The Surfer

"Winning the World Cup was very special because it meant so much to so many. One thing about our country that is constant is cricket. The smile it brought to people's faces was the thing I shall always remember. It reminded me, reminded all of us, of our importance to the lives of the Indian people less lucky than we are.

To win a test you must be able to bowl the opposition out twice. Assuming that the wickets for women's tests would most likely be result oriented, there would be some seam, swing, bounce ,or turn . And India have the bowling options for all of the above. In Jhulan Goswami, India have an experienced pace spear head, who hits the deck hard. And Niranjana, Shikha, and Shubhlakshmi proved at Wormsley that they have the skills to exploit favourable conditions. Add the loop of Gouher Sultana (who missed this tour due to illness) and unpredictable turn of Ekta bisht, and India have spinning options aplenty.

The two touring teams have different attitudes to the job and both the "embrace" and "quarantine" approach to difficult or awkward situations can be successful, provided they are carried out with an appropriate recognition of reality. If everybody in the best hotel in town is making do with slow Wi-Fi and non-award-winning bolognaise, and if everyone is making do with a single towel because, for once, there is 100% occupancy, then what's the point in complaining?

Sciver fell into cricket as a teenager, playing games against her dad and brother in her back garden, before joining Surrey club Stoke d'Abernon. She played the usual games against boys' teams. "They didn't like it so much when a girl bowled them out," she joked. Her performances led to her being selected for Surrey's academy, which became the pathway to an international career that began when she was selected for England's limited-overs series against Pakistan in 2013. It was not until last October that Sciver made her big impact at the top level, becoming the first England player to take a T20 hat-trick in Barbados

"We were very close at school, but also very competitive. I was laid back at school, just wanting to play games, and he was a bit of a hoofseun (headboy), wanting to study," Du Plessis said. "I remember one particular night before our exams when we were in Standard 9. I bothered him the whole night and the next day in the test; I obviously had no clue. So, during the test, I was like, 'Hey, AB, show me your work there, let me copy a few answers'. He took his suitcase, put it in the middle and turned himself the other way! So obviously I failed that test. Afterwards he said, 'You wanted to bother me last night, so there was no way I was going to help you'."

At a time when Indian cricket needs to turn off the surround sound and play some soul music, the captain decides to go off tune. Then, as if to show his displeasure over what has been reported, Dhoni skips the media conference ahead of the second one-dayer in Cardiff. Nor does the team management send a representative for a briefing. This is sheer arrogance and it's surprising it happens under media man Shastri's watch.

Cook's batting strike rate as captain is 81.89 runs per 100 balls, acceptable even by the era's standards. There seems to be a desire outside the selection room to pack the team with sluggers on the grounds that one or two are bound to come off. England may actually have it right as long as the totals to which they aspire are based on conditions on the day, not some statistical database. The plan is to backload the innings after a solid start with Joe Root, Morgan and Jos Buttler all scoring at a lick

And yet for what? It means that Indian fans and the cricket-loving public overseas with a romantic soft spot for India no longer feel such affection for their cricketers. Aside from M S Dhoni and poor Virat Kohli, who could not get a run this summer, how many of the current touring side do people know about? Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a bowler from the scissor-factory town of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, who did not even have a pair of cricket boots before his under-17 trial and who as a young man bowled Tendulkar for his first first-class duck in Indian domestic cricket? Cheteshwar Pujara, the teenage triple-century sensation who has tried to make his way in Test cricket the old-fashioned way? Without knowledge, will fans support their side when the going gets tough?

On 27 August, 100 years ago this Wednesday, a letter from WG Grace was published in the Sportsman. He was unequivocal. "I think the time has arrived when the county cricket season should be closed, for it is not fitting that able-bodied men should play day-after-day and pleasure-seekers look on." Two days later, Field marshall Lord Roberts, who had served in the Indian rebellion, Abyssinia, and Afghanistan, told the volunteers of the City of London regiment: "How very different is your action to that of the men who can still go on with their cricket and football, as if the very existence of the country were not at stake. This is not the time to play games." The very same day, the MCC decided to cancel its remaining fixtures, as did all other counties.

Former Test opener Michael Slater remembers making his calling debut in England alongside Benaud for Channel 4. He was nervous, and in the heat of the call described a situation as a "tragedy". "Michael," Richie said in a commercial break. "You used the word 'tragedy'. The Titanic is a tragedy. Being bowled is not a tragedy." On another occasion, Slater said the "ball snuck under the bat". He asked Richie off-air if English viewers would understand the term "snuck". Benaud looked at him, then said nothing for several overs, before finally pulling Slater aside and pointing out the importance of accuracy and knowing your audience. "Michael, I know of plenty of 'uck' words," Benaud said. "But a 'snnnn' isn't one of them."