KP smashes 158 (again)

Kevin Pietersen has started his home international summer the same way he ended it, with an aggressive and chancy 158.

Last summer, he was dropped three times on route to his brilliant 158 that sealed a famous series win. Again, he gave three chances on the way to 158 against Sri Lanka over the past two nights. He has yet to make a chanceless century - this was his third - and he passed 1000 Test runs in his 12th Test match, a remarkable achievement given the quality of his opponents (Australia, Pakistan and India away).

Regardless of the chances - and every aggressive batsman is bound to give some - I feel that Pietersen is the next great batsman. People will talk about his unconventional technique, his shuffling and leg side bias, but the guy has character, and in international cricket, this is what separates the Great from the very good.

As expected, England is dominating the Test match against Sri Lanka. They piled up 551 for 6 declared in quick time, before taking 6 Sri Lankan wickets for 91. But for inept wicketkeeping by Geraint Jones (again), Sri Lanka would be 7 down. Surprisingly, this match is going in the same direction of the corresponding match at Lord's last year - against Bangladesh - an innings victory within three days. Already, they look a stronger team with Andrew Flintoff at the helm and evidently they've learnt lessons from the tough subcontinent tours.

Regaining the Ashes will be hard. Very hard.