The Surfer

It's one the players and Cricket Australia find hard to understand. It's an issue that extends beyond on-field controversies, polarising leadership and perceptions of arrogance. It's not just about poor scheduling, advertising overload, high ticket prices or confusion about the game's future. It won't be fixed by a stage-managed makeover, nor by the team winning match after match. The players are only part of the cause. But, as the faces of the juggernaut, they bear the brunt of public frustration. They are winners but they are not as loved as they should, could or want to be.

You'd have trouble finding anyone with a bad word to say about former New Zealand skipper Jeff Crowe. He is just the sort of person who would work very well with the all-powerful captain Daniel Vettori. Greatbatch is definitely someone who could bring improvements to our batters.

You might wonder why Martin Guptill is not there. Daryl Tuffey had a decent case for inclusion on a short list (and there's a joke, considering it numbers 52, but there you are - sometimes it's not so much how you perform but where you're from).

Given England’s selection, there was much focus on Sidebottom, who, although accurate enough, failed to suggest that the selectors were right to prefer him to Graham Onions after a month on the sidelines. Red-faced and pouting, he gave the permanent impression of a kettle simmering, forever about to reach boiling point.

Netrawalkar is now studying Computer Science as an engineering major, and often carries his books with him on cricket tours. He remembers how his parents took the journey with him from Malad to Churchgate when he was picked up by Dilip Vengsarkar's Elf Academy as a child. "Not only did they come with me, they waited for three hours while practice was on, and took me home," says Netrawalkwar. The hard work is paying off, as the youngster matches on-field exploits with academic excellence off it.

Dynamic infrared red camera technology is changing the way we are watching and analysing elite cricket and it is gaining markedly wider acceptance than predictive technologies which are also in play. "This is the greatest thing about the technology. It is real and people believe it," said Warren Brennan who has spent an inestimable number of hours and dollars pioneering the application of military technology to sport.

"It was special to be here when something like that takes place,” his father Graeme said. “We were at his first one when he was given out on 96 and that was no fun. And we've been there when he got a century [in his 100th], but today was very special."

How else can you explain how Ricky Ponting wore his baggy green until it almost dropped off his head at the Sydney Cricket Ground last week? The tattered model, whose cloth had come apart to expose its white backing, was not befitting the highest sporting office in the country.

Of the 60 names hoping for the Henderson type of payday, only about 20 will walk away content. The chances of Monty Panesar or Anthony McGrath picking up a lucrative contract are as slim as mine of emerging unscathed from a round with Manny Pacquiao, and even a batsman as good as Ramnaresh Sarwan is likely to be left disappointed.