The Surfer

Historians will point you towards the retirements of the two Cs, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose a decade ago – intimidation was lost. And it is a sign of how the global game has changed – with the proliferation of slow pitches and advent of 20-over cricket – that while they used to grip you in fear, they now tie you in knots.

You see, the 30-man provisional squad named by West Indies for next month's World Twenty20 contained than 10 spinners. No, that was not a misprint. A third of their party were capable twirlers.

"There was an intense, I don't know if hatred is the right word, but dislike (for Bradman).

"Plenty of the players were carrying on about Bradman and saying they couldn't stand him. As long as Bradman was alive, they thought he kind of ran Australian cricket, and they didn't like that."

Cosier, 59, believes the breakaway war which led to day-night cricket in coloured clothes was about Packer versus Bradman as much as it was about anything else. "Between Kerry Packer and Don Bradman there was never going to be a coming together of the minds," Cosier said.

They (Strauss and Flower) are two remarkably impressive men, 21st-century upgrades of Gary Cooper's strong, silent type. They calmly cleaned up one Kevin Pietersen mess in 2009, and have shown exceptional dignity in the face of another, even if a few lunatics think it is time for both of them to resign. Their success (and recent travails) have created a bond we would expect to last a lifetime. All of which makes their parting even harder to comprehend.

In an ideal world they will simultaneously come to the conclusion that it is time for Strauss to be replaced by Alastair Cook, but sport does not always provide such neat endings. What if Flower feels that Strauss's batting form is no longer sustainable? Flower is a disciple of eye contact but if he has to have that conversation with Strauss, even he might feel like focussing on the eyebrows rather than the eyes.

Sometimes, it is a good idea to sit back a distance and reflect on how it all came to the situation in which everyone now finds themselves. For me, the most extreme example of this thought process came a few years back when I read Martin Gilbert's history of the first world war, and had to go back to the start of the book again even to comprehend the chain.

I really do believe that the only way to achieve an outcome that satisfies all involved, is the use of a third party, an independent arbitrator, someone used to conflict resolution who can look at all the issues dispassionately. Without such, personal experience tells me that you can patch things up for a while but ultimately it will end in tears.

It’s crucial the next generation isn’t condemned by comparison...The new generation is vulnerable to both the short and the moving ball. How would they not be when they hardly experience such things growing up? Bowling, cricket’s only act of creation, shapes the batting that counters it. India’s bowling, domestically, hasn’t improved in the 2000s, the period of incubation for the current batting generation. Nor have the pitches helped.

What could be a more appropriate way of remembering the coming of age of native cricket that ended the Englishman’s domination of the game in pre-Independence Madras? For it was Buchi Babu Nayudu — the grandson of a dubash and an aristocrat of the realm who, slighted by the Madras Cricket Club’s denial of access to the pavilion to Indian players, them to a tree shade during matches at Chepauk — who started the Madras United Club, the first Indian cricket club with its own ground and pavilion.

Winning generals always get the praise (and he has had plenty of that after winning the Ashes home and away) but losing generals get the sack. That is a fact. Look it up. I am not one of those people who wants to sack him but you can’t play with 10 men, especially if you are losing. You can get away with murder if you keep winning but this is a problem and he has to seriously sit down and look at his technique.

He is a two-time Ashes-winning captain, he has just played his 100th Test match at Lord’s, he has led England to the top of the world rankings. He could leave now, with the affection of the nation behind him. Everybody has a shelf life and it is better to call it quits rather than go on too long and regret it 12 months down the line.

Cricket – though now open to all races – was not being conducted on a level playing-field. Decades of segregation and economic inequality put non-white players at a severe disadvantage. Lack of experience of top-class conditions, of coaching, of nutrition, of self-confidence, all took their toll.

Now, though, South Africa are heroes again – including non-white players like this week's man-of-the-match Vernon Philander and man-of-the-series Hashim Amla. True, one is from the minority mixed-race community, the other from the minority Asian community.

The repercussions are as yet unknown because negotiations are still taking place. But they may extend for years. If Pietersen can redeem himself sufficiently to resurrect his career in time for the Test tour of India this autumn it will not be easy for him to walk into the dressing room as though nothing has happened. There has been too much texting, tweeting and treachery for that. For Pietersen it can never be the same again and therefore he may never be the same player again.

A couple of former England captains have advocated the banging together of heads, the re-introduction of Pietersen and getting on with it. The likelihood is that it has gone too far.

The uniqueness of Laxman’s fame is its quiet, but overwhelming, seamlessness. His supporters aren’t the banner-wielding, painted-body type. They don’t need to be. Most times, when the freshly greased wrists were at work, the entire stadium, regardless of the allegiance, nodded collectively in disbelief. NRI fans never had to shout out loud to make a point about Laxman’s greatness in their adopted lands. It was a given, a non-issue that never cropped in any “us vs them” debates. Avid Laxman-watchers, those who have travelled far and wide to follow the 16-year journey, vouch that they haven’t met anyone who happens to be a Laxman-baiter. Not even Sachin Tendulkar has such global consensus.

Laxman was such a nice and humble guy, we actually found it a tad difficult to get under his skin. He never spoke a word and let his bat do the talking always. My personal strategy was to say as little as possible to him, except the odd word or two, because that only made him more determined and focused. You never could unsettle VVS Laxman while he was in the middle.