We've had just over a week in the UK following our five-match one-day international series in the West Indies, which was a really good tour for us as a group.

After victory in the Caribbean, captain Heather Knight's England side are on the brink of clinching qualification for next summer's home World Cup as they head to Sri Lanka.
We were successful on the field, finishing with a strong win to take the series 3-2, but we also learned an awful lot as well. As a batting unit especially, scoring runs was not easy out there on slow, sticky pitches that turned inconsistently.
Sometimes it can test your mental game as much as your technical game - you know it's going to be tough and that some balls are going to spin past the bat, but you've still got to try to be positive and find a method to score.
Throughout the first four matches, there appeared to be a formula in play - win the toss, bat first, win the game - but we managed to buck the trend in the last match to register the first victory of the series for the side batting second.
That chase was anchored by a quality innings from Nat Sciver, which showed us all how far her game has matured over the past few years. We know she can play some seriously destructive shots, but the team needed her to be the rock on this occasion and that's exactly what she did.
The Caribbean isn't an easy place to tour and win, so to come away with a series victory against the current ICC Women's World Twenty20 champions is a big achievement. At times we were a bit inconsistent, but we're a young group of players who are developing all the time and there's bound to be a few bumps in the road.
Once the series finished we had an extra day in Jamaica before we flew home, so we managed to fit in a beach volleyball tournament, consisting of players, our management team, and the journos following the tour from the BBC and Sky Sports.
A bit earlier in the tour, we also played a friendly game against the West Indies team, including live commentary from the hotel staff, and encouragement from a rowdy crowd of holidaying Brits in the pool. After starting dreadfully, we clawed our way back into the match to finish with an epic victory thanks to Danni Wyatt's serves. Technically a 4-2 series win in the Caribbean then?!
The following day we headed to the airport to fly home, although former England star Lydia Greenway, who was out with BBC Test Match Special to cover the matches, nearly missed the flight trying to finish off this never-ending bowl of nachos at the airport (she didn't even get a sixth of the way through!).
It has been a quick turnaround before we venture overseas again to Abu Dhabi for a week-long training camp, before our four-match series against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
We're taking a squad of 23 to Abu Dhabi so we can have some internal games out there, meaning a number of the England Women's Senior Academy girls are joining up with the main squad.
It's a great opportunity for some of the youngsters to show what they can do, and benchmark where they are in comparison with the team.
It will also be great preparation for us before heading onto Sri Lanka, for the final round of the ICC Women's Championship (ICCWC) as after taking four points in Jamaica, we now need just one more win from the three ICCWC matches in Colombo to secure our spot in the Women's World Cup on home soil next summer.
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Excitement is already building for the World Cup next year, especially with the ICC launching a ticket ballot for the final at Lord's on 23 July for the first time. It's been great to see lots of publicity and hopefully everyone getting behind it.
Living in London, I got a slight shock on the Tube when I got back from the West Indies to see my ugly mug staring back at me on the platform in one of the adverts. A very weird experience, and my mates wouldn't let me get away without a spoof photo…
You can read more BBC columns from Heather during the winter.


Rock-bottom Brechin were beaten again as Willie Gibson's free-kick secured Stranraer the win.

Stranraer broke the deadlock when Stirling scored a rebound after Gibson had stung the palms of Graeme Smith.
Scott Robertson forced a save with a powerful drive but the home side did double their advantage through Gibson's superb free-kick.
Substitute Luciano Nequecaur almost made it three late on and Ryan Thomson had a shot cleared off the line.


The identity of a 17th Century ship wrecked off the Dorset coast has been revealed.

The so-called Swash Channel Wreck was discovered in a sand and shingle bank outside Poole Harbour.
Experts believe it to be a Dutch merchant vessel named The Fame which foundered in a storm in March 1631.
The name was revealed at an event to mark its rudder - raised from the seabed in 2013 - going on public display at Poole Museum.
The 8.4m (28ft) rudder, with a moustachioed face carved into it, was lifted on to Poole Quay by Bournemouth University marine archaeologists in 2013 after almost a decade of investigation and excavation work.
The wreck had been initially discovered in the 1990s although its name remained a mystery.
Following the raising of the rudder, historians were able to study historical records and analyse the timbers to confirm the ship as being The Fame.
Bournemouth University marine archaeologist Dave Parham said finding the name added a "human story" to the wreck.
"It's the right name at the right date with the right age of the timbers. Everything fits, although you can never be sure."
"This is a ship most likely going from the Netherlands to the Americas using Poole as a stopping-off point. It is a lens through which we can view the history of Poole."
Historian Dr Ian Friel who carried out much of the research said the wreck was a "remarkable find".
Despite there being no central record of shipwrecks at the time, he unearthed contemporary accounts of the Dutch vessel being regarded as a danger to shipping after it dragged its anchor and broke up on a sandbank.
He also concluded it could have been sailing without any cargo.
Source: Dr Ian Friel, Lost property: Identifying the 17th Century Swash Channel Wreck.
The raised rudder was dried and preserved during a three-year conservation effort by York Archaeological Trust.
It has gone on show at Poole Museum with other recovered artefacts.
The remains of the wreck have now been covered in sand to protect it from the seawater.


The head of Dr Oetker - one of the world's biggest frozen pizza makers - has revealed the family firm's links to Germany's Nazi party.

Company chairman August Oetker was speaking ahead of a new book that studies the history of the family's links with the Nazis.
His father, Rudolf-August Oetker, was a member of Adolf Hitler's Waffen SS.
Rudolf-August Oetker ran the company, based in Bielefeld, northern Germany, after World War II and died in 2007.
"My father was a National Socialist," August Oetker said in an interview with Die Zeit newspaper.
"He didn't want to talk about this time. He said, 'children, leave me in peace'."
He said his father, who had joined the Nazi party in the 1930s, had been influenced by his step-father, Richard Kaselowsky, who was a staunch supporter of Hitler and ran Dr Oetker before him.
Mr Oetker said he welcomed the publication next week of the book Dr Oetker and National Socialism, written by a German historian and funded by the company.
"I feel now we know the facts, now the fog has lifted," he said.
Over the decades, many German companies have come under pressure to come to terms with their links to the Nazis and their actions during the 1930s and 1940s.


A man has been convicted of murdering a 60-year-old grandfather, who was fatally stabbed in a London pub while trying to protect a barmaid.

Aiden O'Mahony died from a single stab wound in JJ Moon's pub on High Street, Hornchurch, on 10 January.
James Roberts, 31, from Hornchurch, will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on 6 January 2017.
The court heard how Mr O'Mahonny had been "peacefully enjoying a drink" when a fight broke out.
Roberts threatened the barmaid with "serious violence" after she asked him to leave the pub.
The Old Bailey heard Mr O'Mahony challenged Roberts, and when "Roberts asked him to go outside [Mr O'Mahony] agreed."
After the attack several customers had to barricade the pub door shut, as Roberts tried to force his way back inside, police said.
Mr O'Mahony's family said they were "devastated" by his death.
"Aiden was a very loved son, brother, partner and granddad," they added.
Det Insp Garry Moncrieff said: "Roberts was in a foul and aggressive mood and decided to just take it out on anyone who he felt crossed him.
Mr O'Mahony "was being a gentleman" but his "brave intervention unfortunately cost him his life", he added.


Six people have been arrested in Canada on suspicion of running a prostitution ring, which smuggled nearly 500 women in to the country, according to police.

The majority of the alleged victims are from China and South Korea, the police say.
They believe the women were brought to Canada by a criminal gang and were forced into prostitution in a number of cities, including Montreal and Toronto.
Detectives are hunting two more suspects in connection with the case.
They are also examining data from computers and mobile phones seized during the operation, in the hope of identifying the victims and their clients.
Police said the women illegally entered Canada through the land border with the United States or airports, sometimes using visas "obtained through false pretences".
They then spent several weeks or months at a time in brothels located in cities throughout the country.


Two men, including an on-duty police officer, have died in a shooting in the Republic of Ireland.

Police said they were responding to a report of a dispute at a house at Mullach Alainn near Omeath in County Louth at about 18:00 local time on Sunday when the incident occurred.
A woman was also seriously injured in the shooting.
The police officer who died was Anthony Golden, 36, a father of three.
BBC NI's Dublin Correspondent Shane Harrison said the gunman had been named locally as 24-year-old Adrian Crevan Mackin.
He was facing charges of membership of a dissident republican organisation and was out on bail.
Commissioner Noirín O'Sullivan, the head of the Irish police force, said the incident was a "terrible tragedy".
"I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of my colleague in a fatal shooting incident this evening while carrying out their duties," she said.
"This incident highlights the unique nature of the job carried out by the men and women of [the police force], and the dangers they face every day."
Frances Fitzgerald, the Irish justice minister, said the police officer's death would be "mourned by the entire nation".
"The fact that [he] has laid down his life while protecting the community is a cause of great sadness," she said.
"While no words at this time can be expected to console his wife and children, his family, his colleagues and all who loved him, they know that he gave his life protecting the community he was so proud to serve."
Irish President Michael D Higgins contacted Commissioner O'Sullivan to offer his condolences.
"I want to express my deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the Garda who has so tragically lost his life while responding to this incident," he said.
"My thoughts at this time are also with all others who have been affected by the events in Omeath earlier this evening."
Northern Ireland Justice Minister David Ford said he was "absolutely horrified" to hear about the deaths.
"I spoke to my colleague Frances Fitzgerald in Dublin to express my sympathy and asked her to pass that on to garda officers," he said.
The Garda Representative Association, which represents rank and file members of the Irish police force, said it was "shocked and saddened" by the officer's death.
Its president Dermot O'Brien said: "This dreadful, dreadful news is the deepest fear of every police family. This puts everything we do into perspective."
The scene of the shooting has been sealed off for a forensic examination.


Journalists in Mexico have protested against the killing of one of their colleagues and called on the government to take action.

