The Surfer

At first, one had the sense that these were phantom academies since the BCCI have fallen shy of promoting them adequately. I was surprised to learn they actually exist and are functioning. But keeping to the ways of the current BCCI regime, the representatives of the academies refused to field any questions about their programs, the cricketers trained by them, or even the sort of facilities they had - ostensibly because they didn't want any negative publicity for the employment created for them by the Board.

One report has been produced and already several of its recommendations have been adopted. The selection panel has been sacked, a new head coach has been sought, specialists have been hired and a more professional and rigorous approach has been adopted across the board.

For a definitive account of what occurred, and the repercussions, Peter Oborne's book, Basil D'Oliveira: Cricket and Conspiracy, is the place to go. We are all familiar, though, with what happened. And through it all, finger-poking aside, Basil kept his counsel and his dignity. What would have happened had Prideaux been fit (who ironically was soon to make his home in Bloemfontein, the scene of the infamous speech by John Vorster condemning D'Oliveira's subsequent selection as replacement for Tom Cartwright), or if any of the catches squandered during his innings were held, is a matter of conjecture. No doubt the tour would have gone ahead as planned and it would have been left to others to help start the process of sporting boycott and ultimately the dismantling of apartheid.

“When I was a young man, bowlers like Curtly Ambrose and me had many fast bowlers to learn from and be inspired by. Every territory had a great tall man who was bowling it fast. But these new kids haven't been so lucky, even when it comes to their height. So I decided to give them something to look up to,” he [Walsh] adds with a serious chuckle.

“I was away from the game, and happily ran my foundation back in Jamaica. But this urge to make West Indies a force brought me back, so now I'm once again putting in my all to make us a powerhouse ... And it will happen. Several former players prefer criticising and not doing anything about it. Fair enough, to each his own. But several others prefer constructive criticism on the field — and I'm one of them.”

But my strongest memories of Graham came on England's 1986-87 tour of Australia. Being able to watch England play in the middle of the night was a new experience back then and it was a great way for an aspiring young cricketer to pass a winter. Along with Botham, it was Chris Broad who grabbed most of the headlines on that Ashes-winning tour, but it was Dilley who helped set it up. It was Dilley who took five quality wickets in Australia's first innings at The Gabba after Botham had struck a punishing 138. Dilley backed that up with four top-order wickets in the second Test in Perth. These were bowling displays that set the tone for the remainder of the series.

The ECB is perhaps suspicious that a successful Champions League could be the first stage in the clubs becoming more powerful and causing the gradual erosion of international cricket. It looks at the dominance of football's Premier League, and the damage that this can do to England's national side, and fears that such a shift could do untold damage to the priorities and the finances of English cricket. It would be a distressing outcome, but there is no evidence that the danger is a real one.

I was but 15, throwing a hard plastic ball at him [Pataudi] in the veranda in Delhi. He didn’t see the yorker nor the bouncer. He knew that and I knew that, yet he went out and faced Andy Roberts, Bernard Julian and Vanburn Holder and levelled the series 2-2 only to lose the last Test. A few years later, when I played Malcolm Marshall I understood the magnitude of the hurdle he had crossed, I recognised his braveness and his sheer determination and I acknowledged his genius ...

There may not come a better chance to take on India on their own pitches. Injury continues to sideline Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, the most destructive and experienced opening pair in the game, and also Zaheer Khan, currently the best in the business in his own conditions, and Ishant Sharma, who would probably have shared the new ball with him. There is no Yuvraj Singh, the player of the World Cup, to torment them in the middle order, and no more of the abrasive Harbhajan Singh, who has been dropped. Only the indefatigable MS Dhoni remains of the superstars, so this promises to be a contest between two sides in transition.

Yesterday there was no Botham figure, no brooding captain like Willis, no Duke of Buckingham type like Insole. Midway through the tour, I heard years later, he had told another reporter that the players were taking drugs. "They wouldn't dare," snapped that reporter - who more properly belonged in the 18th century - but it was the start of all the troubles afflicted England for the next 15 years.

With only the cricket boards of India, Australia and South Africa having the keys to the safe, the competition itself is hopelessly skewed in favour of teams from their countries. And even within that privileged circle, the Indian Premier League (IPL) sides stand apart.

... The more the number of IPL teams in the fray, the lesser the chance of quality players turning out for their domestic teams. Those sides are compensated monetarily but the fact the IPL franchises invariably get precedence means an unequal playing field. In theory, a player could choose his home side. In practice, he knows that it jeopardises his next lucrative IPL contract.