The Surfer

Cricket became a commitment but also a guided tour of the country, a way of getting on the inside. I wasn’t a foreigner entirely, or particularly rootless. I was very familiar with Pakistan, but not fully a part of it, like a friend perhaps, at a family function. What folk are like, how the country runs, how things get done; the interaction between those who run and who do the running; power structures; how the young and old deal with each other, the wheels on which bureaucracy moves; ethnic, sectarian faultlines; urban and rural ones too; broader ones between conservatism and liberalism; class divides, corruption, patronage, nepotism and the personal connection.

This capacity for survival did not just happen by accident, though. It begins first of all with the selection of players who are recognised to have a bit of mongrel in them. A good few years ago, I suggested to Hugh Morris, the ECB's managing director of England cricket, that it was imperative that England found out all about character and temperament before rather than after selection and wondered whether psychometric testing might help in this. Subsequently, the team psychologist, Steve Bull, produced a 100,000-word thesis on the subject. Whether this has been used I know not, but I do not recall a questionable temperament being chosen in recent years.

Scores of 58 and 78 do not happen by oversight. The opposition employed methods that were thought of and implemented clinically … Time now to put an end to this nonsense of wishy-washy, muddled thinking and slapdash coaching methods that now have been proved to be wholly inadequate for the purposes of international cricket ... We have travelled far too long down the road to be considered as Clown Princes of the game anymore. There is a World Cup in four years’ time. Today is the time we start thinking about it, yesterday was the time we should have started working towards it. Tomorrow will be just too late.

Australia have advanced almost stealthily but without convincing that they are the force of previous tournaments. There is destruction lurking in the pace attack but a generosity as well, and the spin option is threadbare. The continuing decline of Ricky Ponting as a batsman must be impacting, too. The Australians are great scrappers but this is a game that India ought to win to bring to an end a decade of all-round dominance.

And so to England. In losing to Ireland and Bangladesh they inadvertently conspired to put themselves through the wringer. They have not played well, and struggled with injury and fatigue, but sheer tenacity has seen them survive. Other teams may well wish that they had been tested as fully, something that will stand Andrew Strauss's men in good stead now. But they have to recognise that surviving as they have does not provide them with a blueprint for further progress: quite simply, they have to elevate their game from beyond merely adequate and competitive ... They will do well to get past the first obstacle.

What if Tendulkar, having broken every record there is (well, almost), has decided to play a trick on all of the above? Perhaps he fancies the number 99. After all, that is Don Bradman’s Test average. What if he decides to pull down the shutters and remain on 99 international centuries? He already has 31 more centuries than anyone else, and these things can become tiresome. After all there are so many other gaps to fill as statisticians will tell you. The most 50s on a Wednesday without a national holiday, the most runs by a batsman with a runner, the most number of singles to square leg to get off the mark ...

Tendulkar walked, Ponting didn’t. Tendulkar is the paragon of virtue, Ponting isn’t. Well, that seems the simplest inference anyway … But cricket’s ethics are complicated … By standing [their ground], batsmen think they are merely asking umpires to do the job they are paid to do. But what confuses me is the distinction between that, which is not considered cheating by many, and, say, claiming a catch on the half-volley, which is definitely considered cheating by all.

His whole career needs to be looked at by his coaches and some honest thinking will be required if he wants to go to another level. Since White has stopped bowling, extra pressure has been put on his batting, which has suffered of late. White can learn from Michael Bevan's mistakes. Bevan won two Man-of-the-Match awards in Test cricket for his bowling. Bevan always wanted to be remembered as a batsman and gave away his ''chinaman'' deliveries, thus letting his ego get in the way of his selection. White needs to bowl and get his confidence back.

It feels like the World Cup proper has finally started and it's not before time. The lead-up to this point has been long and trying, too much waiting around and not enough cricket. You like to build up to your best form in a tournament like this, but the way this one has gone it has been almost impossible for us to get up any momentum.

Before the final league match in Colombo, voices in the Australian camp said: ''Now we will see the true Australian team.'' It might sound boastful but, in fact, the tone was troubled. Concerns about the bowling and lack of balance in the squad had taken a toll. Moreover, the lack of ruthlessness and precision shown against the weaker sides had been alarming.

Maybe the real Australia side did appear at R. Premadasa Stadium. If so, their prospects are bleak.

"The biggest hint I had that the format is wrong is that over the last few years the happiest I have heard parents is when I ring them on Saturday morning and tell them it is too wet to play," Queensland Cricket chairman Jim Holding said.

"These are people in the game who have already made the decision to commit to play. I hear them doing the celebration dance on the phone. That has to be the most massive tip that the format is not what people want."

When he arrived in India for the World Cup, Hansra’s extended family of 20-odd cousins trooped in to cheer for their relative. The bigger surprise though was how some of his old school friends from Ludhiana had tracked him down on Facebook after seeing the team list, and reached Bangalore to watch their schoolmate play. “I’ve been to north India before, but it’s good to visit with my team,” he says, never once forgetting what he owes to his adopted country, even if his Indian acquaintances shower all the affection on him owing to his status as a Cupper.

''By the end of it you should become a better player. With all this at your disposal - you've got the cameras [recording your performances], coaches, players to feed off. If you can't become a better player having all these resources available to you, then you're not fair dinkum.''