The Surfer

Strauss says that he and Pietersen have since met - and he acknowledges that some of England's players have not been blameless in the breakdown of relationships with their star batsman. "I don't think anyone got to the bottom of the text messaging saga. But Kevin has since come up to me and apologised for it and I respect that. He seemed contrite and I think he was sincere. Looking back I think it was wrong some of our players were following that [spoof KP Genius] Twitter account. But I still don't think it's a justification for what Kevin did."

SLC was at one point the richest sporting body in the country, but it is now mired in debt, and that's largely due to dreadful decision-making by officials who don't possess the qualifications to make decisions on matters that could potentially result in the loss of millions of dollars for the board.

A lot of great - and not that great - sportsmen overestimate their abilities once their bodies begin to creak and their reflexes begin to slow. But the fans have no need to be slaves to the delusions of an ego. It is unreasonable to expect him to succeed with his record and ability being so apparently flawed. But that doesn't mean that he should be forced to retire. If we were to consider him purely a bowler, there is a pretty strong case for him being part of the national squad. Perhaps the worst - and the best - thing to happen to Afridi in his career was THAT century in Nairobi.

January 14th, 1999 was my 20th birthday; we played against the South African team that day at Newlands Ground in Cape Town and I received birthday wishes via the electronic scoreboard at the ground--this was very exciting and overwhelming. I returned to the team hotel that evening and had just entered my room when the phone rang. The operator said, "Mr Ganga, I have the President on the line to you." I, of course, assumed it was the WICB or TTCB President, so I nonchalantly accepted the call with the routine "Hello, good evening."

Since the couple were married, Lancashire paceman James has spent every winter abroad. The latest starts with a tour to India that runs until the end of the fourth Test in Nagpur on December 17. If Anderson is required for the two Twenty20s that follow, he will not see his family again until December 23. Then, after either nine days or a fortnight at home, he is due to fly back to India on January 2 for five ODIs, then on to New Zealand for a tour that will keep him away until March 28.

With South Africa visiting Brisbane for a Test match next month for the first time in 49 years, old timers can still recall the mayhem of their last visit when Australian fast bowler Ian Meckiff was called for throwing by umpire Col Egar in the 1963-64 series.

Egar had no response to Meckiff's first ball but then shattered the convivial atmosphere of a sun-drenched Saturday afternoon by calling no ball to the second, third, fifth and ninth deliveries.

While these matches cannot substitute for full-fledged international cricket, they can be first of the many steps still needed before it can resume in Pakistan. Sadly, the fact is that until the dismal security situation improves, top Test teams will not visit these shores. So, until such time, initiatives of these kinds must be encouraged, if for nothing else, then just to somewhat satisfy the fans' huge appetite for watching cricket on home soil.

Don't get me wrong, I think Watson is a wonderful player, especially in the one-day and Twenty20 formats. But let us not forget that Watson is first picked as a batsman, and has delivered only two Test hundreds in 35 Tests, while Phil Hughes has three to his name in 17 Tests. Does this Australian Test team revolve around Watson? I nearly laughed when I heard that Cricket Australia had ordered Watson home from the Champions League due to workload. Why isn't Michael Hussey coming home? Surely he has played more.

Despite the private face-to-face conversations, promises and agreements, it will only be when the England team spend time together alone in their dressing room that they and we will truly find out whether their issues have been resolved. It is after a tough and disappointing day in the field that nerves are frayed and stress levels rise. It is at these points that shared values and tolerance keep the team together. If the glue holding the team together is not strong enough, character flaws appear and the team fragments. Winning games in these situations is virtually impossible. Only after a tough session in India will we be able to see what is taking place. Will England look like a team together with shared values or be a group of distant individuals? If the team sticks together it will be real proof that Pietersen has been reintegrated.

We cannot be faulted if we are now dreaming of rosy scenarios in which peace returns, and brings international cricket with it. If the insurgency is indeed brought to an end, it will be hard for even the likes of Australia and India to turn down a bilateral series in Pakistan dedicated to the greatness and valor of Malala. It is not known whether she was fond of cricket, but if cricket becomes one of the fruits of her fearlessness, then Malala would truly have taken one for the team.