Chelsea and their manager Carlo Ancelotti have backed under-fire defender John Terry and reinforced his position as the club’s captain, despite allegations this weekend of an affair with Vanessa Perroncel, once girlfriend of England and former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge. Ancelotti is quoted as saying: “The players will never lose their trust in him.” Well, why won’t they? The whole episode centres around trust – trust between Terry and his wife Toni, Terry and his then best friend Bridge and Terry and his club, his supporters and the footballing world. Any trust emanating from John Terry is now gone. But trust Chelsea to back their biggest financial asset and one of their highest-paid stars – only a player revolt could turn the club’s scandalous decision around now.

Fabio Capello shouldn’t take any risks on the other hand. Playing for England is a great honour and by captaining your country you have to set the highest standards both on and off the field. Millions idolise the game’s biggest stars and anything of this kind must be punished – in this case by removing the England captaincy. A leader on the field inspires his team to play with passion and desire and play with a team – problems now caused with Wayne Bridge undermines his ability to do this. A leader off the field is an ambassador for the game and for his country – this weekend’s news has a worldwide effect and could prove detrimental to England’s World Cup build-up. Change has to come fast – Terry’s selfishness shouldn’t leave a scar on the rest of the team and only a quick reaction from Capello can limit the damage. The captaincy of England is held in the highest regard – it is far more important than one player.

Jenson Button’s fifth place finish in Brazil on Sunday was  exhilarating, the drive of a World Champion and the culmination of a difficult journey for his Brawn GP team. In January this year, after Honda had pulled out of Formula One, it looked as though Button, the engineers and everyone involved in the team would be out of a job and the toil of the previous years would all be in vein. But what a turn around this season has been.

Button has always been unfairly criticised – predominantly for a “playboy” lifestyle – but the talent has always been there even when the right car hasn’t. Two years of hard work on a Renault car ended when owner Flavio Briatore replaced him with Fernando Alonso and six years of loyalty in a weak Honda car (2004 and 2006 aside) produced an avalanche of criticism about his abilities. But given the right car and button has proved to be an exceptional driver.

It doesn’t stop here, however. When the celebrations die down Button will need to turn his attentions to next season. A World Champion wins one title, a world-beater wins two or more. What Button and his Brawn GP team have achieved is remarkable but any sentiments should stop there. Button has been incredibly loyal in the past and if Brawn can deliver another quick and reliable car for 2010, then he should sign again. But if they cannot, and the opportunity arises to move into a quicker car, he must take it – because victory again and he will become a British great.

For all the build up, the opening day didn’t disappoint. And for all the column inches dedicated to comparing both sides, finding key player battles and producing statistics showing one was better than the other, we found that there is nothing more than a blade of Cardiff grass between them. Today was a score-draw, but England had numerous chances to get ahead. Six out of England’s top seven played themselves in, but not one pushed on to get a big score in what was otherwise a solid team showing. The biggest culprit happened to be top-scorer Kevin Pietersen whose reckless sweep may well provide an important signpost come the final day and which side wins. Pietersen’s premeditated paddle clipped his own helmet on its way to Simon Katitch to leave England on an unfulfilling 241-5. His century partnership with Paul Collingwood was incredibly important – take nothing away from him on that basis – but he was so far outside of his off-stump with this swipe that another yard would have taken him into the River Taff. Michael Holding’s said it best: Pietersen has the ability to be a great player, but great players don’t play shots like that.

It would be unfair to focus souly on Pietersen – Strauss, Bopara, Collingwood, Prior and Flintoff all made starts from which one should have made a hundred. But all were set aside from Pietersen because they fell to decent deliveries, especially Prior who was bowled by an arcking inswinger from Peter Siddle. Siddle bowled well, despite his expensive figures, but it was Ben Hilfenhaus who caused the most problems and was unlucky not to take more than two wickets. With a pacey Mitchell Johnson and a decent show from Nathan Hauritz, Australia’s bowlers looked well-oiled but a shadow of the 2005 equivalent. Brett Lee’s presence may well have punished England further today.

