The Surfer

'What happened this winter has proved to me I can do something special, playing at the highest level,' he says. 'I do not know how it will affect me from here, but, if this doesn't give me confidence, nothing will. I've never been man of the series before, I've only been man of the match twice, but now I know if I get it right I can be there with the best in the...,' he trails off, '...thing.'

This schedule is tough on the players, but for the man in charge, there is little respite.There have been not only two full English summers, including an Ashes series, each home Test effectively seven or even eight days from the team gathering to the end of the match, and full tours of up to three months to the West Indies, South Africa, Bangladesh, the West Indies again for the World T20, and now Australia. In a week's time he and the team return to England for three nights, before they fly to Bangladesh for their preamble to the World Cup. If they progress to the final, they would be home towards the end of the first week in April.

England have a problem, and I’m not talking about the fact they still need to win three in a row in Australia to avoid a first series defeat in any form of the game since September 2009. No, the problem is the oldest one in cricket – the one which says it would be a much simpler game if you could squeeze 12 into 11.

The game needs a decent, well-supported World Cup to reaffirm faith in the 50-over game. Whether another six-week marathon will do that remains to be seen. I’m sceptical. Dispensing with the associate nations for next time seems a wrong-headed choice and detrimental to developing cricket in those countries. Scheduling two games a day, rather than one, would help to get things moving more quickly but presumably the TV companies don’t dig that. Just for once, it would be nice to see the ICC do something for the overall health and image of the game rather than just the short-termist, greedy requirements of broadcasters and marketeers.

Next comes the 50-over World Cup. Alas, the past few tournaments have lacked lustre. Nor can any high optimism be felt about the forthcoming shindig. After all, it's due to last seven weeks, and the bulk of the time will be filled with redundant qualifying matches. But those insisting that the 50-over game is old hat might be mistaken. Whereas T20 provides the promise of a boisterous night out, the longer version gives spectators a day at the cricket and offers them a chance to watch great players pushing themselves hard.

While the figures would have astonished those who believe ''traditional'' one-day cricket is in trouble, they need to be taken in context. More specifically, it's necessary to consider that the opponents are England. When Australia hosted Pakistan and the West Indies last summer, crowds were small, ratings poor and people jumped in to dismiss 50-overs cricket as an anachronism. The opposite has occurred this season.

Just as pleasing has been the way Duminy responded to his rush of blood in the Bullring: by knuckling down for three meaningful scores on the trot at the key business end of the series when the Proteas came from behind to win 3-2. It is interesting to note that he faced all of 175 balls over the course of those three knocks at Newlands, St George’s Park and SuperSport Park and only recorded six boundaries. Yet his strike rates remained excellent, especially on the first two occasions – 88 in the innings of 52 and 98 in the score of 71 not out. Duminy is probably as good as anyone in the ODI game at present at “working the ball around from the off”, as they say, and running purposefully between the wickets.

"Lottie," says Connor, "is a once-in-a-generation player." That much was clear when she made her Test debut aged just 16. At the time that made her the youngest woman to play for England, a record since broken by Holly Colvin. In her first Test Edwards opened the batting against New Zealand and made 34 and 39. "She always had terrific talent," remembers Connor. "The game came very naturally to her because she grew up watching her dad playing at Ramsey cricket club, like a little boy almost, living and breathing club cricket."

In a trice Finch has become a vital member of his State side. That his promotion into the team was somewhat delayed has not harmed him. In the interim he added to his skills and has emerged ready to rumble. Of late, Victorian batsmen have felt neglected. Finch is destined to break the mould.

At the start of the campaign Patrick Cummins expected to spend the summer concentrating on his books and opening the bowling for Penrith. He seemed to have more chance of becoming Tasmania's Premier than playing for his State. A spate of injuries and promotions left NSW searching high and low for a fellow capable of hurling them down. And then word spread about this express train from the Blue Mountains.

The local flavour is set to reduce further with Sehwag, who was retained, unlikely take the captaincy back after stepping down last season. In such a scenario, their most expensive buy, Irfan Pathan, may be asked to lead the side. While the Daredevils management remains tight-lipped over captaincy, it brushes aside the issue of fewer local players in the team.

The first sign that England's muddled thinking - a feature of their one-day cricket since they came so close to winning the 1992 World Cup - may have struck again came when they announced their 15-man squad. In a major surprise, opener and keeper Steven Davies was dropped, despite a strike-rate of 108 from seven one-dayers, in favour of Test keeper Matt Prior, admittedly in the form of his life.

"First of all, I do not know what purpose do Ishant Sharma's long hairs serve. If I become the bowling coach of India, the first thing I would ask him is to cut his hair short. He does not look like a cricketer to me. You know, that's the basic thing, you need to look like a cricketer first. Batting or bowling comes after that."