The Surfer

It [the Gaddafi Stadium] is the headquarters of the Pakistan Cricket Board, which makes it not just the spiritual but also the official home of Pakistan cricket. It is a magnificent arena that has seen some stirring cricketing moments ... Contemplating a new name for this hallowed turf is not a straightforward exercise ...

It seems to me that the best chance of reaching universal agreement would be to honour a cricketing personality of enormous significance, and who better than some who also happens to be a son of Lahore. No, I’m not thinking of Imran Khan, although God knows he deserves it. The problem with Imran is that his political dimensions would prevent any such attempts proceeding further in our [Pakistan's] current national climate. And since Gaddafi is now a laughing stock, we really have no time to waste. I believe the ideal new name for Lahore’s famous Test centre would be Kardar Stadium. Just saying it out loud is gratifying—it resonates with a lovely ring.

He was light-years ahead of his time; he had style – that swaggered, buttons open, collar up style – long before Tong Greig and Viv Richards made it popular. He did an ad campaign – Brylcream, before Dhoni was born, he batted with complete abandon before even the one-day game had been dreamed of in India. He made England his playing home when just to get to England was a miracle – he played for India while playing very little domestic cricket, in the era where to play Ranji Trophy was the rule and when he stumped someone, especially if it was Alan Knott, he led the whole stadium know of his magic.

This was a glimpse of what so much of county cricket’s one-day stuff is like. The ball nipped around under grey skies on a pudding of a pitch, and the bowling was of negligible pace. And the orders? Make maximum use of the powerplay overs and their concomitant field placings. Oh, and don’t get out. All the very best.

It is why so often the more conventional opener outscores the batsman built for savagery. As Jonathan Liew pointed out, in the recent Sri Lanka series Cook’s strike rate was higher than Kieswetter’s. Plod was quicker than the pugilist.

The BCCI makes its millions every season when cricket fever hits the country. Yet, it has zealously guarded its account books as well as its decision-making processes. As a society registered in Tamil Nadu even its annual report is not up on its website despite the law treating it is a document that should be accessible to anybody from the Registrar of Societies on payment of a nominal fee.

If on the one hand, it was Dalmiya’s foresightedness to unlock cricket’s commercial potential, on the other, it was an evolving media and advertising environment—and the absence of a rival sport—that helped cricket, and hence BCCI establish its dominance in the market. Even today, media and sponsorship rights alone contribute more than 75 per cent to BCCI’s revenues.

In the field, though, the visitors continued to play tight cricket and to look like a much improved outfit. Heavily criticised in the Argus report, Australia's team culture has held up well. Of course it is early days. If a team lacks spark at the start of a summer and under a new captain and with a couple of country boys making their debuts, then the game is up.

There was no splintering of stumps, nor did some gaudily clad fieldsman perform boundary rope contortions to take a telegenic catch, nor was there a commentator's ejaculation. Rather, Nathan Lyon and his receding hairline shuffled a couple of steps, pivoted and looped his first ball in Test cricket towards Kumar Sangakkara. Innocuous to look at, it pitched, bit, brought up a puff of dust. Sangakkara prodded it uncertainly to slip, where Michael Clarke's reflexes were quick enough to track it and scoop it up in his outflung left hand.

Most likely Ponting's mind has been liberated by his return to the ranks. Maybe he feels a bit like Berlin after the Wall was removed. Perhaps he is keen to play his shots, enjoy his cricket and so forth. But it's never as simple as that. Getting out hurts just as much.

The equation was simple: St George needed four wickets. The frontline bowlers were spent. Rain was looming. Umpires were grumbling. Only 10, maybe 15 minutes until the heavens opened and the game was done. Drawn. And nobody like draws. "It was almost like, 'Oh well, the game is done here, we may as well give Copes a bowl'," the Bathurst product recalls. Twelve balls later and Copeland had taken 4-1. Four swerving yorkers. Two LBWs. One scattered castle. And a snick to slips. St George had won, the beers were flowing, Oh When The Saints was blaring, a champion was born, and the rest is history.

Mr Maken argues the BCCI gets “indirect monetary help”.This is puzzling. Some of the properties cited by Mr Maken — such as the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium managed by the DDCA in New Delhi — were set aside for use as sports venues decades ago. He says many stadiums used by the BCCI and its affiliates, the State cricket associations, have been built on land received “free of cost or at concessional rates from the Government”.

This is no different from social clubs — such as the Delhi Gymkhana Club or the Delhi Golf Club, to give two examples — that have got land at concessional rates from the Government as part of the process of developing civic spaces in a metropolis. Should the Gymkhana Club also come under the RTI Act?

There is no shortage of cautionary tales to accompany Lyon to the second Test, chief among them Krejza himself. The off-spinner took eight wickets in his first Test innings three years ago (although he also conceded a record 215 runs). Peter Taylor, the off-spinner who, legend has it, was chosen by accident, took six wickets on his debut against England in 1987 but played only 13 Tests, and that was seven more than Bob Massie, who took 16 wickets on his debut at Lord's in 1972, managed.

Warne's debut was anything but notable, 1 for 150 in his first innings against India. He went wicketless the first time he bowled in Sri Lanka too amid great expectation. For Lyon the expectation will only grow.