six single figure scores in a row, he lost his place and retired completely from the game at the ripe old age of 30, unable to find himself a county.

Tim Ellis