The Seven Deadly Sins

I quite enjoyed this as blog questionnaires go. Apparently I have very few problems with lust, but a bit of an issue with pride...

Greed:	Low
Gluttony:	Low
Wrath:	Medium
Sloth:	Low
Envy:	Low
Lust:	Very Low
Pride:	Medium

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

England: where to from here?

I can't say I am hugely surprised by England's 5-0 Ashes whitewash, given the clear gulf in ability between the two teams and the mistakes made by Duncan Fletcher and Co in selection and preparation - but where do we go from here? The next Ashes series is two and a half years away, in the summer of 2009, so we have plenty of time to regroup and bring on new talent.

There's been much talk about Michael Vaughan coming back as captain, but I'm not convinced he is going to be worth his place in the side. By contrast, although Andrew Strauss has had a poor series on paper, he was the victim of a number of shoddy umpiring decisions and overall looked in good nick. He should get the captaincy in my view.

I have a feeling Paul Collingwood won't be around by 2009, so I think it's probably time to have an extended look at Ed Joyce and Owais Shah as middle-order options. Although he flattered to deceive in this series, several times reaching 50 but failing to go onto a century, Ian Bell will surely come good in the long run.

In the wicketkeeping area, I think we now have to move on from the endless Geraint Jones - Chris Read debate and give an oportunity to James Foster or Steven Davies, both good wicketkeepers who can bat.

The main changes, though, will come in the bowling area. Steve Harmison looked a shadow of his former self in this series and has already retired from one-day cricket at the age of 28. I have a hunch he will have retired from all cricket by the time he reaches 30.

Matthew Hoggard bowled manfully in this series but may be over the hill by 2009. I think our main fast-bowling options by then will be Stuart Broad and Sajid Mahmood, with young spinner Adil Rashid forming a potentially lethal slow-bowling partnership with Monty Panesar.

My XI for 2009: Strauss (Captain), Cook, Bell, Pietersen, Joyce, Flintoff, Davies, Broad, Mahmood, Panesar, Rashid.

Reid: Disarmingly honest, or devilishly clever?

So what exactly is John Reid up to with his big speech today highlighting the need for his party to hold fast to its current political direction and demonstrate to the public that there is more to New Labour than Tony Blair.

On one level, it could be seen as almost an endorsement of Gordon Brown. He says that "personal attacks" on the Chancellor by the Tories will "rebound" and makes clear his view that Brown's achievements "tower above anything anyone in the Tory Party has ever aspired to or could ever aspire to."

If you take this comment at face value, he appears to be saying not only that Gordon is New Labour to the core, but that attempts by the Conservatives to portray him otherwise are doomed to failure.

On another level, though, the speech can clearly be read as a devilishly clever piece of duplicity, that in appearing to praise Brown he is really warning him that he will face a rival leadership bid if he so much as even thinks of lurching a millimetre to the left.

This is certainly how Brownite MP George Mudie, a former Deputy Chief Whip, has interpreted it. He said today: "I think it's an early attempt to put a marker down to get some of the Gordon Brown supporters to say 'we need a change of direction' so that he can say 'this is disloyalty to the leader and, therefore, I shall throw my hat into the ring or we shall find someone to do so'."

Mudie, who led the unsuccessful rebellion against university tuition fees in 2003, is a disappointed and disillusioned man, and some of what he says should be treated with a pinch of salt, but if this is the level of paranoia in the Brownite camp, it doesn't augur well for a smooth leadership transition.

If the Brownites genuinely believe Dr Reid is out to get their man, they should know better than to rise to his bait by putting the worst possible construction on everything.

Far better, surely, to simply throw the ball back into Reid's court by agreeing with everything he says and welcoming his very generous comments about the Chancellor's record?

Poll: who should be Labour's new deputy?

Amid all the New Year predictions about the political year ahead, perhaps the most uncertainty surrounds the identity of John Prescott's successor as Labour deputy. Unlike the Labour leadership, it's a genuinely open race, with Jon Cruddas and Hilary Benn currently heading a field that also includes Alan Johnson, Hazel Blears, Peter Hain and Harriet Harman.

So I thought it was time to introduce a poll which will run for the rest of this month on who it should be. I have also included Jack Straw in the field as he has not ruled out joining the race.

To clarify, I am after views on who you think should get the job, not who you think it will be. I have already nailed my own colours to the mast on the latter point, backing Jon Cruddas in the PB.com political forecasting contest.

To vote, click HERE or go to the Current Polls panel in the sidebar.

The result of my first poll, on whether Labour's next leader should call a General Election immediately on taking office, resulted in a surprisingly narrow majority of 54pc saying yes, he should.

Of course, Gordon Brown won't do this, although I don't think it's beyond the bounds of possibility that he might call one in the summer of 2008 after a year in office, once he has had a chance to show the public that he is a real politician with real values and not some manicured PR man.