Award-winning journalist Javier Valdez was shot dead on Monday, close to the offices of the newspaper he had founded in his home state, Sinaloa.
He had spent his career investigating drug cartels and had been repeatedly threatened.
He is one of several journalists who have been killed in Mexico this year.
In Mexico City on Tuesday, protesters wrote "They are killing us" and "No to silence" - a phrase used by Mr Valdez - on the road next to the iconic Monument to Independence on the main thoroughfare, Paseo de la Reforma.
Those who were there in person held images of Mr Valdez, while others stuck in their office worked below his projected image on a big screen.
Judith Calderón Gómez, the head of journalists' lobby group Casa de los Derechos de Periodistas, told those present that prosecutions had only happened in 0.03% of cases.
She called on the government to "give a real sign they are interested in guaranteeing journalism in the country".
BBC Mundo's Juan Paullier, who met Mr Valdez once, said he was "a charming, brave and respected man" and his death was "a terrible loss for Mexico's embattled journalism".
"He wanted to tell the stories and dreams of the victims," he said, and " in a country where impunity is the norm, the only certainty seems to be that cases like this won't stop".
Mexican news outlets Animal Político and Tercera Vía are going on strike on Wednesday to protest against the murder, and the ongoing risks to reporters.
Last week, Mexico appointed a new prosecutor to investigate crimes against freedom of expression - including the killing of journalists.
Mr Valdez had once said: "The government couldn't care less. They do nothing to protect you. There have been many cases and this keeps happening."
Speaking at a launch of his book last year, Mr Valdez said being a journalist "is like being on a blacklist" and that gangs "will decide what day they are going to kill you".
In March, after journalist Miroslava Breach was shot dead, Valdez was quoted as saying "No to silence" and "Let them kill us all".
Like Valdez, Breach had reported on organised crime, drug-trafficking and corruption.
Other Mexican journalists killed this year include freelancers Maximino Rodríguez and Cecilio Pineda Birto, according to the CPJ.
The CPJ says at least 40 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 1992.
During his career spanning nearly three decades, Mr Valdez wrote extensively on drug-trafficking and organised crime in Mexico, including the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel.
The cartel is believed to be responsible for an estimated 25% of all illegal drugs that enter the US via Mexico.
Its former head Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was recaptured in 2016, following two jail breaks, and was extradited to the US in January.
Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto condemned the killing, calling it an "outrageous crime", and added that his government remained committed to press freedom.
Sinaloa state attorney general Juan Jose Rios said the death was being investigated, and Valdez's family and colleagues would be protected.
More journalists are killed in Mexico every year than in any other country that does not have a continuing war. The only countries where more journalists are killed are Syria and Afghanistan, according to the group Reporters Without Borders (RSF).


Australia's child protection services have contacted a couple accused of abandoning a baby with Down's syndrome to his surrogate mother in Thailand.

The surrogate says they deliberately left Gammy behind, but took his healthy twin sister. The couple deny this.
It later emerged that the man had previously been convicted for child sex offences.
Officials say they have now managed to reach the couple, but have no major concerns at present.
The contact follows days of speculation over the couple's whereabouts.
In a separate discovery, nine babies were found in a Bangkok flat, with a lawyer claiming they were all surrogate babies fathered by a Japanese businessman.
Child protection officers reached the Australian pair after trying for the past few days.
Western Australia Child Protection Minister Helen Morton told Fairfax Radio on Thursday: "We've had telephone contact with the family and we're in the process of putting other arrangements in place."
The department had no "major" concerns at present, but would consider how to ensure the safety of the baby girl, Gammy's sister, she said.
She urged the media to give the family "privacy and confidentiality" in the meantime, adding that at this stage there was no evidence of anything illegal about the surrogacy arrangements.
According to court documents, the man was convicted in the 1990s for the sexual assault of several young girls.
However, his adult son, who did not wish to be named, told local media that the man was a "good father" who had changed.
"He's just got a massive heart. He's made mistakes, we've accepted it... he's made up for them," he said.
The case of baby Gammy has made international headlines and caused uproar in Australia.
Besides Down's syndrome, the six-month-old has a congenital heart condition and a lung infection.
Surrogate mother Pattharamon Chanbua, who has been looking after Gammy, said the couple had asked her to have an abortion when she was told of the child's condition four months after becoming pregnant.
She said she refused, as it was against her Buddhist beliefs. Abortion on the grounds of foetal impairment is illegal in Thailand.
Ms Chanbua, 21, has said the father met the twins, but only took care of the girl.
The parents have told local media in Australia that they did not know of his existence, and claimed that the allegations made by Ms Chanbua are lies.
Meanwhile, Thai authorities say they have found six boys and three girls, all aged two or younger, in a condominium in Bangkok.
The children were accompanied by several nannies and a pregnant woman.
A Thai lawyer told police he was representing a Japanese man, who was father to all the surrogate babies, telling the Bangkok Post that the surrogacy arrangements were all legal.
Deputy national police chief Aek Angsananont told Reuters news agency: "We are questioning the nannies, as well as asking for co-operation from the Japanese embassy, to help conduct DNA testing.
"If the Japanese man admits that all the children are his babies, we would ask him why he wanted to have so many babies."
Commercial surrogacy is not illegal in Thailand, although the authorities are now seeking to tighten regulations.
Thailand is a popular destination for surrogacy arrangements, along with the US, India, and Russia.
Thailand's medical governing body has recently said that its rules prohibit same-sex couples or single people from engaging a surrogate mother, fees should not be paid, and the surrogate mother must be a blood relative of the intended parents.


It is fair to say that in the race for the play-offs in the Championship, Queen of the South are flying under the radar, a veritable mile beneath the twin jumbos of Rangers and Hibs.

It's no surprise, given their size, that the Ibrox and Easter Road clubs command so much attention, but it's high-time now that James Fowler's team were given the consideration they so richly deserve.
Queens are sitting fourth in the Championship, tucked in behind Hibs and Rangers in the play-off spots and four points ahead of Falkirk with the added cushion of having a game in hand over Peter Houston's team, who they've just beaten 1-0.
In their last three games they have beaten Hibs, Rangers and Falkirk - the two teams directly ahead of them and the one side directly underneath them. They are motoring along serenely while Rangers and Hibs do their split personality routine.
One day Rangers look like they have turned the corner, the next day they don't, the next day they do again.
Hibs are similar. They win five in a row in the league, then lose three in a row, then win two in a row, including Sunday's much-warranted victory over Hearts at Easter Road.
Only a madman would call this play-off for one team or another, but it's a fact that there are three contenders to get to the final against the Premiership entrant, not two as so many of us had probably assumed all along.
It might still seem a bit improbable that Queens could overturn Hibs or Rangers over two legs and then beat Rangers or Hibs over two more legs to take their place in the play-off final, but their record stands up to all sorts of scrutiny.
They have played Rangers four times this season and have a winning record against them - winning two, drawing one and losing one. Their aggregate score against Rangers is 8-5 in their favour. They've scored in all four of the matches between the sides whereas Rangers went goal-less in two of them.
They also have a winning record against Hibs - winning two, drawing one and losing one. The fine margins are illustrated by the aggregate score of 2-2 over the four matches. Hibs went goal-less in three of those four matches.
What a story it would be if the small fry from Dumfries managed to upset the natural order of things in these play-offs. They may not, but they demand respect. You can be sure that Stuart McCall and Alan Stubbs are looking over their shoulder with some apprehension.
We're approaching the point of the season where the ballot papers for player of the year are sent out and the rows about who is deserving and who isn't begin in earnest.
Managers will moan that their club has been ignored (again). Supporters will rage about favouritism. A winner will be announced and the whole process will be deemed, on the one hand, a joke, a laughing stock, an embarrassment and on the other, a deserving honour for a supreme player who was the obvious choice to any right-minded individual.
That's usually the way of it. This year might be different, but I won't be holding my breath.
So, where do we stand?
Right now, I know where my vote is going. Unless something drastic happens, there's one guy who stands out just ahead of everyone else. I could list all those candidates who deserve mention but, frankly, that's a dangerous game. You pick five and then Twitter gives it to you with both barrels about the twenty that you shamefully left out.
So my choice of player of the year: Craig Gordon, for all sorts of reasons. For making a comeback when very few people thought he would, for coming back as good, if not better, than he'd been before and, most importantly, for returning to the game and excelling in European football with a string of outstanding performances. That's what elevates him. He did it at a higher level than domestic fare.
His poor night at Celtic Park against Inter Milan might be mentioned, but the fact is that without his sustained excellence in earlier rounds there would have been no game against Inter Milan. So, with tin hat on, Gordon it is.
This is the time of year when you look at the Pro 12 and start to have fanciful notions about the competition's possibilities. The array of box office names on display in this weekend's matches was impressive. The cast of characters ought to be every marketing executive's dream.
Nobody will forget the breathtaking drama of the final Saturday in the Six Nations only a few weeks ago when Wales put it up to Ireland who, in turn, put it up to England who, in the greatest day of theatre in the old tournament's history, fell short against France, but only just.
Many of the Irish and Welsh players who lit up Super Saturday were in action in the Pro 12 this weekend. Five of the Irish squad that won in Murrayfield played for Leinster at the Dragons on Sunday, the home team having one of the Welsh side, Taulupe Falatau, that did such thrilling damage to Italy.
The Munster side that put Edinburgh to the sword in the same stadium where those remarkable scenes happened only a few weeks back contained Paul O'Connell, Peter O'Mahony and Conor Murray, three giants of their Six Nations triumph.
Against Zebre, Scarlets fielded four of the Welsh squad that featured against Italy. In the Connacht versus Ulster match in Galway, there were five of the champion Irish squad. In Ospreys' win over Treviso there were seven of Warren Gatland's squad playing. In Glasgow on Friday, Sam Warburton was in the visitors' team.
Of the Ireland and Wales line-ups from Super Saturday, 27 of them played in the Pro 12 this weekend, including the last two Lions captains, Warburton and Paul O'Connell.
If you factor in the intensity at the top of the league, where so little separates the top four, then you have the raw materials for a cross-border competition that ought to be making a lot more money for its clubs than it actually does. The sense of untapped potential in the Pro 12 remains, but so does the financial gap between it and the English and French leagues.
Of course, the gap is growing ever wider and all the while it threatens the bits of progress that have been made by the Pro 12. How long will it be before some monied English or French club raids Scotstoun and makes off with Jonny Gray or Alex Dunbar or Mark Bennett? Or, indeed, Gregor Townsend? Glasgow can only continue moving forward while keeping hold of its big names. The same can be said of the Pro 12 in general.
The television money in the Premiership and the Top 14 in France is bordering on the obscene in comparison to the relative pittance on offer in the Pro 12. The crowds are big and the heat of battle is red-hot. All the time. Some of it might be turgid stuff, but fear of failure can be a great attraction. Every game matters to the fans and, by extension, to the broadcasters who pay through the nose to cover it.
The Pro 12 is improving as a competition, but it still does not hold anything like the importance of a Premiership or a Top 14. Great swathes of the Pro 12 season go by without the big names appearing in it. It's really only now, when the cotton wool comes off the international players, that we see the competition in its best light.
This weekend has been interesting in that it has seen an increase in intensity. The top four needed to win and win big to maintain their position and they all did so, all four of them taking bonus-point victories. Edinburgh were in great mode ahead of their home game against Munster but they got put back in their place by a side that has cranked up its power now that we are at the business end of the league season. The cream is rising to the top.
It's not just those who follow Glasgow who will be hoping that Townsend's team can go one better than they did last season, it'll be everyone who holds the best interests of the Pro 12 at heart. For too long there has been a sameness to the winners' podium - Leinster, Leinster, Ospreys, Munster, Ospreys, Munster, Leinster, Ospreys. Eight seasons and only three different winners.
The Pro 12 needs Glasgow to come through and change the narrative and the good news is that they look eminently capable of doing it. It also needs the Edinburghs and the Llanellis and the Cardiffs and the Dragons to get their acts together and get competitive instead of being the also-rans they have been for too long.
A new champion is only the start of the work that needs to be done to capitalise on a competition that could be so much better.


