The Surfer

England have been unable to bowl out South Africa in two Tests. And if those games were played out again, South Africa would have won them far more often than not...Durban aside, these were not convincing results. England's seamers have been out‑bowled and that has put the batsmen under enormous pressure. So you have to conclude that while the batsmen have done their job, the bowlers have not.

Our seats costs Rs 500 each (£7), the cheapest available. That may sound like a steal, but in India it represents a serious investment. To put it in context, it takes a cashier at a Delhi McDonald's 36 hours to earn the price of a ticket to the Kotla. It takes a cashier in a London McDonald's ten hours to earn the price of a ticket to Lord's.

Somewhere, something has to give if the ECB is to get full value from Flower over an extended period. And the answer has to be delegation. At present he might consider himself too new to trust anyone else to take on his role. But over a period of time, as he gets even more confident, he might be able to let go and recharge secure in the knowledge that things will tick over fine.

For the typical cricket lover in Madras, a Test match at Chepauk was imbued with a rare magic; the excitement began days before the first ball was bowled. But he also patronised local cricket. Great expectations were in the air when popular league teams such as Parry's, State Bank and SVOC played one another. Even inter-collegiate cricket had a good following.

"The one other time I won two man of the match awards was in my first year of school rugby when I was the only guy to have played the game before. I was a doughty scrum-half – a cheeky little shit – and I'd start the fights and let the front row sort it."

Prior reckons that he got too bulky last winter and that it affected his speed of movement. He has made a conscious effort to slim down in South Africa, changing his training routine from a weights-based programme to resistance training, including more core work. He has a lighter and more toned frame and is more agile.

Bacher, now 67, told me: "That tour nearly finished me off, emotionally. We lived in a cocoon here, you must remember. Including myself. When we had the previous rebel tours there were packed crowds, mainly white people, no demonstrations. I thought the country, the people, had no problem. I must confess that if I had known the anger and the hurt that those tours would cause I would have thought twice about them. It was very hurtful for me. I had been a liberal all my life. And I thought Mike Gatting might get killed in Pietermaritzburg."

Cricket captains wield enormous influence. Accordingly, they belong in the front line of any campaign to stop the bookies damaging the IPL's reputation. Besides taking stringent security measures, the IPL needs to call in its captains and urge them them to set an example by saying they stand united against attempts to infect the league and cricket at large. Consider the stature of the franchise leaders - Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dhoni, Kumble, Gilchrist, Warne, Ganguly (sometimes), Yuvraj. These are the biggest names in the game. Where they tread others will follow. Those with the highest integrity will speak out the strongest.

I don’t want to sound pompous. But I can surely tell you that once I get to 60 or 70 there’s no bowler in the world who can get Virender Sehwag out. Only Virender Sehwag can get Sehwag out at moments when I am batting the way I am currently.

Kumar and Mithun are not as tall as Srinath and Prasad, they are rather more proportionately built. Where Srinath and Prasad looked in desperate need of some extra flesh on their bones early in their careers, Kumar and Mithun look well fed and as if they have just stepped out the gym.