The Surfer
Monty Panesar underwent a resurgence with England in 2012, helping the Test team to an historic series win in India
"Let's face it, I'm not one of life's natural athletes. I have to work at it," he says. "I started working out in a north London gym in mixed martial arts and jujitsu last September because I wanted to be quicker, fitter and more explosive. I also wanted to work on my mindset more. I felt the benefits almost immediately. I'm sharper in body and sharper in mind and I have no doubt that it helped me a great deal in India in the heat, the long spells of bowling and the challenges the Indian batsmen presented. I'll continue to work on this over the next few weeks until I fly out to New Zealand. I hope nobody will ever question my fitness again."
Ten years after the black armband protest by Andy Flower and Henry Olonga in the 2003 World Cup, Flower, now England's coach, opens up about the whole story of the bold move in an interview with BBC radio.
When Sachin Tendulkar equalled Sunil Gavaskar's record for most first-class centuries at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday, former India player Gursharan Singh would have remembered another Irani Cup match 23 years ago
"Raj Singh asked me, 'why don't you pad up?' I was surprised and told him. 'Sir, I cannot bat.' He then asked me to put my left hand to use and support Sachin so that he gets his century."
In the Sydney Morning Herald , former Australian cricketer Dean Jones puts forth his spin on the 'Indian theory' that can help the Australian cricket team win the four-match Test series
I can really see this tour developing the team into a powerful unit. They have the talent, but must stick to our motto in the past: ''If you lose patience … you will lose the battle!''
To fear Dale Steyn is common sense, writes Andy Bull in the Guardian , while also pointing to the increase in frequency of Test-batting collapses in the past few years.
This last spell, from 2010 to the end of 2013, is the only one in recent history in which there have been more than eight double-digit team dismissals in Tests. Between 1990 and 1993 there was only one. Since then, the number has ranged between four and eight.
Possibly it is a reflection of there being greater parity between the teams. Perhaps it is to do with pitches, which, after the pleas of fans and players alike, could have become better to bowl on. More likely though, it seems to me, the increase in batting collapses is a result of the influence of T20 cricket on the technique and temperament of modern batsmen. Before you dismiss the Spin as a reactionary young curmudgeon, put it another way. Limited overs cricket, and T20 in particular, has sharpened up fielding standards, encouraged bowlers to develop new skills, and helped batsmen hone new shots.
In the wake of the BCCI not having given a group of English cricketers the chance to practice on its grounds, Suresh Menon, writing in IBN Live , criticises the board for its unabashed 'muscle-flexing at every turn', and says that it is still far
Firstly, it has passed a rule (law, actually, where the BCCI is concerned) that no foreign players should be allowed to play or practice on any of its grounds in the country without formal permission. And then, to simplify things, it refuses to give permission. What the board hopes to gain by this - apart from a reputation for intransigence and a self-defeating pettiness - is hard to fathom. Yes, the BCCI is the most powerful cricketing body in the world; yes, it controls most of the money; yes, its word is law; yes, it has its views on the DRS and how tours may or may not take place. But such muscle-flexing at every turn and for the slightest reason suggests a lack of confidence and a refusal to play the true leadership role in world cricket.
There was no greater ignominy for a batsman than to be bowled out while leaving a ball, writes Steve James in the Telegraph
Leaving the ball is for sissies, isn't it? Twenty20 has seen to that. Leave a ball there and you are ridiculed for life. In 50-over cricket, beyond the opening overs, only the supremely gifted like Mahendra Singh Dhoni can leave early in their innings, safe in the knowledge that their power can recapture the required rate later on...And the Decision Review System has also meant that batsmen are often reluctant to stand in front of their stumps unless they really have to.
Stephan Shemilt in the BBC , reports from the sidelines of the ICC Women's World Cup on how the attitudes towards the women's game in India are gradually changing.
Pakistan's capitulation against South Africa , when they were bowled out for 49, their lowest total in Tests, can't be seen as a case of self-destruction similar to their low totals of 53 and 59 in Sharjah against Australia ten years ago, says Osman Sa
Sure some might look at a couple of dismissals and fall back on the old Pakistan cannot play swing trope. But that would be churlish, as well as playing down the genius that went into causing those downfalls. No, Saturday was not about the batting. It was about South Africa's pace attack, because more than anything 49 all out represented a kind of apotheosis.
The true strength of this quartet is to be judged by its weakest link and if Jacques Kallis is the weakest link, then you get an idea of just how strong it is. Kallis bowled arguably the ball of the innings in dismissing Azhar and he got rid of Misbah as well.
Former England captain Mike Brearley , who works now as a psychotherapist, talks about the importance and tactics of captaincy, the Kevin Pietersen saga, the role of coaches and more, in an interview with Subhash Jayaraman in the Cricket Couch .
Basically, these guys have to decide whether to have two slips and a gully, or whether to bowl this bowler from this end, or whether someone is tired and needs to be changed, or what is a good score on a certain pitch etc. That is the tactical side, and you still have a great responsibility of influencing the team, for grooming people together into a team that really supports each other, or building up the confidence of someone who is less confident, or challenging someone who is over confident. All of that, and trying to play yourself. All these things are absolutely the same.
