The Surfer

Cook also has to jump in at the deep end after having one hand tied behind his back: 50-over county cricket has been banned by the England and Wales Cricket Board. So Cook has had nowhere to practise the various areas in which he now has to excel if he is to lead England into the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

In academia, Andrew Hilditch was brilliant, earning a law degree and partnering at a legal practice. In his playing career, he earned respect for his persistence and achieved more than his talent promised. In his role as chairman of selectors, he has shown remarkable resilience, absorbing criticism his employer, Cricket Australia, claims has amounted to personal vilification.

The thing I always liked about Stuart was the way he worked things out for himself. He didn't captain the first team because there was another guy at the school around the same time who was a natural leader of men. But he would always be thinking batsmen out.

Players need to know their roles and what is expected of them. We were predictable in the last World Twenty20 but we were unstoppable. We were a well-oiled unit and that's what I want us to be again.

Ever since he was confirmed Vettori's deputy, he's coveted the top job, even if it arrived sooner than he thought at 27 years and three months of age. He favours the Stephen Fleming style; stand at slip, go on a whim and tweak the field, an occasional trot for a word with the bowler.

Not prone to press conference rants, Taylor insists he can turn up the volume within the dressing room walls. ""When it's necessary it has to come out. There's no use ranting and raving every time. It dilutes the message. But when it's necessary, I won't mind doing it."

Patel may or may not make it as an England player, but determination cannot be measured by muscle tone alone and here is a man who is plump with acquired cricket knowhow.

I take great umbrage with the statement that these men simply ‘sold out to the rand’ and that they just ‘went for money’. Do not get me wrong, I am not naive, and for each and every one of these players, money was a key aspect.

However, Kallicharran was not the only player to be mistreated by West Indian cricket. The likes of Collis King, Rowe himself, and Sylvester Clarke could all have been treated better. The simple fact is that they had to make a living, and the West Indies was not about to provide it.

It is 31 years now since Ian Botham produced what was then, and remains the most remarkable all-round performance in a history of Test cricket that will extend to 2,000 matches when England play India at Lord's in a few weeks time. In Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Botham scored 114 in his only innings, sandwiched between bowling figures of six for 58 and seven for 48, or 13 for 106 in the match. In statistical terms, the performance itself is astonishing enough, but what makes it all the more remarkable is that it was achieved on the back of the most ferocious 48-hour bender that came in the aftermath of a particularly dismal tour of Australia, the sort of excessive indulgence, they say, that would have felled a rhinoceros.

He has never missed a series for personal reasons – very seldom for injuries – he wicket-kept when the team needed him – he has taken catches others would not even have reached – he has always been there – always. And as Gambhir and Sehwag and Sachin and Zaheer and Yuvraj nurse injuries and egoes, he is still there – in the middle, doing his job, Gary Cooper at sundown.

If it’s a batting beauty with the ball coming on to the bat, give me Sehwag or Laxman; if there’s a truly great array of bowlers set to be unleashed, give me Tendulkar. If it’s a minefield, give me Dravid. Great bowlers and a taut state of the match are a bonus.

When did he start thinking about the milestone? “Century was the last thing on my mind when I went in to bat. I was playing for the moment. I knew I had to score runs to keep my place in the next Test. Getting to my century was indeed a great feeling,” recalls Sourav, who cracked another century at Trent Bridge in the final Test.