The Surfer

There's no doubt employing aggressive tactics is more difficult with the improvements to the modern bat. However, this is often used as an excuse by nervous captains and the good ones retain fielders to grab the mis-hits that stay in the field of play.

Good captaincy in any form of the game requires cricket commonsense, a high priority on taking wickets and a slice of luck. The brave captains are always the lucky ones.

The other rather simple but significant lesson I learnt was that a batsman is at his most vulnerable when he faces his first ball. The bowler has just had success while the batsman is still not sure about his footwork, his approach or his game plan. This is why I used to delight in bowling to a new batsman.

He doesn't do sixes: six-hour vigils, yes, but not sixes over the rope. He has yet to hit his first in Test or one-day internationals, although the slog-sweep that he unleashed during his Adelaide century could be the portent of one.

But it was when David Hussey came on with his part-time offbreaks that we had an earnest of what might await in the World Cup ... Even though he had posted his hundred, Trott at Adelaide failed to get a single one of Hussey's four offbreaks off the square and chopped on the last of them.

Taylor exhibits Andrew Strauss tendencies - cerebral, considered and a safe pair of hands (including at first slip); an appointment capable of doing the job justice and setting an example.

If Taylor is Straussian, McCullum probably comes more from the Ian Chappell ilk. His captaincy is likely to be aggressive and positive with a "follow me" flavour. There would be few grey areas and it's doubtful any test tenure would have too many marks in the 'draw' column.

The need for an in-form and consistent batsman at No. 4 becomes all the more necessary as Dhoni himself has been searching for his best batting form of late. And, while Yusuf has come of age batting at No. 7 over the last couple of months, he can't be expected to salvage India's innings in every other match.

It won't be easy to drop either Raina or Yuvraj from the playing XI in the World Cup as they are proven match-winners, but for the sake of ensuring balance in the team and rewarding consistency, one of the two would ideally have to make way for Kohli.

It is dismaying to say the least that CAB has missed a deadline which was staring them in the face ever since the World Cup schedule was allotted to the sub-continent a few years ago. It riles me further that the Bengal cricket administration did not learn anything from the mess-ups that were brought to light when the countdown for the Commonwealth Games began early last year.

He will be able to help with issues such as knowing when to conserve your energy or to bowl flat out, and strategies of course. The South Africans were seen as the best reverse swing bowlers outside of Pakistan and Donald - who was frighteningly quick - knew what he was up to there.

Australia's deterioration did not happen overnight. It has been a creeping decline covered for years by the brilliance of the national side. Although Australians long ago stopped measuring themselves against England, a heavy Ashes defeat ought to give the entire community pause for thought. The time has come to stop protecting patches, and to start rebuilding the pyramid.

I believe pressure is what you bring on to yourself. I didn't bring any pressure on myself. I always thought of a playing as an opportunity... rather than something that brought on pressure. I have always looked at life and sports that way.

As a skipper you cannot just do things in the typical stereotyped manner. And MS Dhoni also has got a very good team. There is no doubt about that, and that is the reason why India are favourites for this World Cup.