The Surfer

If we take the rules of selection and run them over the case for Katich, we come up with this: his international career was waning. Katich's Test average quoted by Craddock over the past three series was running well below his overall mark of 45. With an obligation to both pick for the present and build for the future, Katich, at 35, was vulnerable. He was the obvious choice of the veterans because the selectors had no young solid middle-order batsmen screaming for attention, but they did have Hughes, a scorer of two centuries in 10 Tests with an average just short of 40.

"I'm a different bloke when I've not got these things [tape recorders] and you guys in front of me," said Anderson with a smile when asked to explain his personality changes. And so he is, clearly. It was obvious to everyone that England missed their most experienced bowler during the drawn Lord's Test. But, perhaps less evident, the side strain that prevented Anderson from facing Sri Lanka also deprived Stuart Broad, Chris Tremlett and Steve Finn of someone who has become a guiding light in the pace union.

And yet for all England's success without him there is a sense of waste. Courtney Walsh took 297 Test wickets after his 32nd birthday, Sir Richard Hadlee 252, Glenn McGrath 186 and Curtley Ambrose, the bowler Harmison at his best most resembled, 147. He said last year that if his England career was over, he at least had the memories. So have we, Steve. So have we.

It is easy to imagine how he allowed the press to run with the idea that he told Gibbs that the catch had cost his team the World Cup. "I liked the quote," he said later, "I think it is quite funny." It added to his aura, suggesting that he had such granite-willed self-belief in his own ability that he could predict Australia's eventual victory even though they weren't even in the semi-finals yet. And, of course, it suggested that he had a certain mastery over South Africa in particular, that contests between the two would, inevitably, be bent to his will.

The Australian cricket team is not an AFL, NRL, or rugby team. No salary cap, no draft, no other artificial competition restrictions with the objective to creating an even competition, so therefore no performance cycles, no rebuilding cycles or youth policies required - just a simple pinnacle of the best 11 players from all the 550,000 cricket participants in Australia. The Australian cricket team is simply about playing the best players who are in form and for Simon Katich not to be acknowledged in the best 25 cricketers in our nation is unfathomable.

Pollard understands that in his business, the difference between success and failure is a fit body and mind. He is almost brutal in his training, spending an extra hour or two at the nets long after his team mates are back in the dressing room. He focuses on practical skills, not mirror muscles. “ Optimal fitness is not about sporting a six pack. They only look good on TV or the beach,” he says. “ I concentrate on what I need. A lot of sprints for speed, with timers. I try to improve on my times. For agility, I do shuttles with turning, staggered running and instant changes of directions.”

"It's going to be amazing really, somewhat dream-like," Bransgrove said as he made late checks before young Tremlett and the other players arrive for this morning's official practice sessions. "The more I am asked to speak about it, the more overwhelming it seems to be getting. It is a combination of excitement with trepidation, not just for me but all the other people who have worked towards this day, because it has been very much a team effort at Hampshire. I'm sure we will enjoy it, but we will also be relieved when it's all over next Monday night."

Compton Cricket Club players have sipped tea with Prince Edward at Buckingham Palace, played against Aborigines in the Australian outback, and swapped stories of violence-torn neighborhoods with residents of Belfast. At home, though, it's another story ... Several players sport tattoos saying "cricket outta Compton" and "from gats to bats" ("gats" is street slang for guns). The team raps cricket-themed songs titled "Shots" and "Bullets". A couple players have served jail terms. One missed the Australian trip because he was on parole. Another was killed in a driveby shooting.

The game's etiquette has helped them mature beyond the confines of urban street culture ... The Cazarez brothers, whose third brother Jesse was killed in the driveby, said the sport's emphasis on accepting the umpire's call helped them cope. "If something doesn't go your way, keep your head high and just go with it," said Ricardo Cazarez, 26. "Life's not fair sometimes".

“I’m not a great watcher but when those three are batting my God I struggle to keep my eyes open,” he said. “I adore the fact they love batting but I would happily pay to watch an Ian Bell, or Matt Prior.

"I always watch KP as well but Cook, Strauss and Trott, if there is an uglier top three in the world I don’t know of it. But they are amazing and I would not change any of it.

Essentially it comes down to the fact that tightly grained bats (12 or more) perform better initially but do not last as long. Bats with what we refer to as the optimum number (7 to 10) last much longer. This is important for our bats as they are known to continually improve over time. Obviously, the longer a bat lasts, the more opportunity it has to develop. Therefore tightly grained clefts may perform well to begin with but after half a season or so bats with fewer grains will begin to out-perform them.

...One of the pickiest was certainly Sanath Jayasuriya. I made a bat for him in 1998, which lasted him roughly four hours and 200 runs! Ever since then he was insistent on making every bat I made for him as close as possible to that specific one. It was difficult at times to get the bats identical but I enjoyed the challenge.