The Surfer

The back, due to its pronounced swivel during the spinner’s pivot (as explained) is of greatest importance when it comes to creating drift. It is the major reason why Afridi’s potency has seen a downward trend over the last year or so. The all-rounder has been sporting niggles in his back and side for quite some time now (the keener observers might have picked up on it while seeing him do his normal ground fielding). His aerial catching, diving and throwing (all aspects that keep the back in one plane) remain impressive, but the veteran star is often reluctant when he has to bend down to pick up the simpler rolling ball.

That is where the mercurial qualities of Taylor are important. The 28-year-old can lead by example, as demonstrated by 131 off 124 balls at last year's World Cup to obliterate Pakistan in pool play. That was played in Pallekele, which is New Zealand's home for the group stage of the World T20. On his 27th birthday Taylor split his innings into 76 runs from 111 balls and 55 from 13. That surreal baker's dozen off Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Razzaq produced four fours and six sixes.

You faced them all - Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall. Who was the complete fast bowler?

On his day, no one could beat Michael Holding. He was out and out the most devastating fast bowler ever. When he was on song, I can say he was the best fast bowler ever seen. Number two… Malcolm Marshall. He was a complete fast bowler too.

Baffling leading batsmen with his swing and cutters in local cricket, he took thousands of wickets in tournaments, becoming the highest wicket taker (759) in the Kanga League, a record that still exists. Deprived of all honours he deserved, this man didn't need an institutional recognition. He continued to serve the game like a humble servant.

Says Sunil Gavaskar, "If anybody else who has a major role in making me the batsman I was, it has to be 'Marshall' Patil. Dadar Union's tradition of giving nicknames meant that with his imposing moustache, straight back, discipline and dedication to the game, it was easy to call Mr Patil 'Marshall' like in the old wild West. I never saw anybody with the control over swing that he had and he could bowl both inswing and outswing with little change in action".

Stepping behind the scenes of a day's international cricket broadcast is to be overwhelmed by numbers, especially for those of us who grew up watching televised cricket in the days of only a single camera at one end of the ground. Sky had 30 cameras at Trent Bridge, and, excluding commentators, 85 personnel either on staff or working for contracted companies such as Hawk-Eye. It was Chambers' job to oversee the whole shebang. "I don't make programmes but I make them work," he said.

England have talent and confidence but they have always struggled in Sri Lanka and on Asian pitches so I would be amazed if they did anything spectacular. They will also miss Kevin Pietersen. I can’t believe anyone can suggest they will be better without him as this is the one format in which they miss him massively.

This time I hope England do not have big expectations just because they are champions. If they think about the fact they are champions it could affect them. I would go with a similar mentality to when they arrived in the Caribbean: confidence within the group but do not make that public.

The problem, top franchise managers explain when speaking off the record, is that the IPL, contrary to Modi’s grand declarations, never had a self-sustaining business model. It had ten different models, one for every team, and that each one was viable only when the franchisee’s core business was thriving. That’s why the consortiums, which didn’t have large parent companies to soak in the losses, were the first to get a taste of reality.

The reality is that the IPL, like all businesses, is irrefutably linked to the global economy. Still only half a decade old, it is in fact the logical first casualty when an owner’s mother brand is under attack. ‘Recession- free’ is just pseudo-economics propagated by people in crinkle-free suits.

I have been a cricket fan for more than a quarter of a century now and from that first moment of fandom, the game has kept me acutely aware of how glorious it had been back in the day. To be honest, this edgy narrative of a game in danger of reckless change adds to its allure, it makes cricket not just any other sport but a noble cause. Except now when we hark back to a more innocent time, it includes that time, circa the 1980s, when we had actually been agonising about the direction cricket had begun to take. My limited point being, change steals over cricket — it is not coherently incorporated.

Looking back, I realise Crowe's penchant for obtuse ornamentation was another thing that set him apart from his peers. He was the first player to saw the top bar of his helmet grill off to aid vision (a move copied by many schoolboy cricketers) and was an early adopter of new-age sweat absorption technology - embracing Mark Knopfler-style towelling headbands years before the first drop of Jack Daniel's No 7 had passed through Jesse Ryder's lips. And, of course, the piece de resistance - the Panama hat in two tone beige and white.

All I hoped for was that if the ball came my way, I wanted to stop it. But just as Misbah-ul-Haq played that scoop, I went blank. The replays make it seem like a simple catch. But in reality, I had to run about 10-12 yards towards the edge of the circle. Thanks again to Robin sir. I anticipated it. And check out the video once again and you’ll see that the ball hit my fractured finger and slipped out a little before I grabbed it with both hands. And then I just threw it up!