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JONATHAN AGGERS AGNEW ON THE JOYS OF TWITTER. FIND HIM AT @AGGERSCRICKET

SPORT
but also friendly banter by the bucketful, which gets me through the day with a smile on my face. There is tremendous humour out there, which possibly explains why more than 3000 people follow my spaniel, Bracken, who tweets his insight to life in Agnew Towers courtesy of a man living 300 miles away in Edinburgh. Yes it is bizarre, but my Twitter world does reect the warm, friendly and mildly eccentric character of Test Match Special. Twitter is a natural extension of my job. There are commercial benets too. I notice that scattered amongst Wayne Rooneys profound offerings: Just having breakfast are mentions of a new football computer game. I think that is fair enough, and in return my Twitter followers are brought much more closely into contact with the England cricket team and the TMS commentary box. For the overwhelming majority, this is a happy state of affairs. However, as reported last week, I have become the latest victim of a modern and unpleasant phenomenon that I call keyboard bravado. Emboldened by anonymity and the opportunity to say whatever they want from the safe distance of their computer keyboards, individuals are free to send personal abuse and derisive comments directly to their victim. It is cowardly in that they would not dare say it to your face, and can be so distressing that fellow cricket commentator David Lloyd and rugbys Brian Moore have both stopped tweeting as a result. Day-to-day users of Twitter would be shocked by this dark side to instant communication. My experience involved some disgruntled Indian supporters who were frustrated by their teams lamentable performances, and also by my factually accurate account of the dismissal of a key batsman, Rahul Dravid. The unpleasantness was one thing, but most insulting was the blind rejection of the impartial observation, knowledge and experience imparted by someone who has been involved in the professional game for 35 years. It is still going on, despite Dravids own conrmation that he was correctly given out. You only have to listen to a football phone-in to appreciate the extent to which sport makes experts of everyone. Sports correspondents should not live in ivory towers and of course we get it wrong sometimes, but it would be a great shame if a mindless, determined few destroy the unique and exciting opportunity that Twitter has presented to genuine sports lovers.

I LOVE TWITTER IT WOULD BE A SHAME IF KEYBOARD BRAVADO DESTROYS THE UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY IT GIVES
I fully understand that not everyone is sold on social media. Unless you have an interest in communication and like a good gossip, Facebook and Twitter can seem pointless and inane. On the other hand I love it and enjoy a genuinely two-way relationship with my Twitter army of nearly 130,000 loyal followers. I send them cricket news with my thoughts on the game, behind-the-scenes chit-chat and snapshots of my famously disorganised daily life. In return, I receive hundreds of well-reasoned responses to the cricketing issues, which always give food for thought

England whitewashed India in the Test series; now they turn their attention to the One Day games

One Day at a time for Flower

LIVE ENGLAND V INDIA ODI CRICKET, SKY SPORTS 1, SATURDAY, 11am

England are ofcially the best cricket team in the world in two forms of the game, but they have much to do before they can make the same boast in One Day Internationals. Andy Flowers men could almost be forgiven for still pinching themselves at the manner of their recent Test series whitewash against India. The tourists went into the contest as the top-ranked team in the world but have been left licking their wounds after being outclassed in every department. England must put their Test exploits on hold though, until they take on

Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in January. The mission now is to do something about their lowly One Day International ranking, which sees them languishing down at fth in the 50-over game, starting with Saturdays opening game in the ve-match NatWest Series against the World Cup holders. Flower and new captain Alastair Cook oversaw a hard-fought 3-2 win at home to Sri Lanka earlier this summer but are aware that much, much more is needed. One Day improvement is a priority, said Flower. It is important, because they [India] are the world champions and because we are a One Day side that are determined to improve.

SPORT IN BRIEF
Aviva Premiership, London Irish v Harlequins & Saracens v Wasps, ESPN, Saturday, from 1.15pm (KO 2pm)
All eyes may be on the upcoming World Cup in New Zealand, but rugby union lovers should not overlook the start of the British domestic season. It kicks off with a local derby between London Irish and Harlequins, followed by Saracens opening their title defence against Wasps. The match marks Dai Youngs debut as Wasps coach, as he looks to restore them to their former glories.

Scotland hoping for Czech mate

LIVE INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL, SCOTLAND v CZECH REPUBLIC, SKY SPORTS 2, SATURDAY, 2.30pm (KO 3pm)

Live Football League, Swindon v Rotherham, Sky Sports 2, Saturday, 12 noon

The Premier League and Championship may be on hiatus due to the international break, but there is plenty of action in the lower divisions. Rotherham have made a ying start to the season and are top of the League Two table after ve games. Swindon have revamped their squad over the summer following the arrival of coach Paolo Di Canio.

Scotland head into their crucial clash with the Czech Republic knowing victory is vital if they are to have a realistic chance of reaching the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. With world and European champions Spain boasting a 100 per cent record in the group so far, Craig Leveins men are likely to have to go through the play-offs to qualify. That means edging out the Czechs for second place and with only four points from

their rst four games, Scotland cannot afford many more slip-ups if they are to have any hope of qualifying. They head into the Hampden showdown ve points behind their opponents but with a game in hand. Wigan defender Gary Caldwell said: We believe this is our chance to get to a major nals. This is one of the better squads that Ive been a part of but we will be judged on qualifying and thats what we want to achieve. Scotland also host Lithuania on Tuesday and go into the double header in a condent mood thanks to their 2-1 win over Denmark in a friendly last month. Caldwell added: It will give us the condence going into the most important games in the group. The Czech Republic are possibly a bit better than Denmark so its going to be tough, but we believe we can get the result needed.

Caldwell says condence is high among the Scottish players

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