The Surfer

"It's important for us to keep getting better and better, especially in our home conditions. We have got to make it as tricky for people playing England in England as teams used to find taking on Australia in Australia.

"Being the No 1 Test team would be a great title to have and it's what we are going for. We've made no secret about that – we want to be No 1 in both Tests and one-dayers. We've got a better chance of doing it, sooner rather than later, in Test cricket, whereas the one-dayers might take a bit longer."

It's a story about many stories: friendships, rivalries, nationhood, the undesirability of old age, the quantification of genius and other "unknowables", like how much love do you need in a lifetime, and is sport really greater than life?

WG Karunasena, the 64-year-old narrator of Chinaman, is a grumpy old man in an endearing Walter Matthau kind of way. He's convinced that "unlike life, sport matters".

Sassoon was the bravest of cricketers on two counts, and possibly three. First came his physical, military bravery, when he led his men over the top several times in the First World War, including at the Somme, armed only with a pistol, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 “for conspicuous gallantry” ... What sets Sassoon apart is that he risked being shot when on leave from the trenches as well. His statement of protest against the mad futility of the First World War was read out in the House of Commons by an MP. Pacifists such as Bertrand Russell had protested against the war, but not somebody who had been there and done that.

'A lot of my early form has been down to playing four-day cricket in the West Indies with the Lions before the season,' said Woakes, who has a century to his name already this year to add to his 17 Championship wickets. 'The England performance programme has played a massive part in my development and, after a winter playing mainly with a white ball, facing good opposition on flat wickets in first-class cricket was ideal. It got me off and running.'

Other things being equal, Anderson will no doubt lead the attack at what used to be called Sophia Gardens on May 26, with two from Tim Bresnan, Chris Tremlett and Stuart Broad. But what a line-up of reserves that would leave: Finn, Shahzad, Onions, Woakes, Dernbach, Harris, Roland-Jones…. there is a case, certainly, for a system of rotation.

Should the BCCI be concerned so much about world cricket when its brief is Indian cricket? So long as Indian cricket is served, why worry? Countries construct their diplomacy and economic policies on the foundation of self-interest, so why should sport be different?

As the world champions, the No. 1 Test-playing country, and with the power and influence that comes with having the richest cricket board in the world with the potential to make themselves and everybody else richer, the BCCI must give up their narrow-minded domestic concerns and focus on cricket the world game. Whatever the compulsions of political entities in the United Nations, sport must follow the beat of a different drum. For that is the reason for its existence — it is artificial and should strive to be idealistic.

With the wisdom of years, I can see now, for instance, that the attack of Viv Richards's West Indies team was unbalanced not by the lack of a top-class spinner, but by the clear absence of an heir to Vanburn Holder, whose elegantly bowed legs and sensible insistence on line and length above pace and bounce brought a hint of the King's Singers to calypso cricket, I can see now why some of the gentlemen who sat around me at Headingley and Scarborough would greet the sight of Vanburn replacing Andy Roberts with the contented sigh of tired gardeners sniffing the scent of evening drizzle after a hot August day. You could relax with Vanburn.

There might not be a vast improvement technically in the players, but their confidence and comfort zones have been enhanced post-Kirsten. It's those zones which have boosted their performance. It's this aspect that even the Indian coaches in the 90s couldn't handle.

With such motley of people, seeds of discontent could easily be sowed through regional groups that can destroy a team. Kirsten had ... studied the history and the ethos of Indian cricket. The Indian team as seen during the Kirsten era was a curious mix of studious seniors and somewhat over-enthusiastic juniors. To make it work like a well-oiled team, one had to develop a sense of unity within diversity which Kirsten did.

The Indian team will discover he is an innovative ideas man who is always looking to be one step ahead ... He had a scientific way of presenting ideas to the players. He loved explaining to batsmen why the forward press was important against spinners. He would talk about looking under the ball because it gives you more time to pick up length. The little ideas he taught me as a player were things no other coach mentioned to me.

He will be a terrific foil for Dhoni, who will benefit from Duncan’s philosophy that the captain is always the man in charge. Duncan views his big job being on a Tuesday or Wednesday in the run-up to a Test match to prepare the team and get his points across.

Gibson, a pupil at Crawshaw School, Pudsey, was given permission to take time off after being called into the team and he quickly showed the old ‘if you’re good enough you’re old enough’ adage was true, as he dealt with the pace of England’s Ajmal Shahzad before being mobbed by his team-mates after taking a stunning catch in the 10th over to dismiss opener Luc Durandt off Oliver Hannon-Dalby.

“I spoke to the head teacher, who said she was really happy for me but told me not to forget about my school work. I’ve just got to get on with it after we’ve eaten, but it would be nice to watch a bit of the Barcelona-Real Madrid game as well.”