A vintage car from a collection which belonged to Isle of Man watchmaker Dr George Daniels has fetched more than £5m at auction.

The "Birkin" Bentley, which went under the hammer at the Goodwood Festival of Speed became the most expensive British car ever sold at a public auction.
It was one of seven classic cars and two motorcycles owned by Dr Daniels who died in October 2011.
A Bonhams spokesman said the collection was "one of the greatest on earth."
He added: "There is an expression in the art world that is the highest accolade that anyone can give to another. To say that someone has "an eye" means that the person has the ability to detect quality, originality, value, and importance, in a work of art.
"When it comes to classic cars, George Daniels had this quality in spades."
The 1929 Birkin single-seater Bentley was described by Bonhams as the "Concorde of its time" and received its nickname after being driven by the aristocrat Sir Henry Birkin.
Dr Daniels created 37 watches over a 60-year career. Each was created by hand from raw materials - a task which could take more than 2,500 man hours to complete.
He was appointed an MBE in 1981 and CBE in 2010 for services to horology although he was as passionate about vintage cars as he was about watches.
Speaking to the BBC in January 2010, he said: "Old motor cars are every bit as interesting as old watches.  We tune them up to be as sporting and speeding as they were when they were original.
"They are all quite famous in one way or another, driven by leading riders.  We know the performance these cars can achieve and we get that performance out of them again - just because they are old, doesn't mean they are slow."
Dr Daniel's funeral service was held at Lezayre church in the north of the island last November.
Chief executive of Bonhams Malcolm Barber said he was asked to view the classic car collection in December.
"I knew a little of what to expect because George and I were colleagues many moons ago.  We estimated the collection to be worth between six and seven million but with cars like this you just don't know.
"The Birkin is unique, there is no comparison to make - this is the only single-seater prepared by Bentley which raised the outer circuit lap record at Brooklands to 137mph."
Dr George Daniel's entire collection, including a 1954 Bentley R-Type, a Bentley Tourer and a 1907 Daimler, was sold by Bonhams for a total of almost £10m.


The BBC was "far too complacent" in its handling of a failed IT project that cost licence fee payers £98.4m.

The Digital Media Initiative (DMI) was intended to move the BBC away from using and storing video tape.
But it was scrapped, with almost no results, after five years of development.
After investigating the demise of the project, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has branded the programme "a complete failure".
Chairman Margaret Hodge said the BBC needed to "overhaul" its approach to such projects, to "safeguard licence fee payers' money".
The BBC originally approved DMI in 2006. It was supposed to produce new editing tools, an online archive of the BBC's programmes and a new database.
Technology company Siemens was hired to develop the project in February 2008, and it was expected to be completed the following year.
However, after a series of delays, the project was brought in-house, There it floundered until last May, when the BBC's incoming director general, Tony Hall, admitted it had "wasted a huge amount of licence fee payers' money".
The gross estimate of the amount spent on DMI was £125.9m, although the BBC claims to have recouped £27.5m of that.
The BBC's technology chief, John Linwood, was sacked in July 2013 over the project's demise.
A previous report, by the National Audit Office (NAO), blamed "confusion and a lack of planning" for the failure.
It said that senior executives failed to take control of the project when it ran into trouble and "did not appear to appreciate the extent of the problems until a late stage".
The PAC published its own findings on Thursday. It reiterated several of the points raised in earlier reports and criticised the BBC for its failure to alert MPs of the problems.
"When my committee examined the DMI's progress in February 2011, the BBC told us that the DMI was... absolutely essential... and that a lot of the BBC's future was tied up in the successful delivery of the DMI," said Ms Hodge.
"The BBC also told us that it was using the DMI to make many programmes and was on track to complete the system in 2011 with no further delays.
"This turned out not to be the case. In reality the BBC only ever used the DMI to make one programme, called Bang Goes the Theory.
"The BBC was far too complacent about the high risks involved in taking it in-house. No single individual had overall responsibility or accountability for delivering the DMI and achieving the benefits, or took ownership of problems when they arose."
A BBC spokesman said: "Tony Hall was right to scrap the DMI project when he took over as director general last year. As we said at the time, the BBC didn't get DMI right and we apologised to licence fee payers.
"Since then we have completely overhauled how these projects are delivered so that there is crystal clear accountability and transparency."
A spokeswoman for the BBC Trust, the corporation's governing body, said: "As we have said before, this represented an unacceptable loss to licence fee payers.
"Acting on the conclusions of previous reports into DMI, we have strengthened reporting to the Trust so that problems are spotted early and dealt with quickly.
"We are also carrying out follow up reviews once projects are completed to make sure the lessons from DMI are being implemented."


A body pulled from the sea off Kent has been identified as that of a 17-year-old woman from Ramsgate.

The remains of Becky Anne Morgan were recovered from the water at Broadstairs on 07:45 BST on Sunday, police said.
They had been called nearly three hours earlier to reports of someone in the sea at the Port of Ramsgate about three miles away.
A 21-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder has been released on bail until 24 June.
Police have appealed for witnesses who were in the Harbour Parade or Ramsgate Sands area early on Sunday.
They also want to speak to people who might have seen Becky on Saturday evening or night.


The death toll in forest fires in Portugal has risen to 25, officials say.

The majority died while trying to flee the Pedrógão Grande area, 50 km (30 miles) south-east of Coimbra, in their cars, according to the government.
Several fire fighters are reported to be among about 20 people injured.
"Unfortunately this seems to be the greatest tragedy we have seen in recent years in terms of forest fires," said Prime Minister Antonio Costa.
The death toll could rise further, he said.
Secretary of State for the Interior Jorge Gomes earlier said that three people died from smoke inhalation and 16 died in their cars on the road linking Figueiró dos Vinhos to Castanheira de Pera.
About 60 forest fires broke out across the country overnight, with 1,700 firefighters working to put them out.
The flames spread "with great violence" on four fronts, Mr Gomes said.
Spain has sent two water-bombing planes to help tackle the fires.
It is not yet known what caused the fire, which has also burnt down houses in the area.
However Mr Costa said dry thunderstorms could have been one possible cause.
Portugal has been experiencing a heatwave, with temperatures over 40 C in some areas.


John Menzies has said it is "considering its position" after the logistics firm with which it is close to completing a merger deal announced it was being investigated by police.

DX Group said police had launched a preliminary investigation centred on its DX Exchange operations, after "an allegation" was made against the group.
DX said it was "co-operating fully" with the police.
It comes as the two firms close in on a planned merger of distribution arms.
In a stock market announcement, DX said: "The board of DX announces that it has been notified by the City of London Police Economic Crime Directorate of an allegation that has been made against the company which has resulted in the commencement of a preliminary investigation centred on the DX Exchange operations.
"The investigation is at a very early stage. The board of DX received the details of the allegation on 7 June 2017 and is co-operating fully with the City of London Police.
"A further announcement will be made when appropriate."
Reacting to the news, Edinburgh-based Menzies said: "The board of John Menzies plc notes the announcement made this morning by DX (Group) plc.
"The board of John Menzies is considering its position and will make a further announcement as and when appropriate."
This week an activist investor at DX ended its opposition to the proposed merger between DX and Menzies' distribution unit, after the companies agreed revised terms.
Gatemore Capital Management had threatened to block the original deal unless it was "markedly improved".
Under a revised deal, DX agreed to buy Menzies Distribution for Â£40m in cash and issue new ordinary shares representing 65% of the enlarged firm.
At the time of that announcement, both companies said they expected the transaction to be completed during the summer.


Key questions about general election results, and how the BBC reports them, are answered below.

