The Surfer

David Hussey, Cameron White and Daniel Christian were bought for a combined total of $US3.4 million ($A3.19 million) per season - $US1.4 million for Hussey, $US1.1 million for White, $900,000 for Christian - and were among the 20 most expensive players at January's IPL auction. But all three performed well below expectations.

How do you justify the presence of Chris Gayle in the IPL?
You have to ask the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the coach for that one. They were the ones who forced him to go to the IPL. He was not selected for the first two games here in the Caribbean against Pakistan. He does not have a contract with the board, so he has to go and seek employment somewhere else. As simple as that.

By picking Bopara for the Lions the selectors were inviting the intervention of Sod's Law. Bopara fails in the first innings and Eoin Morgan, scuttling back from India, cracks 193. How can they ignore such evidence without looking silly and without demeaning the status of these Lions fixtures? They can't.

But those who would have had him punished for lack of loyalty to the badge are ignoring the fact that, if England thought his IPL involvement was against their interests, they had the option of stopping him. But they gave him the no-objection certificate all international players must obtain from their boards to take part in the IPL.

Home advantage is very important in cricket, and there is no point going abroad and learning to play on the subcontinent if you cannot make good use of your own conditions as well. Fortunately we have a strong seam attack and James Anderson, in particular, is a menace when the ball is moving around.

We want to be the world No 1 and if we do achieve that we will have to be the best England team there has ever been.

To his credit, Afridi has opted to continue playing even though he is no longer captain. What is needed now is a shake-up in the governing body, not the team which is doing itself credit despite the myriad problems it faces. Ijaz Butt should fully realise the importance of the job he is expected to do, or leave it.

Kevin Pietersen, he concedes, “likes the attention”. The brilliant batting automaton that is Alastair Cook “epitomises what this team is about”. One so serenely composed should need little prompting to locate the words that best capture his style. He is simply the consummate captain.

England’s first Ashes triumph in Australia for 24 years represented the vindication of many virtues: faultless planning, destructive seam bowling, preternatural powers of concentration.

But the spirit was nowhere better embodied than by Strauss. Unruffled at the top of the order, immaculate in the slip cordon, and masterful in imparting motivation to his men as they toiled in 100-degree heat, he was the talisman from which that 3-1 scoreline sprang. No wonder he has just written a book about it.

"It's everywhere. You flick through the different TV channels and half of them will have some panel talking about the IPL. There's half a dozen pages in every paper, it's all about the IPL. They have an hour's buildup and an hour's review of every match," Oram said.

It has to be Sachin, because of the seemingly effortless way he deals with the pressure of a billion people hanging on his every move. He never puts a toe out of line off the field, and never queries an umpire’s decision on it. We have been good friends for a while — even if it’s not so friendly when we are out in the middle — and one of the pleasures of playing in the IPL has been the chance to spend a little time with him. My final match, in Mumbai this evening, will in fact be against Sachin’s team, the Mumbai Indians.

In two decades of devilish tweak, extravagant celebrations and tabloid-filling good times, Warne had a hold over English batsmen and fans like few others before and none since.

Andrew Strauss: Has played just one two innings for county side Middlesex so far but, importantly, it was for a weakened team against the touring Sri Lankans and Strauss made big runs. His 151 in the first innings against a potent attack bodes well, although his copy-book was blotted somewhat by a rash shot in the second innings, caught for 25.

Kevin Pietersen: Much has been made about Pietersen's poor run of form and there was plenty of interest when he turned out for new side Surrey against Cambridge MCCU at Fenner's. He top scored with 48 from 68 balls in Surrey's second innings but it was not enought to prevent an embarrassing defeat to the students.

After the two players were not picked initially for the ODIs, it became very evident that communications from the coach and the Board to the players left very much to be desired. There appeared to be a complete unwillingness to deal with the players as equals and the Board seemed determined to continue with its historical paternalistic and condescending behaviour.