Today’s blow-for-blow tussle sets it up nicely for tomorrow. A score of 400 or more, although unlikely, would put England as slight favourites on a pitch that is already friendly to spin and bounce. Australia’s batting line-up have been less than convincing thus far on tour, not least Ricky Ponting who could find his captaincy under review if his poor form continues and England retake the Ashes. Mike Hussey will be England’s prized wicket, despite his indifferent form of late. His knowledge of English conditions ranks alongside Simon Katitch and Marcus North – all of whom have played for a number of county sides – and it is in those three that Australia will hope to post a sizeable response in their first innings. Tomorrow promises to be just as exciting.

The summer of cricket starts here. After a quiet series against the West Indies last month, England will begin their Twenty20 World Cup campaign later this evening. At long last the country will see the main shows this summer – the Twenty20 World Cup and the Ashes. The Windies were not even a warm-up act – such a description is all too flattering – after players arrived late because of IPL commitments, captain Chris Gayle drew the dagger into Andrew Strauss and test cricket and England comprehensively won both test and one-day series. Add into the mix poor attendances, an injury to big draw Andrew Flintoff and the scandal surrounding Sir Allen Stanford and English cricket is walking around with a hangover. Relief is at hand though – if England can comfortably beat Holland tonight, and Pakistan on Sunday then who knows what might happen. The best thing about the 20 over form of the game is that it brings teams closer together on a performance level – England are rightly long outsiders to win over the next few weeks, but do not rule it out.

I have had many disagreements about Saturday’s game and the reaction the supporters gave, so I will try and keep this short as I can. To react in the way the crowd did on Saturday was absolutely unacceptable. Last year fans were talking about whether the club was financially stable, whether it would stave off administration and whether we would even be a club. The club was facing relegation and a six successive worst league finish. Attendances were falling; people were again considering if it was worth renewing their season ticket. Many were discussing whether relegation would be the final nail in the bank’s patience. Last April was one of my lowest moments in supporting the club.

Twelve months on and we are three points from second place with five games left to play. Only the wild optimist thought we would be still with a chance of automatic promotion and an even better chance of making the play-offs. I delved into the fans online message board to find a list of where people thought we would finish (link: http://www.fansonline.net/gillingham/mb/view.php?id=39742) and as you can see, the majority say mid-table. Although I do not have the statistics to back it up, I would say the majority of clubs find it incredibly difficult to go straight back up again and with the financial restraints imposed on our club, the task was always going to be harder still. To be sitting here with four weeks of the season left and to be in with a chance of getting promoted is something to be delighted about and something to commend Mark Stimson for. The league is poor, granted, but many of our players are from non-league clubs and are still finding their feet at this level. A top seven finish in the context of our finances, the six years of guaranteed away defeats and relegation scraps, is something I welcome with open arms.

So why is it that our manager had to be escorted from the dug-out on Saturday by a steward, trudging past another line of fluorescent-bibbed shepherds who were keeping the crowd at bay? In the 15 years I’ve trekked down to Priestfield, I can only remember Neil Warnock needing this treatment. And what has Stimson done? He took off Andy Barcham, who it turns out was not in perfect shape, with 15 minutes to play and tried something different. Richards being sent up front was hardly comparable to David James playing as a striker for Man City now, was it? As desperation kicks in, we tend to send the ball long and Richards was probably a better shout for the job than Mark McCammon – somebody needed to ruffle up Gary Breen. It almost worked too, Richards had the best chance of the game with a couple of minutes left. Unorthodox, maybe, but not something that should turn thousands of fans against their manager. In the greater scheme of things, Stimson has cleared out the aging and over-paid players, many of whom did not want to play for our club, has lowered the wage bill, brought back the possibility of us winning away again and has taken us to a position many thought was unrealistic before August.

There are still a number of antidotes to all of this. The performance against Barnet was poor, I would completely agree. Very disappointing, but not “the worst I’ve ever seen” as many have labelled it (our home defeat to Brighton four or so years ago sticks in the mind) and certainly not a game that should lead to the home manager being ushered off like that.

