Good week for...

India

Back on track? To a degree, yes, but we'll only fully know when they tour Australia at the end of the year.

England have rarely been formidable opponents in the one-day game on the sub-continent, and have a young captain who is still finding his feet and authority as leader.

If anything India's series victory, achieved without three of their best players, has shown just how much more comfortable they are in front of their home crowds.

With the West Indies next up, India are unlikely to be challenged over the next two months and the real test of their strength will only come against Australia, who seem a rejuvenated outfit under Michael Clarke's captaincy.

There's no doubt that fatigue played a big role in India's catastrophic tour of England, but if they rotate their players well during the home series against West Indies then there's no reason why they can't be in top shape when they travel Down Under.

Patrick Cummins

An Australian unit sans Brett Lee and dogged by an inconsistent Mitchell Johnson enjoyed some apparent light at the end of the tunnel this week, when Pat Cummins took to international cricket handsomely.

The fast bowler's impressive run in the two T20Is and ODI series opener for eight wickets in all bodes well for the real deal later on the tour - two much-anticipated Tests.

A Proteas order usually steady in the face of express pace seemed to genuinely struggle against Cummins' speed, which will only increase as his teenage frame matures.

A long line of seamers, including Peter George, Josh Hazlewood and Shaun Tait, have come and gone in varying degrees of inadequacy and injury across the past three years, though.

A few - Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus - have, for the most part, managed to stick around. Meanwhile, a batch - Mitchell Starc, Ben Laughlin etc - have been awkwardly rushed through the system and failed.

Some of the Australian press argue that the selectors have picked the 19-year-old Cummins too soon, while others insist the time is right - and will soon blight him with pressure and expectations as 'the next big thing'. Where the Aussies do need to be on the same page, though, is how they handle Cummins across the remainder of the tour.

Set for a third debut in as many weeks come the Test series opener, the green pace ace will not have been subjected to this kind of workload before. Conditions are sure to suit him in Cape Town and Johannesburg, but Michael Clarke simply must not overburden the youngster in order to avoid another promising act breaking down with injury.

Bad week for...

England

Back down to earth with a bump, and in danger of getting a taste of their own medicine as India keep hopes of a series whitewash alive.

It's unlikely that any previous series defeat has grated Andy Flower as much, because meticulous preparation has not been reflected on the field. England did everything possible to adapt to conditions ahead of the first ODI, but the ten days spent acclimatising in Hyderabad have amounted to little.

Most annoying for Flower will be the fact that his side are simply not doing the basics right. Batsmen are getting in and then getting out - particularly unforgivable in sub-continental conditions - and even the senior bowlers are serving up far too many leg-side deliveries.

Credit must go to India for the way they've revived their fortunes so quickly now that they're back in familiar territory, but England will be frustrated by the thought that poor errors have cost them more than a lack of knowledge of Indian conditions.

Cricket South Africa

Setting some kind of record for consistent inclusion in one section of GWBW. And still one wonders when they will understand why everyone will not let the bonus saga be swept under the carpet.

Getting rid of Mtutuzeli Nyoka, which they successfully did on Saturday, was meant to be the end. Instead, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula announced the very next day: "Our cricket is diminishing, we don't have sponsors, we don't have a program of action in terms of what needs to be done, all because of a board of people who differ among themselves. We are intervening."

Sports politicians in South Africa do not have the best track record, but Mbalula seemed to identify the problems fairly well. His press conference certainly struck a chord, because it found its way onto the front page on Monday morning when South Africa's superb counter-attacking win should have been grabbing headlines.

Confirmation, then, that not even on-field success can smoothe over the off-field issues unless they are dealt with properly.

Sri Lanka

There's something very worrying going on in Sri Lankan cricket. It's nothing obvious, but their performances of late have given the impression of a team who are dealing with problems that are simmering just under the surface.

Perhaps we should have seen it coming after Kumar Sangakkara's speech in England, but that aside nobody has said anything in public and so we can only go on the fact that a previously impenetrable team at home were beaten by Australia and are now on the verge of losing to Pakistan.

Clearly something is not right. Of course their board is a shambles but this is nothing new, so what has changed that has aletered their fortunes so drastically. Time will tell.