The Surfer

“The motivation behind it was to educate people on my background, women's cricket and the sacrifices female athletes make,” Sthalekar said. “I launched the book in India because I had completed it and the Southern Stars were about to tour there. Also, it was my birthplace and a country that I love to visit.”

Hardikar was described as a captain "who knew his players much better than the players themselves knew of their ability" . He had a wry sense of humour that would convey the message, and he would always say it with a straight face.

Possessing an uncanny knack of reading situations, he has had some terrific performances to his credit considering his limited ability. Wearing the whites gave him a new nature and brought tenacity in him.

Sometimes I chat to myself, sometimes I don’t. Most of the times, it’s my subconscious mind that’s working. I don’t have time to complicate my mind, so I try to keep it empty. Being in “the zone” is when you’re not thinking of anything, merely reacting.

So much happens [on and off the field] that sometimes you forget to enjoy the game. That’s when things don’t go smoothly. I only realized that in 2006, after I after my [shoulder] surgery, during my rehab. I played a couple of practice games, and there was not too much media, not too many people watching. I realized something was very different: I was enjoying cricket. In retrospect, it was important for me to play those games. That was game changer for me. I didn’t even realize it had become so much about commitment and pressure, and doing this correctly.

That really is the point - if there's so much emphasis on bringing parity at every level, why isn't the same principle followed in the trading window? Why isn't there a cap on the money a team can spend outside the auctions? Precisely the point Gilchrist raises.

As the end of a career looms we all say the same things. John McEnroe tells me the two things he said he would never do again were play and commentate. He has done both. That sums it up. We all say we will never go back. But we do. We love talking and playing the game we excelled at.

Recognising that, but also accepting you can’t perform at the level you once did, and acknowledging the next generation, is part of the healing process. For some it takes an instant. For others a lifetime.

It is a great shame that Narine has not been selected for the Test squad touring England – and that the selectors didn't have the courage to partner him with taller off-spinner Shane Shillingford. Mendis was nullified by video technology and straighter batting. Except in Muttiah Muralitharan's case, it tends to be masterfully orthodox spin bowlers – Shane Warne, for instance – who thrive. As Narine will soon discover, mystery is temporary but mastery is permanent.

If a player chooses a Twenty20 league over a national commitment then he must also be prepared to be dropped and not be considered for national selection. That must work both ways. Chris Gayle has chosen to come back - for now - which perhaps shows cricket to have lately underestimated the pull of national representation.

West Indian Test cricketers are among the top world cricketers in terms of pay and remuneration. They are not underpaid. They are easily in the elite of Caribbean skilled workers, earning millions of dollars after, let's say, a five-year period of regional representation. Their refusal to represent the region in its international encounter should be placed in this context. It's not a choice between poverty and riches but between riches and more riches; and between standing up for the region and walking away from it.

You think you know Jonathan Trott as a batsman - obdurate, intensely focused, obsessed with accumulating runs, a player who appears to have been born for long Test innings. It's the first of many misconceptions. "I haven't always been like this," Trott says, surprised. "It's something I've developed and worked on. As a young player I was actually quite a reckless batsman. I get bored quite easily, and I'd often try to hit the ball all round the ground. But as I got older I began to realise what batting was all about. I watched a lot of great players to see what you need to be successful at the top level."

Marketers who have pulled out of the league this year think that the current viewership numbers do not justify the ad rates that SET Max is offering. “We backed out this year primarily because of the dip in popularity of IPL and we expected that dip to continue further and it is. Even the absolute reach has gone down,” says Mayank Shah, group product manager, Parle Products. “I think that IPL is a good property with a good amount of viewership but the price is not right. They have to rationalize the price and charge a fair amount. If they were offering the right price based on the viewership they are getting, we would have been on-board. They should have cut down the rates by 30%. There is also fatigue associated with cricket now and the performance in international cricket hasn’t been good either. Also, you need to keep innovating a property like IPL and IPL is not doing that.”