The Surfer

An executive said BCCI's more-stringent norms had discouraged his company from picking up the tender document, which costs around Rs.5 lakh. The person, who had initially been interested in buying a team, didn't want to be named. Another discouraging factor has been BCCI's ongoing legal battles with three of the eight remaining teams, Kings XI Punjab, Pune Warriors India and Rajasthan Royals, apart from its terminal dispute with Deccan Chargers.

"Two players, who came in after me, gave away their wickets so that I wouldn't score a century. I told my partners to give me a stand. 'Don't worry,' they said and started hitting out. But Ghulam Ahmed was a real gentleman. I knew he would never throw away his wicket," said Shodhan. Off-spinner Ahmed stayed unbeaten on 20 while Shodhan was last man out for 110. "After all, Ghulam was essentially a bowler, so I had to take some risks and hit two boundaries to get closer to my century. Not all my teammates were happy for me. Let me be frank. They didn't like a Gujjubhai scoring a hundred. But Lala Amarnath, my captain came on the ground to congratulate me as I returned to the pavilion at tea-time. I remember Pakistan captain Abdul Hafeez Kardar and wicketkeeper Imtiaz Ahmed congratulating me too," he said.

Sure, many Australians like cricket and Tendulkar is particularly good at playing it. But beyond giving us something to watch over summer, what has he done to benefit Australia?

Award nominees must be nothing short of extraordinary people, "whose service and contribution have had the effect of making a significant difference to Australian life or, more broadly, to humanity at large".

It has to be a positive thing if he (Pietersen) is back to the mental state where he's happy and wants to play for England again because he's a world-class batsman. There's never been a problem in the dressing room. You're not always going to be best mates with every player you play with but the team's always had a very good working dynamic. That just broke down for whatever reason at a flash point in the summer. Kevin would have tell you why. I can't. But it's time to draw a big fat line under it and for everyone to say, 'Let's get back to that really good working relationship we had'.

Going through the pages of cricket history of this country, one would no doubt feel proud of the cricketers we produced, mostly grown on home soil, who over the years honed their skills playing at international level and on the county circuits.

Making it to the Madras Ranji Trophy team in the late forties, Alaganan later proved an exceptional leader. After taking over the captaincy reins, he achieved the distinction of winning the Ranji Trophy for Madras at Indore beating Holkar by 45 runs.

"You know, they put us in after winning the toss on a jute-matting pitch, hoping that spinner Dhanawade, playing in the English league, would finish us off in three days. But, everything turned the other way," he had said

"When my parents were alive, I found it hard to play cricket because a pair of training shoes was too expensive for us," he says. "Once, when I told my mother that I was selected to play for my school, she looked upset. I asked her why she looked so sad, and she said that she was happy that I was selected and wanted me to play cricket, but she didn't have the money to buy me shoes or any other equipment. Later, my coach spoke to her and explained that I could play very well and convinced her to let me play. Every morning, my mother would make string-hoppers and I would sell them to the shop near our home. We would get 75 rupees for 100 string-hoppers. Eventually, we raised 2000 rupees for a pair of shoes."

Mr Samuels has said with great feeling that he loves Test cricket and wants to leave his mark in the classic, conventional five-day form of the game. But how many Test matches will he be able to play if the current rate of growth in the Twenty20 leagues continues?

Leading players, especially from under-resourced cricket-playing regions such as the West Indies, can't be expected to ignore the money. And like it or not, the administrations will have to bend to fit.

Victories are obviously important, but for true cricket lovers something is equally important, and that is the means of achieving it. Sunil Narine is a fascinating bowler, with all the mystery of Sonny Ramadhin. Modern batsmen can't simply pad him away in the fashion that Peter May and Colin Cowdrey did in 1957, before the lbw law was revised. TV referrals also help modern spinners.Then there is Darren Bravo, who has the class of his cousin Brian Lara. Chris Gayle remains the pantomime figure and a killer of bowling when his luck is with him. And that irritating little left-hander, Chanderpaul, the ultimate "never get me out" Test batsman. With the blossoming of Marlon Samuels, I'm now beginning to think that a return to No. 1 might well be a possibility over the next, say, 18 months.