The simple answer is by winning more seats in the House of Commons than all the other parties put together. There are 650 seats available, which means 326 seats are needed to win an overall majority.
However, an effective majority could be smaller as the speaker and his deputies, although MPs, do not usually vote. Also, Sinn Fein, which  won five seats in Northern Ireland in 2010, traditionally refuse to swear allegiance to the Queen, and are not entitled to vote as a consequence.
Also called a "seat", in a general election, this is where the political battles are fought.
Voters in each constituency choose just one MP. The constituencies are towns or areas all of roughly the same size.
No.
After the last election, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats proposed changing some constituency boundaries and reducing the number of MPs.  However,  these plans were scuppered by backbench Tory MPs in 2012 and this year's election will be fought in the same seats as 2010.
The Speaker of the House of Commons is an MP and has to stand for re-election as Speaker in their constituency at every general election.
Traditionally the biggest parties in the House of Commons do not stand against the Speaker however some parties, such as UKIP, do.
The current Speaker, John Bercow, is standing for election in Buckingham.
The Speaker is a neutral figure in Parliament, so Mr Bercow is no longer a member of the Conservative Party as he was before his election to the role (by parliament).
However, for the purposes of calculating the number of seats belonging to each party - and calculating those held, gained or lost by each party - Mr Bercow's seat is regarded as being a Conservative constituency as he won it for the party in 1997, 2001 and 2005 before being elected speaker.
If Mr Bercow wins again, the result in Buckingham will be described as "Speaker hold" - and his seat will be added to the Conservative total.
The BBC followed exactly the same principle in 2005, when previous Speaker Michael Martin's Glasgow Springburn seat was added to the Labour party's tally.
What matters most is how many "seats" each party wins, and for things to change political parties need to win seats from each other.
Because winning seats from each other is so important, a special language is used to show this. Seats that are won can mainly fall into two categories: "hold" or "gain".
Hold:  If a party wins a seat that it won in 2010, this is described as a "hold".
Gain:  If a party wins a seat that it did not win at the last general election, this is called a "gain".
Win:  Where there has been a by-election since the last general election and that by-election resulted in a different party gaining the seat compared to the general election result (see below).
Clearly these are really important to the opposition parties.
If they are to form a new government, they need to win seats from the existing government and other parties to  make "gains", while they retain or "hold" all the seats they had last time.
By-elections are one-off elections in seats where, for example, the sitting MP has stood down or died.  There have been 21 by-elections since 2010.
When the BBC reports general election  results, all of these interim by-elections are ignored, to allow for straightforward comparison with 2010's seats.
Some of the terminology used to describe results in by-election seats is different.
For example:  In 2010 Labour's Marsha Singh held Bradford West, but resigned in 2012.   Respect's George Galloway won the seat in the subsequent by-election.
If Labour regains this seat at the general election, the BBC will describe it as a Labour "win", not a "hold" or "gain". It will not appear as a net gain in Labour's overall UK seat tally.
Another example: In Rochester & Strood, the resignation and defection to UKIP of Conservative Mark Reckless triggered a by-election in 2014.  If Mr Reckless retains his seat, the result will also be described as a "UKIP win", but it will appear as a net gain in the UKIP seat tally.
The BBC adopts this policy in recognition of the very particular circumstances which often shape the outcome of by-elections.
Comparing seat change from 2010 represents a fairer way of representing how the political expression of voters has altered from general election to general election.
To win an election, a party must win enough seats in the House of Commons to form a government.  To do that simply one party needs to get one more seat than all the others added together.
That is called an overall majority, but in the shorthand language of elections it is just called "a majority".
There are 650 seats in parliament, so to get one more than everyone else put together a party must get 326 or more to get a "majority".
Of course it makes things much easier for a government if they have many more MPs than all the others put together.
That number is called the "size of the majority. So, if one party were to win 326 seats, then all the other parties added together would be 324.
The majority is therefore 326 minus 324: two. So the smallest majority possible is not one seat but two.
Another quick way of working this out is to take away 325 from the number of seats that winning party has got and double the result. For example:
If the winning party has 350 seats what is the majority?
350-325=25
25x2=50
So the majority is 50.
A tip for any office sweepstake  on the size of the majority is never bet on an odd number.
A hung parliament happens when no single party wins a majority over all the others.
A party can stay in power without an absolute majority by trying to forge an alliance with a smaller party to create a coalition government.
Alternatively, they can aim to reach agreements with smaller parties to support them in parliament in the event of a confidence motion aimed at bringing down the government.
Another possibility is for the biggest party to form a minority government with no agreements with other parties and just try to form majorities in favour of each individual bill as it comes up - an arrangement sometimes called "confidence and supply".
If no party is prepared to go down one of these paths then parliament will be dissolved again and there will be another election.
The last general election in 2010 ended in a hung parliament, with the Conservatives the largest party. After negotiation, a coalition government was formed between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.
An exit poll is conducted by approaching voters as they leave polling stations and asking them to fill in a mock ballot paper to indicate how they have just voted.
The exit poll is carried out by polling companies NOP/Mori for the BBC/ITV News/Sky News.
The results of the exit poll will allow BBC analysts to forecast approximately how many seats each party has won.
When polls close at 2200, the BBC will broadcast the results of the exit poll.  The projected seats for the top five parties based on the exit poll will be displayed in the summary graphic as grey bars.
When the first results are declared, around an hour later, parties will begin to be ordered left to right by number of seats won at that time.
As the night progresses, the summary results graphic will always display the top five parties according to seats won. All other parties' seats will be amalgamated into "Others".
Full results are always available via the link to the results homepage, which contains a listings and breakdown of seats, votes and vote share by party.
When all results are known, the summary graphic will conclude by displaying the top 5 parties by seats won in the new parliament.
In the event of a tie in the top five - eg two parties have two seats  - the party with the most votes will be named.
There are no seat predictions available for parties in Northern Ireland, as the exit poll is carried out in Great Britain (GB) only.
To appear as a named party in either the overall UK scoreboard or a nation scoreboard, a party must fulfil one of the following criteria:
All parties which do not meet these criteria are amalgamated into a group called Others.
Each constituency page will always name every party standing in that constituency.
The postcode search box uses the latest available data supplied by Ordnance Survey.
Discrepancies can occasionally occur when a postcode search returns a different constituency to the one given on polling cards sent to an address at the same postcode.
Normally the constituencies concerned are next to each other, and it appears these discrepancies occur when postcodes are on the border between the two constituencies.
We would advise people affected to follow the information on their polling card in terms of the constituency they are in and the polling place to be used on 7 May.


The damaged West Stand at Windsor Park is to be demolished, the chief executive of the Irish Football Association (IFA) has said.

Cracks were discovered last month, following Northern Ireland's game against Finland when 4,000 spectators filled the stand.
Patrick Nelson said the crucial Euro 2016 qualifier against Romania will go ahead at Windsor Park on 13 June.
He was addressing Stormont's Culture, Arts and Leisure committee.
He said all of the 10,000 capacity for the game would be met for the game by accelerating work on the East Stand, South East Quadrant, and South Stand.
Mr Nelson said the IFA board had met on Monday to ratify the decision to demolish the stand, following a structural engineer's report that was received last week.
"The view is that demolition work needs to start in order to make the stand safe," he said.
He said investigations would continue into what caused the damage.
The Irish Cup Final between Glentoran and Portadown on 2 May had previously been moved to the Oval in east Belfast.
Mr Nelson said: "We analysed a number of grounds within our sport and decided the Oval was the best possibility, notwithstanding the fact that it's the home ground of one of the finalists.
"As Linfield supporters will know, that has occasionally happened in the past for the blue team.
"We are still working with Belfast City Council, the clubs and the ground as well to try to get as many people safely into the Oval as we can on cup final day."
In a statement, Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill said: "I attended the meetings on Friday and was impressed by the attention to detail in the plan put forward by the project team.
"I now look forward to the Euro 2016 qualifier against Romania in June being played at the national football stadium at Windsor Park."
Martin Lennon of Newry based construction firm O'Hare & McGovern, who won the contract to redevelop Windsor Park, said they were committed to carrying out the instructions of the IFA.
He added that a number of engineers' reports were currently being considered.
"We have plans in place to ensure the controlled demolition will take place in a safe manner, to ensure the individuals carrying out that work are safe and at this stage our focus is on achieving our 13 June deadline for the international," he said.
Gary McAllister of the Amalgamation of Northern Ireland Supporters Clubs said he believed fans would be assured by the IFA's statement regarding the stadium and plans for the home fixture against Romania.


Angus Robertson has been named as the new deputy leader of the SNP.

The Moray MP replaces Stewart Hosie, who stood down following newspaper revelations about his private life.
Mr Robertson defeated Edinburgh East MP Tommy Sheppard, Alyn Smith MEP and Inverclyde councillor Chris McEleny to take 52.5% of the votes cast.
About 120,000 SNP members were entitled to vote in the contest, with the winner announced at the party's conference.
Tommy Sheppard received 25.5%  of the votes, while Alyn Smith received 18.6% and Chris McEleny 3.3%.
Speaking from the stage of the SNP conference at the SECC in Glasgow, Mr Robertson thanked those who supported him and said he was "absolutely bowled over" to have been elected.
He said: "I think it makes perfect sense for the leadership team of the SNP to be made up of our leader in the Scottish government and Parliament, Nicola Sturgeon the first minister, and the leader of the SNP at Westminster.
"I think it makes perfect sense that our leadership team reflects Scotland - Nicola as a fantastic representative of this great city in central Scotland - myself a parliamentarian living, working and representing a part of rural Scotland.
"We are the Scottish National Party, the clue is in the name. We represent the whole of the country and everybody who lives here regardless of where we come from and we should never forget that."
Mr Robertson told members that his party was "the most effective party" in Scotland and that there were "big challenges ahead".
He added: "We are very, very close to independence and we must start campaigning right now to persuade people who didn't vote yes in 2014."
Angus Robertson first arrived at Westminster after being elected as the MP for Moray in 2001. He is also the SNP's leader at Westminster, a role which allows him to quiz the prime minister every week at PMQs.
A former BBC journalist, he reportedly joined the SNP at the age of 15 after being handed a leaflet by Charlie Reid of the Proclaimers.
During the contest to replace Stewart Hosie, Mr Robertson cited his "excellent working relationship with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon" and his proven track record in senior positions within the SNP as proof of his suitability for the role as deputy leader.
When he formally launched his bid, he asserted that Scotland was "on the brink of independence".


