The Surfer

Umrigar’s career runs tally was 3631 runs. And it took Gavaskar seven years to go past him but the true awakening only came on November 13, 1983 when he surpassed Geoff Boycott’s tally of 8,114 runs to become the leading scorer in Test cricket. Milind Rege, Gavaskar’s close friend who played with him at school, college and Ranji level and is currently Mumbai’s chief selectors, believes that India’s love of records all started with Gavaskar.

Somewhere along the path, the pride that India experienced from Gavaskar’s exploits became an obsession.

It was as play unfolded in the first and only Test match at Lord’s that the Indians shocked the English in the first half-hour itself. The MCC was reduced to a dismal 19-3 by some excellent Indian bowling and fielding. Wrote The Birmingham Post: “The All India cricket team has administered a few shocks to the dignity and confidence of England today. If there were among the 24,000 spectators at Lord’s some who imagined that the granting of a Test match by the MCC to the tourists from the Indian empire was merely an amiable concession, then they had a very rude awakening before the close of play.

In the early 1950s, Chepauk in Chennai used to be a good sporting track. The ground was surrounded by trees and the sea breeze had its impression on the wicket. The construction of the modern-day stadium spoilt the effect, turning it into a dust bowl. Today, the wicket does not possess the same bounce and carry of the olden days. I played on one of the fastest tracks at Chepauk in a series in the late 1970s. It’d rained a lot over the first 10 days of preparation, which led to the curator using only light rollers a few times and once the top surface hardened—the heavy roller. The result: a fast, hard, bouncy track. The effect of rollers on pitch preparation cannot be over-emphasised.

Amla does not do showy. He does not do ruffled. He just bats and bats. Quite simply, he is among the most serene batsmen in the world right now. And to watch Amla at the striker’s end is to view a batsman at the apex of his powers, at once wristy and elegant of stroke, if not set-up. He is surely one of the most underrated batsmen in world cricket.

That Amla has overcome all the hurdles placed in his way is no surprise. Such strength of mind will always prevail. Once he had cracked Test cricket, they said he couldn’t play one-day cricket. He is now ranked the No 1 batsman in the ICC’s one-day international rankings. Enough said.

I believe the Black Caps will not lose the Test series. I'm not saying they will win the series because I'm never confident they have enough firepower to bowl a reasonable team out twice in conditions that don't suit medium pace seam bowling. What I base this prediction on is a belief that they should score enough runs not to lose.

Question is: Will our players have the defensive wherewithal to formulate such plans?

People who don't understand cricket often fail to realise it's one of the most dangerous sports you can play, if not the most dangerous of all ball games, definitely involving the most dangerous projectile. Cork, string, leather and gut may not sound too lethal in isolation but when combined into a cricket ball they can, and have killed people. In the case of Mark Boucher's freak injury, the ball created a sub-missile in the bail, but anybody who's kept close to the stumps knows that the swing of the bat is the second most lethal element after the ball itself - a potential decapitator - while the ball exploding off the bat is third on the list.

It is difficult to find folks on either side of the border who do not profit from an India-Pakistan series. For the politicians, it is a godsend. Photo-ops apart, there is no distraction like cricket to take attention away from scams, corruption, internecine battles, stagnation. For the cricket boards, it spells money and influence. India need Pakistan’s support at the ICC – what better way to ensure this?

Former players on both sides (Sunil Gavaskar apart, this time) are happy to be wheeled back into the spotlight and mouth platitudes on television about brotherhood and a shared past. The volume of advertisements in newspapers and magazines increases, so the print media are happy too.

The keepers of cricket's sacred flame at the ICC have no desire to apply. Partly this is because Indians--who, as moneybags of the game, have an influence over it--would not like it to be subject to IOC discipline. Yet it also does not find favour with David Collier, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board. The Olympics are held at the height of summer, in the middle of the English season. In an Olympic year this would pose major problems for English cricket.

Listening to people who know Hesson and from my own experiences, strategy and tactics are not his strength. He presents well, knows his cricket, but does he know more than his senior players? Hesson will be thorough and hard-working and most importantly in NZ Cricket's book, organised. Some of these qualities seem more suited to the manager's position, a role he has been previously linked to.