The cattle market is over for another year, and as expected KP (to Bangalore) and Freddie (to Chennai) both fetched good money. Both the same, in fact, on $1.55m, which should help keep things peaceful in the England dressing room. Their prices just eclipse the $1.5m paid for Dhoni last year, but there were far fewer players in the auction this time around, so it is not surprising that the two big stars both fetched premium prices.

Michael Clarke withdrew from the auction to “spend more time with his family”. As usual that well-worn political euphemism appears to have been a smokescreen. The word out of India is that Puppy had over-priced himself and had withdrawn to avoid the embarrassment of not having anyone bid on him.

The Royals spent quite a lot of money on Shaun Tait, which is understandable. We needed a good strike bowler to replace Tanvir, and Tait was one of the best on offer. I must admit that I’d never heard of Tyron Henderson, which just goes to show that I should pay more attention to the English Twenty20 tournament. Henderson was a key player in the Middlesex side that won that trophy last year, and distinguished himself in Twenty20 back home in South Africa as well. He’ll be an excellent addition to the Royals squad.

I have no idea what Bangalore think they are doing. I love Rahul Dravid as a batsman, but he’s not the greatest captain in the world, and saddling him with KP and Jesse Ryder is about the worst thing you could do. Two more headstrong players would be hard to find. I’d suggest making KP captain, but he can’t be there for the whole tournament.

Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai all appear to have strengthened their squads, and as they were all good last year they should be better now. Punjab haven’t made any great buys, but Yuvraj ran a great team last year and should do the same again. My initial instinct is that the Knight Riders and Chargers will disappoint again.

Full details of the auction are available from the BBC. I see from the video that the Royals did actually bid on KP, but eventually let Vijay Mallya have him.

The current test series between England and West Indies is the first in which the England team have had experience of the trial instant replay system. As in tennis, the teams have a number of appeals that they can use, and they keep the appeal if it is upheld, but lose it if it is not. How is the system working?

While I have been having dinner, three referrals were made. The first was a dreadful decision by the umpire. Freddie’s ball pitched in line, hit Devon Smith plumb in front, and according to Hawkeye would have taken out middle stump about half way up. The field umpire game Smith not out, a decision that was very quickly reversed on appeal. Freddie, gentleman that he is, immediately went to commiserate with the umpire.

The second appeal was again an LBW for Freddie, this time against Sarwan. It was close, but the replay showed that the ball was probably going to miss the stumps, confirming the decision of the field umpire.

Appeal three was much more interesting. Harmison hit Sarwan above the knee roll on his pads. The umpire gave the LBW, Sarwan appealed, and on replay it looked like the ball might just have gone over the top. It was really hard to say, and in such circumstances the batsman should be given the benefit of the doubt, which is what happened.

So from what I have seen, we’ve had three referrals and three correct decisions, which should be good for the game. The Sky commentators seem happy. Agnew, on the other hand, is continuing to predict doom and disaster, and is busily trawling through the TMS email to find people who support him. Thankfully Sir Geoffrey is giving him an ear full.

This year’s Indian Premier League is due to begin on April 10th and preparations for the new season is well under way. Most of the squads will remain intact for last year, though I understand that the Pakistan government is throwing a hissy fit and not allowing their players to participate. However, there are a bunch of new overseas players available, and they will go to auction on Friday. Reserve prices have just been set. Here are the top picks:

• Kevin Pietersen: $1,350,000
• Michael Clarke: $1,000,000
• Andrew Flintoff: $950,000
• J P Duminy: $300,000
• Shaun Tait: $250,000
• Stuart Clark: $250,000
• Paul Collingwood: $250,000

Obviously they could go for a lot more than that if the bidding gets intense.

While I’m sure that Warnie would like to be reunited with his old Hampshire colleague, Pietersen, I’m hoping that the Royals stick to last year’s policy of not wasting money on big names. I’d be quite interested in Mohammad Ashraful who, at $75,000, might be something of a bargain.

Finally I see from the club web site that Shilpa Shetty has bought a stake in the team. Nice to see us adding a bit of glamor to the squad. Shilpa dear, should you happen to be reading this: if Preity Zinta starts bragging about the Silver Hugo she won at the Chicago Film Festival, just tell her that we’ve got someone with a real Hugo Award, and that’s much more valuable.

Via Will Plant and the BBC I learn that Bill Frindall has died.

Frindall has been a regular feature of BBC radio’s cricket coverage for as long as I have been listening to cricket. Other commentators may have come and gone, but the “Bearded Wonder” was always there, proving a mine of statistical information whenever he was called upon, and often pricking the pretensions of his more flamboyant colleagues. I can’t think of any other sports statistician who has become a media star the way Frindall did.

Frindall wrote in his autobiography that he got the job with the BBC because he was quick off the mark in applying for when the previous incumbent died. When I was a lot younger I was sure that Frindall had the best job in the world, and I wanted it, but he showed no sign of dying. I suspect that tomorrow the BBC will be snowed under with job applications, but I doubt that they will find anyone who can replace Bill Frindall.

At last the ECB have come to their senses. County players will be allowed to play in the IPL this year. According to the BBC, some of the test squad had been refusing to sign their central contracts until some sort of compromise was sorted out.