The index of London's leading shares has fallen 2.4%, while US and European markets have also posted sharp declines amid continued anxiety about the state of the global economy.

The FTSE 100 closed down 124 points at 5,549 points.
Markets in Frankfurt and Paris were down 2.9% and 4.1% respectively.
Wall Street also ground, with the S&P 500 down 1.2% and the Dow Jones falling 1.6%.
Analysts said US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's gloomy economic assessment on Wednesday had added to investors' worries.
In testimony to Congress, she said that financial conditions in the US had become "less supportive" of growth and warned of the "increased volatility" in global financial markets.
Rabobank European strategist Emile Cardon said the worst could still lie ahead: "The bad news in now coming from everywhere - China, Portugal, the US, the commodity sector, the banking sector. It's like several smaller crises could combine into one big crisis."
The great sell off continues. Why?
It's a mix - part economic fundamentals; part market emotion, as herding investors follow each other down a negative spiral, fearful of being left beached as the tide goes out; and part brute market forces, the major trading houses looking to make a profitable turn on share prices which they bet are not going up any time soon.
Read Kamal in full
Coco bonds: what are they and why have they hit bank shares?
Why use negative interest rates?
On the FTSE 100, the biggest losers were a mix of financial firms and mining stocks.
Barclays was the worst-performing bank, sliding 6.4%. Its shares have fallen by almost a third since the start of this year, leaving it worth Â£25bn.
That is about the same value as Royal Bank of Scotland, whose shares have fallen more than a quarter this year.
Mining giant Rio Tinto fell 3.4% after it revealed that it had made an annual loss of Â£596m.
Fellow miners Glencore and Antofagasta shed 6.2% and 2.2% respectively.
However, others in the resources sector fared better, with Randgold Resources rising 7.5%, while Fresnillo added 5.4%.
In Paris, the bank Societe Generale was particularly hard hit, falling more than 13%.
The bank's shares tumbled after it said it was scrapping its target of achieving a 10% return on equity by the end of this year.
In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank was down 6.1%, as its share price continued to suffer from concerns about the strength of its balance sheet.
Banks are under pressure across Europe because of fears that exposure to bad loans may leave them ill-prepared to cope if the global slowdown intensifies.
US banks such as Citigroup and JP Morgan also fell on Thursday, with declines of 5.9%  and 4% respectively.
On the commodities markets, Brent crude was down 0.7% to $30.13, while US light crude fell 4% to $26.35.
On the currency markets, the pound hit a 13-month low against the euro, falling 1.17% to â‚¬1.2713.
The currency was also down 0.5% against the dollar at $1.4452.


The Conservative Party has urged anyone with information about claims of bullying within a Tory youth wing to get in touch with its investigation.

The party is conducting an inquiry into the death of youth activist Elliott Johnson, 21, and has taken more than 40 witness statements, it said.
Tory chairman Lord Feldman is a witness and the inquiry will last into 2016.
Cabinet minister Grant Shapps resigned over allegations he failed to act on claims of bullying while co-chairman.
Claims of bullying have centred around Mark Clarke - a Tory activist who ran the party's RoadTrip campaign, bussing election volunteers around the country.
Before his death in September, Mr Johnson had complained to Conservative Central Office that Mr Clarke had threatened to destroy his career. He also named Mr Clarke in a letter found by his parents after his death.
Mr Clarke has rejected allegations of bullying, sexual assault and intimidation. He has since been expelled from the party.
On Saturday, Mr Shapps resigned as international development minister, saying the "buck stops with me" regarding issues while he was party co-chairman.
The party has launched an independent inquiry into the allegations, saying it remains "absolutely determined" to establish the truth of the events surrounding Mr Johnson's death.
It says an independent lawyer will also prepare a report on the allegations.
The party has urged anyone with information relating to events surrounding the death of Mr Johnson, or the activities of Mr Clarke, to get in touch with it "as soon as possible".
It comes as Mr Johnson's father has called on Lord Feldman - who was co-chairman with Mr Shapps until May and now holds the role alone - to also resign.
Lord Feldman is "a witness" in the party's investigation but "is not otherwise participating in the process", the Tories added.
The Tory peer retains the "full confidence" of Prime Minister David Cameron, Downing Street has said.


Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo earns more than any other sportsperson, Forbes' annual list of the world's wealthiest athletes shows.

The influential business magazine's list has been led by either boxer Floyd Mayweather or golfer Tiger Woods for the past decade-and-a-half.
But with Mayweather retiring and Woods not playing because of injury, the Portugal captain has risen to the top.
He earned $88m (£60.6m) from salary, bonuses and endorsements last year.
Ronaldo, 31, is only the second team sport athlete, after basketball superstar Michael Jordan, to have topped the list since Forbes began tracking earnings in 1990.
His off-pitch earnings of $32m (£22m) include a $13m-a-year deal (£8.96m) with sportswear firm Nike - which has partnerships with half of the top 100 stars.
The three-time world player of the year's most significant football rival, Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi, is second on the list with earnings of $81.4m (£56.1m) last year.
In full, the top 10 list is as follows:
One in four of the top 100 earning stars in the Forbes list is a baseball player and 65 of them are Americans. Together, the 100 earned $3.15bn (£2.17bn) in 2015.
Read the full list here.
F1's Lewis Hamilton is the highest-earning Briton on the list. His $46m (£31.7m) puts him in 11th place.
Northern Ireland golfer Rory McIlroy is 17th, with $42.6m (£29.36m) - of that, $35m (£24.1m) came from endorsements.
Wales international Gareth Bale, Ronaldo's Real Madrid team-mate, is the highest-earning British footballer, with his $35.9m (£24.7m) putting him 25th.
World number one tennis player Serena Williams is the highest-placed woman on the list, in 40th, with $28.9m (£19.9m) made last year. The only other woman to feature in the top 100 is fellow tennis player Maria Sharapova, who comes in at 79 with $21.9m (£15m).
The Russian, previously the world's highest-earning female athlete, was banned from the sport for two years on Wednesday after testing positive for a prohibited substance.
England and Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney is at 49, with $26.1m (£17.99m), making him the highest-grossing Premier League player.
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero is the next biggest earner in the Premier League, his $24.3m (£16.75m) placing him at 60.
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Wales will face World Cup giant-killers Japan at the Principality Stadium on 19 November.

Japan, who stunned two-time champions South Africa at the 2015 World Cup, will visit Cardiff during the Autumn Test series.
The Cherry Blossoms recorded a historic first win over Wales in Tokyo in June 2013.
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Wales will also face Australia on 5 November, Argentina on 12 November and the Springboks on 26 November.
All four Tests will be live on BBC One Wales, S4C, Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and online.
"We are delighted that Wales rugby fans will be able to follow the excitement of the Autumn Internationals every step of the way on BBC Cymru Wales," said BBC Wales head of sport, Geoff Williams.
Wales won 72-18 the last time Japan visited Cardiff during the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Wales v Australia, Saturday 5 November, Principality Stadium, 14.30 GMT
Wales v Argentina, Saturday 12 November, Principality Stadium, 17.30 GMT
Wales v Japan, Saturday 19 November, Principality Stadium, 14.30 GMT
Wales v South Africa, Saturday 26 November, Principality Stadium, 17.30 GMT


People living near the railway line between Monmouthshire and Cardiff can expect "several months" of noise and disturbance, Network Rail has said.

Work is under way to install foundations for steel masts that will carry electrified wires along the south Wales mainline.
The company said piling was a "noisy activity" that involved driving steel piles into the ground.
It aims to electrify the line between London and Cardiff by December 2018.
This would shave about 14 minutes off a typical journey.
Network Rail's Andy Thomas thanked residents for their patience and said disruption would be kept to a minimum.
New bi-mode trains are set to run on electric and diesel, providing extra seats and a faster service.
Earlier this month the UK's transport secretary Chris Grayling said plans to electrify the line between Cardiff and Swansea had been scrapped.


Hartlepool have loaned midfielder Kieran Green to National League side Gateshead until the end of the season.

The 19-year-old joins the Tynesiders, who are fifth in the table and within the play-off spots.
Green has made just two league appearances for Pools since coming into the first-team squad in 2014, with one appearance this season.
His two other appearances this term have come in EFL Trophy fixtures against Notts County and Sunderland.
Gateshead have given Green the number 26 shirt and he could make his debut against Eastleigh on Saturday.


In the fourth and final interview with the first-time novelists on the Booker longlist, AD Miller reflects on how living in Russia inspired his thriller Snowdrops about the dark side of Moscow.

