his electric catching is an essential part of the fielding dynamic. The catch he took in Perth to dismiss Ponting should not be underestimated for the psychological damage it did.

Clearly, though, there is another decision to be made. Collingwood, 34, remains an essential part of England's World Cup plans and is the captain – a successful one, too – of the Twenty20 side. There is much cricket for him yet to play for England. But the end of this series might be a fine time for a line to be drawn under his Test career. Whether he comes to that decision himself or is encouraged to do so, the time has probably come. Things have to move on.In the last three decades of his life, the Padma Shri-laureate had devoted himself to the study of India’s early writing systems

Iravatham Mahadevan, 88, one of the world’s leading scholars on the Indus Valley Script, the pre-eminent scholar on the Tamil Brahmi script, passed away in Chennai early on Monday after a brief illness.

Mr Mahadevan is survived by his son Sridhar Mahadevan and two grand children, Vandana Vidyasagar and Vinay Vidyasagar.

A former member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Padma Shri-awardee joined the service in 1954 and took voluntary retirement in 1980 after holding various positions in the Central and Tamil Nadu governments.

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He was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 1970 for his research on the Indus script