'Who the hell would wanna be a top sports coach?'

Reader: Nutcutlet
What a mature and balanced response to a potentially life-threatening condition from young Tom Fell! It shows the character of the man that he wants to use his alarming experience to raise the awareness of others to the symptoms of testicular cancer - an excellent example of how professional sport can benefit the wider community. Let's all hope that his surgery proves to be 100% successful. The very best of good fortune to Tom! I look forward to seeing him flay the Div.2 bowlers with great success next season! Go well, Tom!

Reader: xyzoom

More than his cover drives I'll remember Ross Taylor for the Classy guy he is. He's fashioning a very good record for himself, there's no histrionics with Ross, no leap for the cameras as he makes his milestones, he always walks when he knows his nicked off and obviously doesn't bother hanging around for handshakes and the adoration of his peers. By the time Ross retires we wont look at him and think "captaincy saga" we'll be thinking that guy was one of New Zealand's greatest ever cricketers and a heck of a guy.

Thanks Daniel, wonderful insight into the man. More stories like this please.

Reader: VisBal

There is a way to have a Test Championship where all matches are valued by the spectators. This model is adapted from Chess tournaments. At the start of the cycle, the 10 teams are randomly paired to play the first round of series, with one team hosting the other. After each round, the teams are ranked: first by series wins and then by match results (win 1, tie/draw 0.5, loss 0). For the first four rounds, the teams alternate between home series and away series. hence a team that hosted Round 1 will travel for Round 2. The last two rounds will be played in neutral countries. In this way, Round 6 matches will be played between 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, 7&8, 9&10 (actual rankings will be known after the series). With 6 rounds, the model can accommodate 16 teams; 7 rounds will go up to 32 teams. If we take 2 months per series (3 or 4 Tests), each team will only play 6 months (3 series) a year and the tournament is complete over 2 yrs with a pinnacle title series to crown the Test Champion.

Reader: Pattabhiraman Ramamurthy

India Pistons, to whom the author's dad figured in always boasted of wonderful talents right from early 80s,and was renowned for its happy go lucky, larrikin attitude! Sir Venkat and late TES were its ubiquitous performers for a good decade. Legends of Sir's flaming red hot temper and his martinet approach abound and TES' propensity to make life seem an utter parody kept his mates and opponents in convulsive fits! TES batting talent was largely unutilised, a huge shame:( His penchant for tall and elegant back foot play on BOUNCY coir matting caught everyone's eye for its coruscating brilliance. Venkat, usually walked into the ground barely 15 minutes before play in his creamy whites, holding on to his boots and car keys. After the customary grim mumble, the atmosphere resembled a bomb scare for in a jiffy he was left all alone.. My word could he bowl on a coin or what not to speak of his cat like reflexes to grab the screaming thick edges at gully with a prehensile palm! A refreshing piece!

Reader: thebeardedblunder

Within sport (and everyday life) there'll always be mavericks, and to get the best out of these sort of types takes very good man- management. Michael Vaughan comes out of this story with glowing admiration. It's so easy now in retrospect to see how 'Goochy' could have left the likes of 'Beefy' Botham and David Gower to prepare for International Matches in their own way as opposed to running umpteen laps around the field, and thus undermining their natural spirit. And herein lies the dilemma in how to bring out the best in their star players. I reckon it takes a very special breed of person that can continuously bring out the best in these so called mavericks, and to keep the team gelled at the same time! Who the hell would wanna be a top sports coach?!!!!!

Reader: ambsmams
An excellent article on the No. 11. The one about Muthiah Muralitharan is superb and fantastic. Actually a lot depended on the ground, whether it was home or away, the match situation, and the person at the other end. Of the recent matches, the one involving Pragyan Ojha with VVS comes to mind. An innings where Ojha was reprimanded by a normally unflappable VVS!

In my book however, I cannot forget B S Chandrasekhar who scored 1 run as No. 11 in the 1975 Chennai Test against the fiery pace of Andy Roberts (7/64 in that innings), Julien, Boyce, Holder, and Gibbs. Chandra partnered the not out batsman Gundappa Viswanath for 21 precious runs. Each ball that he defended elicited a roar from the full house in Chepauk; a miss a collective sigh. ESPN cricinfo says he batted for 38 minutes till a Roberts express derailed him. He ought to have found a mention, instead of Rajesh Chauhan.

Reader: Fictionaliser

Considering the circumstances & general instability, Misbah is probably the most professional/ likeable/consistent/unassuming cricketer over the last 20 years (& I have been watching cricket since 1995). It is relatively easier being like him if you're part of an overall disciplined & team work based approach/culture of Oz/SA/NZ/England teams but having these achievements with subcontinental teams (especially Pak/India who have passionate judgmental audience & a ruthless (sometimes irresponsible) media is a miracle in itself. In spite of this, many Pak fans do not appreciate his leadership which simply puzzles me. Because of him & Younis Khan, Pak has managed to dominate over competent Oz/NZ/England/SL teams over the last few years.

I wish/hope Kohli reads this article; learns more about strategy & inculcates statesmanlike behavior in his actions (like Misbah & Dhoni). Misbah's fan from India.