WE columnists don't like being labelled boring. Which is why Nasser Hussain has been having a bit of a spat with Sir Tim Rice, who is granted a national newspaper column on the strength of being a celebrity and a cricket nut.

This tends not to go down well with professional journalists, and it was a bit rich for Sir Tim to take a swipe at Nasser for being boring in his Captain's Diary in the Sunday Telegraph.

There have been further exchanges - all very tedious and unnecessary because we don't need a knighted lyricist to tell us what we already know.

The vast majority of these diary columns written by professional sportsmen are extremely bland, which is why it was so refreshing to read the comments which landed Matt Dawson in hot water.

The England scrum half had a real go at the Lions management and has since been supported by winger Dan Luger, who had left the tour because of injury.

Dawson's comments looked misplaced when the Lions triumphed so magnificently in the first Test, but perhaps the over-training he referred to left them drained during their second half collapse last Saturday.

We'll find out tomorrow whether there's enough left in the tank for the decider to live up to its billing, and we can be sure that one man who will be giving his all is Dawson.

Rob Howley's injury has given him the chance he obviously craved after playing such a big part in the Lions' success in South Africa.

But I suspect that his comments sprang not so much from bitterness as from a desire to make his mark in the journalistic field.

With so many sportsmen eyeing a place in the media on retirement, there should only be room for those few who have something interesting to say.

LOVE him or loathe him, it has to be admitted that Geoffrey Boycott is rarely dull.

He is the sort of man who is unintentionally amusing, as highlighted by his outrageous performance in a French court.

Unlike impoverished journalists, he doesn't need the money, being a legendary hoarder of the stuff.

But he, too, now has a national newspaper column, in which he revealed this week that he discovered 25 years ago how to avoid broken fingers while batting.

He apparently taped on to his gloves a substance he got from hospital called plastizote.

Boycott concluded his column with the words: "If Hussain wants to talk to me, I am not difficult to find."

How typical of the man that he wants others to come crawling to him rather than seeking them out with a generous offer of advice.

Even when it's in the national interest that a way should be found to cut down on the England captain's mishaps, Boycott's massive ego gets in the way.

WHEN series against Australia are so keenly anticipated, it is hugely disappointing when injuries tilt the balance.

The Lions might still come away with a win because they have strength in depth; our cricketers haven't got a price without Graham Thorpe to shore up the middle order.

Thorpe has become a batsman for all seasons. He is a one-day expert, yet scored a Test hundred in Pakistan which included only one boundary.

What a contrast the Aussies are now providing with the way the game is played in the sub-continent, where 200 runs a day is the norm.

On the first day at Edgbaston 427 runs were scored as a result of Australia's all-out attack, which meant there were always gaps in their field for England to score runs if they could survive. Then Michael Slater came in and blazed it to all parts.

The victory in Pakistan was achieved largely through attritional tactics. Now it's a whole different ball game and to go into it with a half-fit Ashley Giles is sheer lunacy.

It was also a huge folly to withdraw Giles, Craig White and even Andy Caddick from their county games preceding the Test when they all needed some overs under their belts.

From having a team to be proud of and apparently capable of competing for the Ashes, we're suddenly a rabble again. The only solution is to go cap-in-hand to Geoffrey Boycott for advice.

TWO of my New Year wishes were that anyone other than Pete Sampras and Michael Schumacher should win Wimbledon and the world motor racing championship.

Sadly, the scalextric continues to be interminably boring partly because of Schumacher's dominance.

Wimbledon, however, proved rather less dull than usual.

The annual bout of Henmania was dragged out by the weather (if it's not injuries wrecking our chances, it's the rain), then the final was enlivened by the support for the charismatic Croatian who had toppled our Tim.

Plus the fact we couldn't stand the thought of another Aussie triumph.

On top of all that it was apparently not a bad game. In fact, I almost wish I'd watched it. If only I didn't have all these columns to read.