In Moscow slang, a snowdrop is a corpse that lies buried or hidden in the winter snows, emerging only in the thaw.
It was an expression that AD Miller came across during his three years as The Economist's correspondent in the Russian capital.
"It seemed a very striking image for the harshness of life in Russia," explains Miller.
"It also seemed to be a novelistic image that could stand for things you try to repress that come back to bite you."
In Snowdrops, Moscow is seen through the eyes of Nick Platt, an English lawyer living in the city during the Russian oil boom.
When he rescues two sisters from a purse snatcher on the subway, it sets in motion a chain of events that take him from the Black Sea to the Arctic.
"It is a pretty dark view of Russia," Miller admits.
"It is a place where if you don't have powerful connections your life is a bit of a tightrope walk. If something goes wrong you can be in very deep trouble very quickly."
How did he find those Moscow winters?
"It's not the cold that gets you - it's the ice," he recalls. "But the winters can be very exhilarating and beguiling. Hopefully I've managed to convey some of that in my book."
'Very bad deeds'
Born in London in 1974, Miller studied literature at Cambridge and Princeton, and began his journalistic career writing travel pieces about America. He worked as a television producer before joining The Economist, where he is currently the magazine's Britain editor.
Miller's own experiences in Russia were "slightly more uneventful" than those of his fictional creation.
"Snowdrops draws on my observations of Moscow, but in the end it's about moral degeneration about how even the most normal seeming people can become embroiled in very bad deeds," he says.
While Snowdrops is his first novel, Miller is also the author of The Earl of Petticoat Lane, a family and social history published in 2006.
Not surprisingly, Miller is keen on the great Russian novelists. He has also been reading The Stranger's Child, by fellow Booker hopeful and former winner Alan Hollinghurst.
"He's an inimitable and beautiful writer. I loved The Line of Beauty," says Miller, who learned of his own Booker longlisting while at his desk at work.
"I was astonished. It was a little hard to concentrate for the rest of the afternoon and at 5pm I knocked off to have a glass of champagne."
He adds: "When I was writing this book I was by no means confident it was going to be published at all. The idea of it being on the Booker longlist was not remotely on my radar.
"I've been in an uncharacteristically good mood."
The shortlist of six authors will be announced on 6 September with the winner of the Â£50,000 annual prize named on 18 October.


Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has backed Loris Karius to be a "long-term" success, despite dropping the keeper for the 3-0 win at Middlesbrough.

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Simon Mignolet replaced 23-year-old Karius, who was criticised by pundits, including ex-Manchester United players Gary and Phil Neville, after errors against West Ham and Bournemouth.
"I'm not interested in public pressure, I'm interested in the boy," said Klopp.
"There's no reason to push him through the situation, he loses confidence."
The German boss added: "Karius has a lot of things that other goalkeepers want to have. We want to develop the players - we don't want to convince people that he's not bad.
"I know him really well and he's much better than he has been in the last two games. It's a situation which Liverpool have as a long-term project."
Klopp signed Karius from his former club Mainz for £4.7m in the summer and the German has played 10 Premier League games, keeping three clean sheets.
However, a fumble for Bournemouth's late winner on 4 December prompted comments from Gary Neville, while former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said the keeper was "yet to convince" and needed "massive improvement".
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Karius defended himself in an article and Klopp also questioned the pundits, comments he now says were "not serious".
"I only want to show how it feels when you get criticised without doing anything wrong," added the 49-year-old. "The pundits need to know how it feels."
Klopp said he has "no time frame" for when Karius will return to the starting XI, leaving open the possibility Mignolet may play again in Monday's Merseyside derby at Everton (20:00 GMT kick-off).
The Belgium international, 28, made three saves as Liverpool dominated at the Riverside Stadium on Wednesday, including turning a powerful Viktor Fischer shot round the post when the score was 1-0.
The Reds moved second in the Premier League table after the victory, which featured two goals from Adam Lallana and Divock Origi's fifth goal in as many games.
Gary Neville's brother Phil told BBC Radio 5 live: "I don't think we are the only ones that have criticised Karius. My criticism of him was not for his performance on Sunday or over the last couple of games, it was for the newspaper interview he did and the comments he made about Carragher and Gary.
"Maybe when you are going through a tough period, I would give him the same advice I got which is to keep your head down, don't do any press interviews until you have a good few games and wins under your belt. Then you can do your interviews.
"My advice was not that this goalkeeper is no good. The decision to leave him out last night - to take him out the firing line - was the right one and it was justified in the performance of Mignolet. Karius is a young goalkeeper. He will bounce back."


An amendment to tighten the law in Northern Ireland relating to abortion has been defeated in the Assembly.

It had been proposed by the DUP chair of the justice committee, Alastair Ross, on behalf of the committee.
However, a petition of concern was submitted to block it.
It was backed by assembly members from Sinn FÃ©in, the Green Party, Alliance and N121.
The amendment proposed that abortions could only be performed lawfully at properties owned by the NHS, unless the circumstances were urgent.
It was defeated following a cross-community vote in which 39 voted for and 41 against.
It was one of a number of proposed changes made during the consideration stage of the Justice Bill that passed early on Wednesday.
Two years ago, another amendment that would have banned private clinics like Marie Stopes was blocked by a similar petition of concern.
Currently Northern Ireland's Marie Stopes clinic is able to provide women with medical terminations, by means of a pill, during the first nine weeks of their pregnancies.
At present, abortion is only legal in  Northern Ireland if a woman's life is at risk or if there is a risk of permanent or serious damage to her mental or physical health.
The situation differs from the rest of the UK, because the 1967 Abortion Act has never been extended to Northern Ireland.


China's disregard for intellectual property, and a turn-a-blind-eye culture when it comes to blatant counterfeiting, is notorious - the butt of many jokes.

And it’s been fair. In China they don't just counterfeit devices, they counterfeit entire shops - a knock-off Apple store was closed down in 2015.
Instances like this play into the West’s view of China as the world’s shameless imitator. A place where great ideas from the US and Europe go off to be assembled as cheaply as possible.
It's time to update that view.
At CES, the US's biggest trade show, Chinese companies could be found competing not only on price, but on fantastic ideas and design.
As China's consumers have matured - and by that I mean, got a lot richer - so too has its technology industry.
Like many a British popstar, China is intent on breaking America. But the question is whether Chinese firms can earn greater trust from Western consumers.
'Sounds French'
Occupying a sizable booth in CES's North Hall is LeEco. It's pronounced "Luh" and "eco" as in ecosystem.
On display here is a concept Tesla-like sportscar, some Smart bikes with Google's Android software built in, and a 12in (30cm) TV. The point: they do a lot.
LeEco was for a while known as the Netflix of China, a company that streamed content and eventually started making its own original material. Now it's branching out quickly into hardware - and started selling devices in the US at the tail end of last year.
"People assume LeEco… they think it sounds French,” says Kenny Mathers, from LeEco's marketing team.
" 'Le' in mandarin means 'joyful'," he added.
"Our name means joyful ecosystem. When consumers get to pick up our products they’re delighted with build quality and design."
Sounding French is a good thing for a Chinese company, Mathers acknowledged, as it removes a trust barrier for people used to words like Apple rather than, say, Xiaomi. That said, I’ve heard at least five different pronunciations of LeEco this week.
Looking around the booth I spotted what looked very much like a GoPro camera, and I put it to Mathers that even here we're still seeing a disregard for Western intellectual property.
"I wouldn’t say that," he said.
"I would say that there’s a lot of innovation in our products. We've had a huge number of innovations in our phone line - we were the first company to remove the audio jack."
He is of course referencing Apple’s controversial decision to remove the headphone socket from its latest iPhone - though I’m not sure that’s been a particularly popular move by either company.
LeEco won't be drawn on reports of its money woes - back in China it’s reported that Haosheng Electronics, one of LeEco’s suppliers, is taking legal action over unpaid bills. LeEco has denied reports it has failed to meet its financial obligations.
'Poor country'
According to the latest figures from research firm Gartner, sitting third in the global smartphone sales race - behind Samsung and Apple - is Huawei.
Already the biggest supplier of telecoms infrastructure in Europe, Huawei was one of the early entrants into Western markets - though in the US it was coy. The company made Google's Nexus 6P, released in 2015, but until now hadn't undertaken any serious attempts at pushing its own brand.
The new Mate 9, a so-called phablet, is the company's first high-end device to be launched in the US. One stand-out feature is a built-in voice assistant.
Curiously, while the company makes its own AI assistant, it has opted to integrate Amazon’s Alexa into this device instead. I wondered if it was because US users might not trust a Chinese firm with such broad data gathering. But Richard Yu, Huawei's chief executive (for the consumer side of things), gave a simpler explanation.
"Amazon Alexa is the best in this country,” he told me.
"We want to bring to the consumer the best services. In the China market we have our own - we have no intention to do this [in the US] in the short term."
Momentum shift
Last year, Huawei had an unexpected gift: Samsung’s devices kept on catching on fire.
"Their problem has given Huawei more opportunity to be in the market," Mr Yu said, though he felt the Mate 9 would have given Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 a run for its money even without the problems.
He said China deserved its reputation as an imitator in years past, but was quickly shaking off that image.
"Chinese vendors are getting stronger and stronger on innovation.
"It's not like 10, 20 years ago where many in China would learn [from the West]. There is more original innovation from China now.
"Thirty years ago China was a very poor country. Like North Korea. Very poor. Nothing.
"Within 30 years everywhere in China is changing, growing. In Huawei we have huge investment in innovation."
This year he said he expected the company to spend $10bn (£8.1bn) on research and development - roughly in line with Apple.
But spend isn't everything. No amount of money can buy a Steve Jobs or a Jony Ive. And the cultural boundaries are proving both frustrating and fascinating - what is a massive hit in China can fall desperately flat elsewhere.
But while American firms have struggled to make headway in China, Chinese firms are accelerating into the West. With high specifications and low prices, you shouldn't bet against them.
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC


A famed stencil image of a girl with a balloon by graffiti artist Banksy is being removed from the wall of an east London shop and sold.

Events company Sincura Group, which controversially removed another Banksy mural in Tottenham, said it would exhibit the work before selling it for about Â£500,000.
Director Tony Baxter said the mural on a printing shop in Great Eastern Street would be removed by Sunday.
"It's a very iconic piece," he added.
A man who works in the printing shop said in 12 years he had not seen the Banksy mural because it has been covered with boards.
"I've seen pictures of what this building was like with it on about 15 years ago. Everybody's curious," he said.
Mr Baxter said the mural had become damaged with paint peeling away and would be restored before it was sold.
An image of Girl and Balloon painted onto the cardboard backing of an Ikea frame sold for Â£73,250 in 2012.
Last week, a developer expected to buy a block of offices from Camden Council was told it must remove a Banksy stencil of a rat and return it to the authority before the sale.
In the last year, two London Banksy murals have been removed from buildings - an image of a boy hunched over a sewing machine in Wood Green and another showing two children playing with a "no ball games" sign in Tottenham.
A spokesman for Banksy declined to comment.