Stimson has been accused of being very rough in getting rid of players – although this may, or may not, be true, nobody knows the full story. If it has gone on, then it’s obviously not on but at the moment it is only word of mouth and accusations. Former players quite often have an axe to grind, especially senior pros who would have seen their place taken by a young non-league player. Simon Royce, Nicky Southall and Mark Bentley are still with us…

I’m not going to try and argue Stimson’s record last year – I can sympathise with those that say he was the man in charge of a relegated team last season, although I do not necessarily agree blame should be attached to him and him only.

I will say I am not trying to paint a fine canvass as to why Stimson is incredible and what a Herculean job he has done. Not at all. What I am saying is that the reaction on Saturday was unjust and undeserved and can only sap the confidence from the players at such an important stage in the season. The jeering supporters should be grateful for where we are and stop reminiscing about the Championship days. We’re not going to win every game, we’re not going to play irresistible football every week and we’re not going to walk this league. I just hope the booing on Saturday won’t hinder our chances of climbing our way back up to League One.

Alan Shearer’s short-term appointment as Newcastle manager brings with it a number of questions. Firstly, will he be good enough? After all, he has no experience as a coach and is taking on a difficult task, but track record is not important. We won’t find out how good a manager he is until he takes on a permanent managerial post and with only eight games to go this season, the lift he will give the Toon’s beleaguered squad will be enough to keep them up. The squad are good enough, the support is good enough and although he will play Chelsea, Liverpool and Aston Villa in those eight games, there are enough winnable games to avoid relegation. In this sense, the odds are stacked in his favour – as Paul Hayward wrote in today’s Guardian, Middlesborough and West Brown are likely to fall to the Championship and there are plenty of clubs above who are faltering. Hull, for example, have only won one Premiership game since Phil Brown’s half-time centre circle rollicking on Boxing Day. Stoke, despite an impressive home record, are still to win away and look to be struggling to beat the drop. Shearer’s heroic status will surely bring a renewed optimism and results to match.

Secondly, how instrumental was he in Dennis Wise’s departure? Very, you would think. Timing is everything and it is not difficult to make a link between Wise’s departure yesterday and Shearer’s arrival today. Shearer has been critical in the past about Wise’s role as executive director and may well have made it a condition for his return to Newcastle. Iain Dowie has been brought in as his assistant, an experienced coach who will do the leg work in training leaving Shearer to do the analysis, just not on the sofa this time.

Finally, will he stay any longer than those eight games? It looks unlikely if this afternoon’s press conference is anything to go by. Shearer was adamant he will leave after this season and with Joe Kinnear still in the picture, do not expect Shearer to be the manager there after. There’s little doubt that there will be a clamour for Shearer to stay, but he looks content for now to return to the BBC next season. But then again, Guus Hiddink appears to be softening towards a longer contract at Chelsea…

News that Graham Ford has pulled out of the running for England cricket manager is another example of the English Cricket Board’s shambolic and disasterous working methods. Ford is one of the world’s best coaches, transforming Kent’s one-day record from first-round knockout certainties to finalists, coaching South Africa to the 1999 World Cup final under Bob Woolmer and is one of the few men given a shining endorsement from hard-to-please Kevin Pietersen. But the ECB’s laissez-faire attitude towards picking a new coach has ended the South African’s interest in the job.

“I thought it would be sorted out a lot quicker than it has been,” Ford said to the Guardian last week. With the Ashes only 99 days away, what on earth are England’s cricket bosses waiting around for? England have won only two games this winter, one with the help of a mathematical cock-up by West Indies coach John Dyson, and are limping towards this summer’s Ashes showdown without a permanent head coach. Perhaps limping is an understatement, more crawling with a ball and chain attached. The ECB are the key holders to this obstacle – a world-leading coach, given as much time possible to get the players working well again, is needed and this delay is not helping matters.

First terrestrial television is cut away from cricket, second Sir [sic] Allen Stanford flies into the ECB’s back pocket and now we wait on a new head coach. It is no wonder why nobody wants the job.

