'I'm a bit sloppy, but when Dave told me my bike was a disgrace I had to promise to clean it'

So, the match between England and Australia at the Rose Bowl the other night was the 3,000th one-day international. That is some landmark. Or is it? The trouble with this big(ish) piece of history is that it needed several minuscule pieces of history to be achieved. Perhaps this is always the case with history; the little sketches make up the large picture. But the calculation was made by including all those ODIs which do meet the criteria for being so exalted in anything but name. Hong Kong, for instance, have played four ODIs according to the official records, all in the Asia Cups of 2004 and 2008. And nobody has yet made more than 36 in a single innings. The ICC World XI count for four more; then there are the conglomerate sides: East Africa, who appeared in the first World Cup, an Asia XI and an Africa XI. Take these away and there would be some way to go to 3,000. Whatever the number, it came as a surprise to note that between them Australia (742) and India (746) have played in nearly half of all the ODIs ever staged. And that 15 players have appeared 300 times, more than 10 per cent of the total. England, bless them, are still playing catch-up. They have now played 531 one-day matches, having appeared in the first of all in 1971 (a famously rushed, accidental job when the Melbourne Test was washed out). Their leading player, Paul Collingwood, has played in 179 matches, which puts him in joint 77th place on the world list with Adam Parore of New Zealand, who retired eight years ago.

Harman was not going to convince anyone - fair-minded centrists or wavering Liberal Democrats, with such a partisan attack

Blood on the tracks to the summit

It was yesterday's Alastair Campbell moment. When Wayne Rooney was asked about the prominent cross he has been wearing during training here he replied: "It's my religion." This seemed to open up an interesting new flank in the Rooney story until the Football Association's head of media relations, Mark Whittle, offered an aside reminiscent of Campbell telling Tony Blair: "We don't do God." Whittle replied for Rooney: "We don't do religion." Rooney, currently an officer of state of Blairite proportions, had already offered enough information to offer an intriguing insight into his Catholicism, though. Of the cross he said: "I've been wearing them for years now and you don't usually watch training [to see them.] I obviously can't wear them in games."

With a cast ranging from Cardinal Wolsey, renowned for his "powers of persuasion", to his seedy counterpart Alastair Campbell, this guide to the well-guarded bastions of power glitters with interest on every page.

Tony Blair's former press secretary has just published another volume of his diaries but, at 53, he's a long way off retirement, is still up for a political fight and may even try his luck as an MP

Broadcaster Adam Boulton expressed regret today over a furious on-air spat with Labour's former head of communications, Alastair Campbell.

Media Studies: Whatever one's speculations about motivation, the point stands... this story was justified in its own right

Labour leadership candidate's partner gives him some good news, while Blair's old spin-doctor dishes out the dirt on him and his rivals

Downing Street refused to field a Cabinet minister on BBC1's Question Time this week because the panel featured former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell, the flagship current affairs programme said.

Freed from the cares of office, party heavyweights are racing to get their version of the years in power into print

What better way to end this most momentous of weeks than with news of an old-fashioned Tory punch-up on the horizon?

As regular readers of this column will be aware, there has been genuine concern that earnest Westminster bulldog Adam Boulton has been working too hard.