The Surfer

Chanderpaul holds the world Test record for batting the longest period without being dismissed. You try doing something for 1,513 consecutive minutes: that is some feat for a start. Then try doing it for 1,513 minutes with 11 fit men trying to thwart you. He ought to be sponsored by a motoring organisation. He repairs innings when they break down, salvaging collapses and wrecks. Some have criticised Chanderpaul for not batting higher than five. Maybe they have a point; or maybe they are talking about strong batting sides. Without their left-hander’s glue at No5, West Indies would fall apart.

“It's a tremendous gesture by BCCI. Even the monthly gratis payment is also going to continue. Having money and not parting with it is bad, but the BCCI has done the right thing and recognised us,'' Former captain Nari Contractor said.

“The Ashes series of 1981 still seems special to people. A lot of people say they remember where they were when they watched it. So it's nice when you get recognised for that,” Old said. “Some people do recognise me - and it's pleasing when they do because I'm still very proud of my cricket career. It's generally older people because it's over 30 years ago since I played in Test matches for England. I think some of my colleagues at Sainsbury's (supermarket) are aware of that history too - but a lot aren't. Perhaps I could have made more of it but that's not the sort of person I am.”

This year Knight Riders decided to spend their $2 million purse more judiciously. After splurging on marquee players like KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir ($2.4 million) and Yusuf Pathan ($2.1 million) last year, this time they invested in just three players: de Lange, Brendon McCullum again (for $900,000) and a complete nobody called Sunil Narine (for $700,000); at least two of them have proved to be match-winners.

At 43.09, Prior's batting average is the highest of any England wicketkeeper to have registered 100 victims and scored 2,000 runs, and is only bettered in world cricket by Andy Flower, Adam Gilchrist and Kumar Sangakkara, who has given up the gloves to concentrate on batting.

This is the biggest blunder that the Board has committed. It is shocking that consideration wasn't given to those who have played in the pre 1957-58 era and are now more than 80-years-old. Most of them are ailing with age related problems, expecting their children to pay for their illness.

In the 2005 series against Australia, the selectors had to weigh the merits of the brash young Kevin Pietersen, or the vastly experienced old pro, Graham Thorpe? The right choice seems obvious now, but it was not clear-cut at the time.

England, late last year, were comprehensively beaten by Pakistan, and managed to pull off a drawn series in Sri Lanka—and still they remain at the top of the ICC Test rankings. Credit to them: they have distanced themselves from the pack and could afford a hiccup or two. They are wounded from their winter results and could react in a couple of ways. It will do the West Indies team no harm if England decides to aggressively seek and destroy their opposition. That is not their normal successful approach, applied in the past to get them to the top of the world cricket rankings. They are a team that went about their plans in a patient and methodical manner, striking only when the time was right. My advice to Sammy and his boys is to frustrate the England team into making mistakes, the same way they did it to us back in 1990 in the Caribbean.

In a more prosaic country and institution, this would be nothing more than a passing of the torch. In Pakistan cricket, though, this is the PCB showing its hand – publically admitting to not being fully supportive of their captain. What will that do to the carefully manufactured team morale? What happens if Pakistan performs badly in the World T20 under Hafeez? What happens if the team’s performance in other formats dips – and one of the reasons for that is this decision? How will the players react to seeing the first crack in the castle’s wall?

Loose talk by five cricketers in a media sting has landed them in a spot. There should be little sympathy for such fringe players who thrived in the system and yet mock at it. Unlike in the British sting which led to the jailing of three Pakistan cricketers as there was clear evidence of wrongdoing, nothing beyond vague charges of misdeeds has emerged so far in India. But there is no doubt that they have brought the game into disrepute once again.