Very few teams come away from a tour to New Zealand with a series win, but England go into tonight’s final test with the possibility of doing just that. The Kiwis are missing a batch of players and so it’s time for England to pounce and come away victorious.

I appeared to praise Amjad Khan a little too much last week to the point where, in a bid to live up to my pre-match hype, he sent down plenty of no-balls and had a fairly mediocre test debut. Despite this he was still worth the risk and certainly worth picking over Steve Harmison, but charging in on day two he did not look ready enough for the pressure. Perhaps that’s something that will come with experience. Interesting, however, to see that the England selectors picked him for yesterday’s Twenty20 International defeat; perhaps they are willing to give him the benefit of a bag o’ nerves beginning and more time to prove himself.

Sport is unpredictable and in my haste, I banked on Khan. My opinion, wrong as it turned out, was based on looking at his past form in addition to the number of times I had seen him play and the situation England faced before the fifth test. Compare that to Giles Clarke and others at the English Cricket Board who banked on Sir Allen Stanford, ignored his past (Stanford Group’s input in Antigua, an island without money-laundering laws) and took an unnecessary risk on the English game. It appears unlikely Mr Clarke will be apologising for his error.

Later today, England’s beleaguered squad enter the last chance saloon. A last chance to salvage a draw from an uninspiring test series. A last chance to impress the next team manager, with South African Graeme Ford the new favourite. But more importantly, a last chance to convince Australia that they are serious about reclaiming the Ashes. What a contrast from five years ago where England’s Ashes-winning attack – Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, Simon Jones, Andrew Flintoff and Ashley Giles – ripped through the West Indies twice at the Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad, on the way to a seven-wicket victory. Only two of the famous five remain: Flintoff, resting his hip some 5,000 miles away, and Harmison who probably wishes he was equally as distant after another disappointing tour. Harmison is unlikely to get another chance in Trinidad, despite his 6-61 there five years ago, which leaves England begging for a match-winning bowler. Untried he may be, but Amjad Khan could be England’s answer.

Born in Copenhagan, Amjad was Denmark’s youngest ever player at 17-years- old, but having gained British citizenship in 2006, he joins Kevin Pietersen and Kent team mate Geraint Jones in claiming a British passport and becoming an English cricketer through law. Had it not been for a serious cruciate knee ligament injury in 2007, he may well have played a bigger role for England. Approaching a fast-bowler’s best years at the age of 28, and with over 200 first-class wickets, his inexperience in international cricket should not distract the selectors from choosing him for the fifth test match of this series. His pace could prove to be the cymbal needed in England’s, until now, mediocre drum kit. Although the pitches haven’t given the reward they’ve deserved, England’s bowlers have at times lacked rhythm needed. The result: they haven’t yet bowled the West Indies twice on this tour.

Amjad’s action is different – crumpled-up in the last yard of his approach to the crease, followed by a short pause before an uncoiling of the upper body parts that help produce decent pace – almost in a Simon Jones mould. Like Jones, he also has the ability to reverse-swing the ball, handy where the wicket and outfield are bone dry. His abilities compare to Harmison, who is still out of sorts, and Sidebottom, who has been struggling for fitness and bowling under 80 miles per hour. With Flintoff injured, Khan is England’s most unique bowler. Clocked at 93 miles per hour before his injury, he must be a part of a five-man England attack. Anything short and England won’t win.

This leaves a difficult selection dilemma at the top of the order. A five-man attack means a batsman has to miss out, and it’s no easy task deciding who should make way. Ravi Bopara, fresh from a big hundred in the last test, or Owais Shah, deserving of a long spell in the team having carried more drinks to the players than Ian Botham in his heyday. It would be unfair on Shah to leave him out so soon, but similarly runs out-weigh who should morally play. Shah would have felt hard done by after being snubbed following his debut 88 in Mumbai three years ago and the same rule applies here – Bopara’s quick-fire 104 in Barbados should earn him a place.

But the debate over which batsman should play is irrelevant if England cannot take 20 wickets. A five-prong attack will at least give England the chance to regain some respectability from a difficult tour, and dampen down the pre-series Australian put-downs. A weak showing and expect a difficult summer.