The Surfer

The major question today is - who after Zaheer?

India's got depth in their fast-bowling stocks. There's a lot of talent. There's plenty of promise. The guys coming out, like Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron, are good talents. The issue is nurturing. They've got the basics right, now they need to be well managed. I have no doubt about the talent in India.

You leave with dignity and class, like Andrew Strauss did; or kicking and screaming like Sourav Ganguly. Suddenly, nothing matters. Not past record, not current form, not recent promise, not the experience or unfulfilled plans. Would Strauss have kept his job if left to the selectors? Perhaps not, and he recognised this.

"My race is done," was Strauss' simple goodbye. Modern captains know that the ability to recognise the monster is as important as tactical nous or man management.

Everybody assumes that Cook will follow Strauss's template. Maybe, maybe not. He respected and admired Strauss but he has to be his own man with his own ideas, otherwise he may as well be linked up to his predecessor on the pitch

Those who know Cook also know of his strength of mind, which is why he is such a dogged opening batsman. He will certainly know what he wants to do for England.

Four-day cricket and splitting the Championship has led to tougher cricket and higher standards, improving the England team whose success is crucial to the game's survival. But, it has also created a transfer market and salary inflation. This increases the financial pressures on counties already struggling to meet the expectation of modern spectators and players for better facilities.

It was understandable up until 2010, for Pakistan performances did it no favours, but since the Lord’s debacle the exclusions have crossed the line from mysterious, to ignorance and now to downright inequitable. It is no wonder the supporters of the team feel wronged. It is high time the ICC panel of adjudicators started paying equal attention to performers from the entire set of cricket playing nations, instead of focusing on just the so called elite four.

Most of the overseas players at this year’s SLPL were T20 specialists, retired players and domestic overseas players with no international experience. It would not have mattered to most of them when the SLPL was played, just as long as the SLPL did not clash with the two richest T20 leagues – the Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash League.

Wayne Phillips made a swashbuckling 159 on debut for Australia and, early in Pakistan's first innings, failed by a fingertip in a gallant and acclaimed effort to catch Mudussar Nazar from Rodney Hogg. He was feeling pretty good about life until Greg Chappell turned to him from first slip and asked gruffly: ''Why do you play cricket if you can't catch the ball?''

He said to me that, if he had continued, for England and/or for Middlesex, failure would have got to him while successes may no longer have been so much a source of satisfaction. He did not bat badly against South Africa; but he feels that, if he had continued as captain, he would have needed to put so much into this job that there might not be enough left for his batting.

Then the job no longer buoys but weighs the captain down. Overload sets in as the captaincy starts to consume every waking moment: caring for every England player, the media appearances, the charity work, the reviewing and the planning — and that is before Kevin Pietersen has reared his head. Compartmentalisation fades away; the captain has ever less time and energy for his own game.

They may not score heavily off them, or rotate the strike nearly enough - David Warner in Abu Dhabi last night was a good example - and they may even lose wickets to them but somewhere along the way, somehow, they more often than not find a way through, of repelling spin's cumulative and grinding effect.

Alastair Cook is another calm, solid man who has played an awful lot of Test cricket for someone who is still so young. The experience that he and the other senior men in the dressing room have gained will be vital as we might well head to India with a young batting line-up in October.

There will be extra responsibility now not just for Cooky but for all of us and I'm sure those of us with a fair bit of experience can help him as he settles in to his new role. We are a strong unit and that's important moving forward.