A prototype for a versatile mini-spaceplane has successfully completed its first test flight, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

The IXV resembles a smaller, robotically controlled version of the US space shuttle, and could provide Europe with a re-useable orbital transportation system of its own
It blasted off on a Vega rocket from South America just after 13:40 GMT.
The test data could also inform future Mars landing technologies.
The demonstrator flew east around the globe, before coming down in the water west of the Galapagos Islands at about 15:20 GMT.
The wedge-shaped IXV (Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle) was designed to gather information on how space objects fall back to Earth.
Commenting on the flight, Esa director-general Jean-Jacques Dordain said: "It couldn't have gone better.
"But the mission itself is not over because now it is necessary to analyse all the data gathered during the flight."
At the time the craft re-entered the atmosphere, it was moving at 7.5km/s. As it pushed against the air, the temperatures on its leading surfaces would have soared to 1,700C.
Flaps and thrusters controlled the trajectory, ensuring the IXV came down close to a recovery ship.
A parachute system deployed in the very late stages of the flight and put the two-tonne vehicle gently in the ocean. Floatation balloons came out to stop it from sinking.
Europe's expertise on re-entry technologies is more limited than, say, the US's or Russia's - something it wants to change with the help of the IXV.
Esa's project manager Giorgio Tumino told BBC News: "Europe is excellent at going to orbit; we have all the launchers, for example. We also have great knowhow in operating complex systems in orbit. But where we are a bit behind is in the knowledge of how to come back from orbit.
"So, if we are to close the circle - go to orbit, stay in orbit, come back from orbit - we need to master this third leg as well as other spacefaring nations."
Esa has already approved a follow-on spacecraft, called Pride, which looks very similar in design to the X-37B, a robotic craft operated by the American military.
No-one is quite sure what missions are flown by the X-37B, but they are likely to include the early testing of new technologies for future satellites.
This could be a role also for Europe's Pride vehicle. In-orbit servicing of satellites is a capability often discussed in this context as well.
Esa nations will meet shortly to define these roles.
"We need still to agree with all the member states all the different types of operations in orbit. But whatever the payload, it will always be in the perimeter space of civilian applications," stresses Mr Tumino.


A man has been charged following an attack with hatchets, bats, metal bars, knives and ammonia in Newcastle.

A group of 12 masked men in a white van attacked a man standing outside The Fosse pub on the Fossway, Walker, at about 16:20 GMT on 8 December.
He was taken to hospital with stab wounds and a fractured skull.
A man, 31, from Fenham has been charged with wounding with intent to commit GBH and violent disorder. He will appear at Newcastle Magistrates' Court later.
Police said a woman bystander was squirted with ammonia and needed hospital treatment.


Russia have been stripped of the women's 4x100m relay gold medal they won at the 2008 Olympic Games.

It comes after Yulia Chermoshanskaya tested positive for a banned substance when her samples from Beijing were reanalysed.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) retested 454 selected doping samples from the Games in China.
It means Belgium move into the gold medal spot, Nigeria take silver and Brazil bronze.
Chermoshanskaya, 30, is also retrospectively banned from the women's 200m, where she finished eighth.


An Indonesian search team has found part of the black box of a Russian Sukhoi Superjet plane that crashed killing all 45 people on board.

The plane vanished 50 minutes after taking off from Jakarta for a brief demonstration flight on 9 May.
The voice recorder, which was badly burned and had lost its distinctive orange colour, was found about 100m from the tail of the plane.
The flight data recorder remains missing, officials say.
Earlier reports suggested that both parts were recovered.
"The thing that we found is CVR or cockpit voice recorder," Daryatmo, the head of the National Search and Rescue Agency, said during a press conference.
"I asked the controllers in the field and all rescuers, especially the rescue team from military and police to continue searching for FDR (flight data recorder)," said the official, who goes by one name.
Tatang Kurniadi, who heads the National Transportation Safety Commission, said the data from the device that was found would be analysed in Indonesia with help from Russian experts.
It will take between two to three weeks for any details to be revealed, says the BBC's Karishma Vaswani in Jakarta.
Eight Russian pilots and technicians, Indonesian airline representatives and journalists were among those said to be on board the plane.
In pictures: Indonesia plane crash
The plane took off from east Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusuma airport at 14:00 (07:00 GMT) on 9 May, on its second flight of the day.
At 14:50, it was recorded as dropping from 10,000ft (3,000m) to 6,000ft near Salak, a peak measuring 7,200ft (2,200m).
Villagers living in the area reported seeing a plane flying low into the mountain area.
The crash came with Sukhoi officials on an Asia-wide tour to show off their aircraft to airline firms.
The Superjet, a mid-range airliner that can carry up to 100 people, is military plane-maker Sukhoi's first commercial aviation plane.
It was created by a joint venture, majority-owned by Sukhoi, with Italy's Finmeccanica and a number of other foreign and Russian firms also involved.


London Irish recorded their first Premiership win of the season through a late penalty try against Northampton.

First-half tries from Luke Narraway and Sean Maitland had given London Irish a 15-8 lead at the break, with Ken Pisi crossing for the visitors.
George North and Kahn Fotuali'i tries put Northampton ahead and gave Jim Mallinder's side a five-point lead going into the last quarter.
But Irish stole victory after referee Ian Tempest penalised Saints late on.
Tom Coventry's side looked set for a seventh defeat in seven league games when winger Asaeli Tikoirotuma was sent to the sin bin for a poorly-timed tackle on Ben Foden with 15 minutes remaining.
But the hosts weathered Northampton's attacks despite being a man down and repeatedly kicked for touch and the corner in a bid to snatch victory.
Their patience was eventually rewarded after Jamie Gibson was shown a yellow card for failing to release Ofisa Treviranus.
The following scrum and drive led to the decisive penalty try as referee Tempest punished the Northampton pack for pulling the drive down.
Shane Geraghty kicked the simple conversion before Stephen Myler saw a late drop-goal attempt charged down in the closing seconds.
Irish move off the bottom of the table after Newcastle's defeat at Leicester while Northampton fell to their fourth defeat of the season, but a first in three games.
London Irish head coach Tom Coventry said:
"I haven't had a lot to smile about. It was a good sign that we could battle it out as we have been rolling over against other sides, but we showed a lot of backbone today.
"It was like Christmas Day today as we showed a lot of Christmas spirit to get there in the end.
"It was a definite shot in the arm as it's been a tough time and will give us a lot of confidence."
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder said:
"We never really got into our game, we gave away too many soft penalties and they kept it simple and did the basics better than us.
"The referee went a bit early with the penalty try award, but we've no complaints.
"We've been inconsistent all season and have not been firing on all cylinders."
London Irish: Maitland; Lewington Hearn, Williams, Tikoirotuma; Noakes, McKibbin; Court, Paice, Franks, Symons (capt), Lloyd, Narraway, Cowan, Treviranus.
Replacements: Stevens, Smallbone, Aulika, Sinclair, Trayfoot, Steele, Geraghty, Mulchrone.
Northampton Saints: Foden; K Pisi, G Pisi, Burrell, North; Myler, Fotuali'i; E Waller, Hartley (capt), Hill Paterson, Day, Lawes, Gibson, Harrison.
Replacements: Haywood, A Waller, Denman, Matfield, Dickinson, Dickson, Hanrahan, Collins.
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter.


Launching his party's general election campaign on Friday, UKIP leader Paul Nuttall said "last year alone a city the size of Newcastle came to this country net".

The claim:  "Last year alone a city the size of Newcastle came to this country net. The gross figure is roughly the cities of Liverpool and Aberdeen put together"
Reality Check verdict: Mr Nuttall is about right on the net figure but the gross figure is lower than he says, according to the best estimates we have.
When he talks about the net figure, he means the number of people who have come to live in the UK planning to stay for at least a year, minus those who have left for at least a year.
The figures for the whole of 2016 will not be released until 25 May, but we know around 596,000 people came to the UK in the year to the end of September 2016 while about 323,000 people left the country, according to the latest set of numbers from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), giving a net figure of 273,000.
According to the most recent set of official figures, the population of Newcastle upon Tyne is 292,883, so these two figures are similar.
But Mr Nuttall's second claim is more questionable. He said the number of people moving to the UK was: "roughly the cities of Liverpool and Aberdeen put together".
Official estimates suggest that it is lower than that.
Liverpool's population is 478,580 according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), while Aberdeen's is 230,350.
The combined total is 708,930, so there is an clear difference between that and the gross immigration figure of 596,000.
These migration numbers are estimates based on the international passenger survey.
Hundreds of thousands of people a year are interviewed at airports, sea ports and the Channel Tunnel and asked if they are planning either to enter the UK to stay for at least a year or leave for at least a year, which would make them long-term migrants.
About 4,000 people interviewed a year are long-term migrants. The rest are passengers travelling for shorter periods, such as tourists and business travellers.
From speaking to these 4,000 people, the ONS extrapolates the total numbers of people entering or leaving the UK for at least a year.
Lots of the UK's most important statistics come from surveys like this.
It means the figures are estimates and there is a margin of error in them.
The ONS is 95% confident that net migration is no more than 41,000 higher or lower than 273,000. Mr Nuttall's Newcastle comparison falls comfortably within this, and is therefore a reasonable comparison.
However, on the gross figure, the ONS is 95% confident that it is no more than 34,000 higher or lower than 596,000.
Therefore, it is unlikely the number is as high as 708,930, the population of Liverpool and Aberdeen put together.
UKIP has in the past suggested that the official migration statistics are an underestimate.
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Wikipedia has censured an administrator who accused Tory MP Grant Shapps of editing his own entry on the site as well as those of Cabinet ministers.

