Paul Ford: Middle and Leg - Beige Brigade newsletter - Jerome, Jarrod, Don and Harry

The University Oval, where the summer begins on Thursday. Photo / Getty

With the cloud of pink ball mist now dissipated, it is time to turn our eyes to the Côte d'Azur of New Zealand, Dunedin, and the University Oval Test match that begins 10:30am Thursday morning.

The Sri Lankans have been here for a week, controversy-free in Queenstown and quietly adapting to the local conditions. Meanwhile the New Zealand media go on and on and on about who is not in their team as they enter the post-SangaMahela era. Not that they need to do much adapting, having been here as recently as January for Test matches and the Cricket World Cup in February.

Methinks Mark Craig will be particularly pleased to be back in his own little slice of the Mainland, after a torrid time from the batsmen, commentators and crowds across the ditch. I was glad to see the selectors keep the faith - but this is a massive series for him against the Lankan spin masters.

It sounds like they will be good to watch - as their coach Jerome Jayaratne put it: "This would be a Test of will rather than skill. Inherently our batsmen are stroke makers and they have that tendency to flirt in the danger areas. The problem is initially they may play the most fluent cover drive, but, that very ball may lead to their downfall." For serious analysis, you shouldn't go past Andrew Alderson's preview here.

My favourite new face is debutant Madurawelage Don Udara Supeksha Jayasundera, aka 'The Don'. However he loves Brian Lara more than Don Bradman.

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We discovered this wee gem from Australian political rapper Urthboy - it is called Nambucca Boy and is a tribute to Phil Hughes, one year on. It's worth a look at the back story to the song too, penned by cricket writer Geoff Lemon: "Phillip Hughes was hit by a cricket ball on a quiet afternoon one year ago today: I was tapping out an article, one eye on the Shield scores. The updates started coming through, contradicting and retracting and asserting. I sat up most of the night scrolling the screen, strangers gathering online in mutual disbelief.

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I mentioned Jarrod Kimber's latest book, Test Cricket: The Unauthorised Biography in last week's Middle and Leg, and this week he popped up in a Reddit AMA session. He had some good advice here:

Q: "If there were 5 cricket-related works you had to read over and over again, what would they be?"

A: "Chris Ryan's Thommo piece. Arthur Mailey on bowling to Trumper. HS Altham's A history of cricket . Gideon Haigh's Vincibles ." [He only put down four.]

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The Alternative Commentary Collective is imminent - keep an eye on the theaccnz.com for the latest, including a striking appearance from an effeminate Jeremy Wells formerly of the Grafton United Cricket Club.

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Epic words from Virender Sehwag here: "Yes, my kids know I have made some humongous scores in Test cricket. So I have told them, if you cross that 319-run mark even in school cricket, I will present you a Ferrari."

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View post on imgur.com

The selfie of the week is from Brisbane club cricket, Ben Carlton from Macgregor CC takes up the tale of an angst-ridden taxi driver with a ball-sized hole in his window: "Cab that had windscreen smashed retaliated by driving onto our pitch and parking! He was parked on private property right behind bowler... our batsmen hit a 6 and it smashed his windscreen. After we told him to claim it through his own insurance he protested by bush bashing his cab over barriers and onto our pitch. Parked his car then walked off. Police were called and he then moved it an hour later..."

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From the WTF Files: If you've seen anything weirder than Chris Harris, resplendent in his 1992 World Cup shirt, chucking moves in a pro-wrestling ring at Armageddon let me know. He is 'fighting' alongside Kingi - and you can see it in all its squirmy glory on The Cricket Show this week.

READ: The first ever story on World Series Cricket, Nine plans greatest show on earth by Peter McFarline, possibly the greatest Australian cricket journalist of all time.

LISTEN: The Wet Gusset Episode of The BYC podcast features the tedious tedium of South Africa vs India, where The Pinkness can happen in Aotearoa, roading analogies and a love of Freddie Flintoff.

WATCH: Watch Michael Pollard hit a Mitchell Claydon delivery into his own eyelashes - a whisker away from a lifetime of ophthalmology appointments.

Middle & Leg is a cricket newsletter for New Zealand cricket fans who like a dose of optimism and a tablespoon of take the piss with their weekly cricket informational. It is tapped out by Paul Ford, co-founder of the Beige Brigade, and one-seventh of the Alternative Commentary Collective. You can email him here beigehq@beigebrigade.co.nz.