The Surfer

We ran to the Indian side. It was kind of surreal, but we were too rushed to think about how big a moment that was. The Indian guard at the border didn’t smile, but he was quick, which meant he was nice. The chatty officers at registration told us we had enough time to get to Mohali (not) and reassured (sic) us that it wasn’t going to rain.

They bleed and sweat it out. Brands look for other qualities too. It’s not just enough to get runs, how you get them also counts. Win or lose, those are fickle predictions of faith. However, conduct and courage is the key.

The team has to maintain the intensity which is what differentiates the champion from the others. Just like Roger Federer or a Rafael Nadal, the Indian team has to maintain the intensity at big events. They have to raise the level of the game when needed. Dhoni did not have a great start, but he raised the level when needed. He set the example and the others will learn how to do that

He [Dhoni] has shaped well. It might not be obvious to everybody, but he's picked up so many things from the others. He's learnt to build an innings without losing his natural aggression. He's picked up the good parts of captaincy from his predecessors and grown as a cricketer and person

We bowled bouncers, yes. And the mere fact we could bowl at 90mph was intimidating enough – you didn't have to bowl bouncers to be intimidating. If you look at the footage of guys who actually got hit while we were playing, quite a few of them ducked into bouncers. A lot of them got hit on their fingers. What is wrong with hitting someone on their finger? That just shows you they are incapable of playing a ball at 90mph. You don't put your hand above your head when you are batting.

First, the selection panel chaired by Hilditch, whose position will be examined in one of four separate inquiries prompted by the Ashes fiasco, will pick Cricket Australia's 25 contracted players for the next 12 months. That will involve making calls on the careers of veterans such as Simon Katich and Michael Hussey and bringing on the younger players the selectors think can withstand difficult initiations and emerge as resourceful, successful cricketers.

“Fortunately I’ve changed as a person,” he says. “When I first took over at Derbyshire, I was a bit stubborn at times. But you learn as you get older that you have to open yourself up and listen.

"I’m keen that the dressing room is not dominated by the captain. I want the youngsters to express themselves. I’ll still always have my opinion, but age has mellowed me and I now realise that my opinion is not always right.”

There is also the supreme self-belief of a man who can showboat his way through the last 30 metres of an Olympic sprint final. Poise, audacity, arrogance – call it what you will. But it is a crucial element in the make-up of a sporting champion. And it seems to run in the family ... Usain's brother Sadiki has revealed his armour-plated conviction that he will play cricket for the West Indies one day.

..."My brother [Usain] is actually a decent bowler. He's got height and a lot of pace. In fact he bowled Chris Gayle in a charity match last year, and Chris wasn't trying to get out – he was genuinely beaten.

For the past five years, the two brothers have lived together in the smart Kingston suburb of Norbrook. Sadiki reciprocates Usain's interest in cricket by joining his brother at sprint training. Or, at least, he does when he wakes up in time ... Other than that, Sadiki says that the pair of them spend a lot of time "just chilling" ... "Sometimes we hit the club – there's a nightclub called Fiction not far from where we live, but if we don't feel like going out we just play dominoes or video games."

However, it was hard not to get depressed as Paul career went into decline even as his peers in the Mumbai circuit climbed to higher ho nours. A solitary ODI in 2006 and a handful of T20 matches were all he managed in domestic cricket — till today’s match. A technically perfect knock, it got him both the Man of the Match award and this season’s top run-getters’ Orange Cap.

In Britain there is not the all-consuming passion for cricket, nor the vast numbers wanting to watch it that has helped India become the game's powerhouse. But that does not mean a franchise system couldn't work well for Twenty20 in this country; a spread of urban bases can easily ensure nationwide reach. Perhaps they could assume responsibility for all limited-overs cricket. Scrap the embarrassingly pointless 40-over competition and reintroduce a 50-over knockout with a showcase Lord's final. That helps rid the game of the impenetrable mess that is the current fixture list and leaves the counties to concentrate on feeding the Test side, a role they are meeting with a notable degree of success.

It's probably appropriate that Australia's much-hyped 'modern' captain, Michael Clarke, hit the slippery slope when he described Shane Watson's slogathon as 'probably the best innings I've ever seen'. Not seen a lot of cricket then, Michael?