LAST Sunday was a rather depressing day, what with Wales' insipid performance against Tonga at the Rugby World Cup, until I chanced upon a piece of cricket news which really cheered me up.

Namely that Mike Kasprowicz had been recalled to the Australian squad for their forthcoming one day trip to India.

He certainly deserves his call. And I know that it is something he has been craving. He may be 31 but he has never given up hope of playing international cricket again. Therefore I am delighted that his persistence has been rewarded.

I've been in touch with him and the only slight downer for him is the fact that he is going to miss the rest of the Rugby World Cup. As I think I've mentioned before, he is an absolute fanatic about the game, as befits a former Australian schoolboy international with a brother currently under contract with New South Wales Waratahs Super 12 squad.

As seems to be the norm with most Australians at the moment, he was suitably disparaging about England's chances but was less critical of his adopted country, Wales, whom he thought would qualify for the quarter final stage and then 'give England a fright', adding: "Everyone should give them a break" in reference to the typically hysterical reaction about Wales after the Tonga game.

I reckon Kasper has a real chance of claiming a regular place in the Australian side. There are serious injury worries about their three frontline quickies - Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie - and without them in the last Test against Zimbabwe (Lee pulled up during it), they looked incredibly mortal.

I have long maintained that England will not be able to wrest back the Ashes until McGrath and Shane Warne depart the scene and this was an interesting peep ahead, as it were.

Those two are in the top 10 bowlers of all time but, more importantly, they possess an extreme psychological hold over this current batch of England players. Take them away and England have a chance.

And the absence of all these top bowlers last week allowed an old friend of mine, Stuart Carlisle, to strike Zimbabwe's first ever century against Australia.

I coached Carlisle as a youngster and, in fact, was with him in Cape Town with the Zimbabwe B side when he received the call for his first Test cap against Pakistan in 1995.

As I was coach of that side, he immediately asked me for some tips on the leap up to the higher grade. As it was indeed 1995 and three years before I had an opportunity at that level, I'm afraid that I was unable to offer too much useful advice!

Carlisle was very much a front foot blocker in those days and I was surprised that he got the call. Indeed, the following year England coach David Lloyd branded him 'a walking wicket'. Mind you, Lloyd made a number of hasty comments on that trip, none more so than his famous 'we murdered 'em' after England had drawn with Zimbabwe in Bulawayo!

And, for a bit of trivia, if anyone needs to see a chiropractor, Carlisle's brother, Gary, has long left the troubles of his native land and now practises in this treatment in Cardiff. Sounds as if this paper's estimable rugby reporter, Robin Davey, should give him a call when he returns from his incredibly hard-working trip in Australia, given his lamentations about his back problem! Could be worse, I suppose. Robin could be in Bangladesh where England are playing their first ever Test - against Bangladesh, that is, because they have actually played Test cricket in Dhaka before against Pakistan when Bangladesh was known as East Pakistan. Anything but two thumping victories for England will be considered a failure. Good cheer has already arrived courtesy of a maiden Test match five-wicket haul for Steve Harmison.

Maybe the decision by the England authorities not to hand the Durham quickie one of the ECB central contracts is paying early dividends. He was certainly irked by it. But there is only one proper way of rectifying such situations and that is by performing out on the field, which is what Harmison, thankfully, seems to be doing.