In April, volunteer Richard Symonds told the Guardian an account linked to Mr Shapps had been blocked.
But Wikipedia said there was no evidence connecting the account with "any specific individual".
Mr Shapps, who denied the claims, said the media had failed to "check even basic facts" in reporting the story.
Mr Symonds, whose username was "Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry", told the Guardian that Wikipedia had barred a user called "Contribsx" because the account had been used to make changes to Mr Shapps' profile.
The administrator told the paper he believed the account was "either run by Shapps directly" or by someone else "but under his clear direction".
However, a report from Wikipedia's arbitration and audit committees said "no evidence" had been presented "that definitively connects the Contribsx account with any specific individual".
On Mr Symonds, it concluded there "does not appear to be a major breach of policy" but the administrator gave the appearance that Wikipedia's monitoring tools were being used to "exert political or social control".
It was also found that the administrator was "unable to provide sufficient justification" for using the monitoring tools, and "did not take adequate steps" before making the information public to make sure that the release of the information was "seen as neutral and unbiased".
The committees said the user should have access to Wikipedia's CheckUser tool revoked and lose their "oversight" permissions.
Mr Shapps said: "Wikipedia's investigation has resulted in the strong disciplinary action now being taken.
"However, the failure of various media outlets to check even basic facts meant that this false and damaging story ran for an entire day during the general election campaign.
"My hope is that this case serves as a reminder that both the source, as well as the content of a story, should be carefully checked before it is broadcast in future."
Mr Symonds said that it would be "premature" to comment on the outcome of the investigation, but said a "flurry of experienced Wikipedians" had expressed support for him.


Drivers who use a city centre street illegally will face fixed penalty notices as a council attempts to ease congestion in York.

An automatic number plate recognition system is being installed on Coppergate at a cost of £75,000.
City of York Council said it is also limiting the hours private vehicles can use the road.
The scheme, which begins on 1 August, is being funded by the Department for Transport's Better Bus Area fund.
The Labour-run council said traffic enforcement restrictions had been in place on Coppergate since the 1960s, but only enforced infrequently.
The authority said on a recent enforcement day more than 600 motorists were seen using the street when they were not supposed to.
Councillor Dave Merrett, cabinet member for transport, said: "By reducing both the volume of illicit vehicles using Coppergate during the day, and avoiding loading during peak hours, we will help buses, taxis and cyclists get through this extremely narrow road much more easily."
Only buses, cyclists and taxis will be permitted to use the road between 07:00 and 19:00 and delivery vans will only be permitted to load or unload between 10:00 and 16:00.


The High Sheriff of Cornwall has been found shot dead at his family estate.

Anthony Fortescue died at the Boconnoc estate near Lostwithiel in Cornwall.
In a joint statement, Mr Fortescue's family said he would be deeply missed, and they were "proud of all that Anthony created at Boconnoc".
Police said a 69-year-old man was found shortly before midday on Monday and the death was not being treated as suspicious. A file is being prepared for the coroner.
The Office of High Sheriff is regarded as a non-political Royal appointment which supports the Crown and the judiciary.
In a statement issued on behalf of the Fortescue family it said: "It is with great sadness that the Boconnoc Estate confirm the untimely and sudden death of Anthony Fortescue at his home yesterday."
The family said Mr Fortescue had been "instrumental - with his wife Elizabeth and two daughters, Clare and Sarah, in revitalising the Estate and restoring Boconnoc House".
Elizabeth Fortescue said. "Our daughters Clare and Sarah and I are so proud of all that Anthony created at Boconnoc. We and all the team at Boconnoc will miss him so deeply."
South East Cornwall MP Sheryll Murray tweeted: "Very sad to hear of the loss of my good friend Anthony Fortescue.  My thoughts are with his wife and daughters."
Boconnoc house and estate date back to 1086 but were virtually abandoned for 30 years after World War II until the Fortescues began restoring it in 1997.
The house has been home to two British Prime Ministers and has been used as a location for films and television series.


Uber boss Travis Kalanick plans to take time away from the company, and could return in a diminished role.

The move is in line with recommendations from a review of management and practices at the firm, which is facing a number of scandals.
The review was sparked by a former employee's claims the company ignored her complaints about sexual harassment.
Uber's board voted unanimously in favour of the recommendations on Sunday.
Some of Mr Kalanick's responsibilities could be shifted to other executives.
In the email to staff, Mr Kalanick said the decision to take leave, which also comes after the sudden death of his mother in a boating accident, is part of an effort to create "Uber 2.0".
"For Uber 2.0 to succeed there is nothing more important than dedicating my time to building out the leadership team," Mr Kalanick wrote. "But if we are going to work on Uber 2.0, I also need to work on Travis 2.0 to become the leader that this company needs and that you deserve."
Mr Kalanick's email did not say how long he would be away from the firm.
Analysis: Dave Lee, BBC North America Technology Reporter
When that blog post by ex-employee Susan Fowler dropped on a quiet Sunday afternoon, I doubt anybody at the company thought it would lead to this. I certainly didn't.
That moment marked the beginning of the crisis at Silicon Valley's most talked about start-up.
In the middle of it all, Travis Kalanick, a man who, rightly or wrongly, now symbolises what people feel is the very worst of tech "bro" culture. A man flush with money and an unrelenting ambition that slowed for no-one. Until now.
Uber's problems were enough, most argued, for Mr Kalanick to make this decision. But coupled with the tragic death of his mother, the 40-year-old is quite understandably not in a position to give the company the attention it so desperately needs.
Since I started reporting this story I've been told how this problem is not limited to Uber. It's across the tech industry far and wide. With that in mind, it will perhaps be encouraging to the rank-and-file at every tech firm that this fiasco began with one act: a woman brave enough to speak out.
Uber, a ride hailing company based in San Francisco, has been rocked by a series of controversies in recent months, including an investigation of its business practices and a lawsuit from Google's parent company, Alphabet, over alleged theft of trade secrets related to driverless cars.
It also encountered pushback when it changed its policies around collecting user data.
Its corporate culture has been criticised for being aggressive, and this was inflamed earlier this year when Mr Kalanick was caught on video berating an Uber driver who voiced concerns about fares.
He said in response to the video: "I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up."
Uber: Travis Kalanick's rollercoaster reign
His leave follows the departure of other high-ranked executives.
Uber last week also said it had fired more than 20 staff and taken actions against others following a separate review of more than 200 human resources complaints that included harassment and bullying.
The recommendations released on Tuesday stem from a broader review conducted by the law firm Covington & Burling.
The proposed changes include starting performance reviews for senior leaders, reviewing the firm's pay practices, beefing up its human resources department and installing an independent board chair.
"Implementing these recommendations will improve our culture, promote fairness and accountability, and establish processes and systems to ensure the mistakes of the past will not be repeated," said Liane Hornsey, the firm's chief human resources officer.
"While change does not happen overnight, we're committed to rebuilding trust with our employees, riders and drivers," she added.
Uber has revolutionized the taxi industry since Mr Kalanick launched the ride hailing app less than 10 years ago, clashing with authorities as he  expanded the firm to more than 600 cities and a workforce of more than 12,000.
Privately held, investors reportedly valued it last year at nearly $70bn.
But the scandals have taken a toll on the company's reputation and business, according to reports.
A Monday survey of US adults by Morning Consult Brand Intelligence found 40% of respondents had a favourable impression of the firm, down from 49% just a week earlier.
TXN Solutions, which tracks consumer spending, also says Uber has lost market share since January, when consumers began a campaign against the company for not taking stronger stance against US President Donald Trump, particularly his Muslim ban.
Mitch Kapor and Freada Kapor Klein, investors in the company who had pushed for change earlier this year, called the recommendations "thoughtful and extensive" and suggested the company was taking the issues seriously.
"Our stated hope all along was that Uber could leapfrog other companies to be a real leader in diversity and inclusion," they said.
"At this point we believe that the company deserves some room to put the plan into effect and show us what can be done."
But Susan Fowler, the former Uber engineer whose blog prompted the controversy, sounded a more sceptical note.
"Ha! Yeah, they'll never apologize. I've gotten nothing but aggressive hostility from them. It's all optics," she wrote on Twitter.
"Remember that this is not about diversity and inclusion, it's about laws being broken. Harassment, discrimination, retaliation are illegal."


Ireland's Twenty20 game against Hong Kong at Bready on Tuesday has been abandoned without a ball being bowled.

It means the visitors win the two-match series 1-0 thanks to their 40-run victory at the same venue on Monday.
The umpires decided ground conditions were unsuitable for play following a pitch inspection at 14:30 BST.
Nizakat Khan of Hong Kong was named player of the series, while his skipper Babar Hayat was presented with the trophy.
Ireland are next in action when they play South Africa and Australia in Benoni on 25 and 27 September.


An American contractor for the UN who was detained at the airport in Yemen's capital Sanaa last month has died, the US state department has said.

Spokesman Mark Toner could not give a cause for John Hamen's death.
Mr Hamen and a colleague - reportedly also American - were held by airport authorities after they arrived on a UN aircraft from Djibouti on 20 October.
They were working for a company that managed UN facilities in the city, which is controlled by Houthi rebels.
At least 5,600 people have been killed in seven months of fighting in Yemen between the rebels and forces loyal to Yemen's government, backed by a Saudi-led multinational coalition.
Mr Toner told a news conference in Washington on Tuesday that he could only confirm that Mr Hamen had died in detention in Yemen. He said he did not have a "determination" on the cause.
Mr Hamen was believed to have been held by the Houthis, he added.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told the AFP news agency: "We have been informed by the state department of the death of one of the contractors."
"Obviously we send our deep condolences to his family, to his wife, to his children," he added.
"The other contractor, as far as I understand, remains in custody, but I have nothing to share with you as to discussions that may be going on," Mr Dujarric said.
Mr Toner said he could not confirm that another individual was being held.
Unnamed UN officials said earlier this month that Mr Hamen was detained along with another American, but the UN did not confirm their nationalities at the time.
The UN is trying to broker a ceasefire in Yemen, but has made limited progress.
All major combatants have agreed to implement UN Security Council resolution 2216, which calls on the Houthis and allied army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh to withdraw from cities and hand over weapons they have captured.