The Surfer

India needed a strong captain who would obviously be seen to be above the temptation. In Ganguly, who has not been given sufficient credit for this, they found the man. Even the silver spoon that he was born with was made of gold, so there was no excessive greed or need as in the case of some colleagues. The strong team he built — Harbhajan Singh and Sehwag completed the picture — was seen to be above suspicion. Had the Indian public turned its back on the game after Azharuddin admitted that he had used his supple wrists not just for scoring runs but for counting his ill-gotten wealth too, Indian cricket might not have recovered.

In the past fortnight there have been two of the closest and most gripping Test-match finishes in history. The World Test Championship is necessary. It would give every match a wider context and teams something to aim for, as well as a proper global climax for the five-day game that the 50-over and Twenty20 format already enjoy.

Good things will come to those Black Caps batsmen who wait. This is because they won't have to wait too long. The feeling is that, when you bat against Australia, you have to be aggressive and take it to them. That is a mentality that sits well with our top six - but this time I feel that approach is not necessary.

The last time the Black Caps beat the boys in the baggy greens, in 1993, Jim Bolger was prime minister, an 11-year-old boy, Dan Carter, was in Year 7 at Ellesmere College, and a hot New Zealand movie The Piano featured another 11-year-old, Anna Paquin.

Cricket is the only sport today that Sri Lanka can compete with other nations and win. But unless it is rid free of politics and politicians it is in great danger of going into decline. Politics has been the bane of sport and in a country like Sri Lanka it is sad that it continues to flourish via interim committees. It is only the ICC’s recent strong stand taken against government interference in the running of a national cricket board (that allows them to suspend a member country) that has moved the Sri Lankan government to call for elections which has been fixed for January 3, 2012.

I am really excited about the way Michael Clarke has gone about his captaincy. I think his captaincy has been very positive, it's been aggressive and has been on gut feel and I have really enjoyed it and I like that. But the one thing that Graeme had was that he had the ability to be able to get the best out of his players and he had an aura in the dressing room. I'm pretty sure Mike has that aura, but that's what made Graeme truly good.

Most of New Zealand's discussions will centre on whether to play four or five frontline bowlers. The discussion should be shortlived, because the batting tail is too long if all four seamers play. On a bouncy pitch against quickish bowlers it would be an unexpected bonus for any of our four seamers to contribute much with the bat. Wicketkeeper Reece Young is a useful batsman, but he has limited experience at this level and therefore batting at No 8 makes more sense than No 7. I prefer Daniel Vettori at No 7 rather than No 6 too, which means Dean Brownlie comes in at 6 and can also be used to bowl a few overs.

On the morning of the match, the wicket-keeper pulls out his helmet from the first over (even for the fast bowlers) knowing well that a lot of balls would stay dangerously low and he may get hit because of bad bounce. If there's too much dew and fog (which delays the removal of covers), one must resign to the fate of playing with a bar of soap because there are only four grounds-men at the venue and it's unrealistic to expect them to get the ground ready in time. Yes, they have a super-sopper but unfortunately they don't have the manpower to make it count on such mornings. What's new - you'd ask, since most non-descript venues do wear a shabby look. Alas! These are the ground realities of Karnail Sigh Stadium - Railways' Ranji Trophy venue in Delhi, and not some club ground in a small town

vThe Argus interviewers were bombarded with theories from well-known cricket people who pointed out that West Indian great Courtney Walsh bowled more than 30,000 balls toiling year round for the West Indies and Gloucestershire for 14 years and barely broke a toe nail. Once asked to the secret of his longevity, Walsh replied "I never stop ... I'm almost scared of stopping. You have a Mercedes you keep it running."

Tendulkar is no stranger to pressure. On the field, there’s the pressure to score runs, to pick up the odd important wicket, to be a superhuman cricketer who’s allowed very little room for error — for that’s his job. Off the field, the pressure to return every smile he spots, for not doing so would be considered rude; the pressure of measuring every word he speaks in public, because of how much weight they carry; the pressure to be absolutely perfect, because the country would accept no less from a man they believe is god.

For someone so long out of the game this was always going to be a pipe dream, even if Crowe did "rediscover the joy of batting" in his preparations. Players older than he have played Test cricket (the eldest, Wilfred Rhodes, was 52 when he played against West Indies in Jamaica in 1930), and others have turned out in the county game. In 1982, for example, Raymond Illingworth was 50 when he decided to replace Chris Old as Yorkshire captain. He led Yorkshire to the 1983 Sunday League title. The previous season, Fred Titmus, then almost 50, had turned up at Lord's for a pipe, a cuppa and a chat. He found himself playing against Surrey, taking three wickets.