The Surfer

It is Mills' normal length that gives him this success. He is tall and can bowl into the wicket on a shortish but not a pull-able length. That length is quite effective in the subcontinent.

When Mills has been hit, it has been when he has got a little full or batsmen have attacked him on the up. This is dangerous for them as he does get some movement in the air and can get it off the wicket too.

Combine that with his accuracy and he gets good players out, just as he got Ricky Ponting out in the Champions Trophy final.

... there may well be a lack of cultural awareness. If Asians are brought up to be deferential towards authority, a player like Panesar will be far more reluctant to question his captain's decisions about field-placing.

Another factor is the soft culture that county cricket is only gradually rectifying. Panesar and Shah were not pushed hard enough to improve their fielding at an early, formative age – and the same could be said for Bopara, who could have been an outstanding fielder by now, the successor to Paul Collingwood.

Consider this, from the England captain: "I remember seeing a comment from Ricky Ponting where he said: 'I'd much rather be in my shoes than Strauss's at this stage,' and I could understand why he said that, but I was also thinking in the back of my mind: 'Well, they're in a slightly dangerous place at the moment, Australia. If we can start the game well we might surprise them.' That was the crucial part: to start the game well and exorcise those demons.

"I've always felt it's a bit dangerous when everyone's telling you you're going to win the series and you're in control of events – the stuff they were telling Ponting. Subconsciously at least, there is that temptation for players to take their foot off the gas a bit or think it's already won. So I didn't mind that we were in a bit of a dogfight and had to prove ourselves because we've always played quite well in those circumstances.

Q. How did you succeed against bowling duels where your batting was completely tested? Which would you say were the best of the duels that you handled? A. I thought in England in 2007 I played that played spell of Ryan Sidebottom. I was not playing any shot. I just played almost close to six-seven maiden overs, I just kept blocking and leaving and kept getting beaten also. He was bowling well and I knew that that was the most important phase of that Test match. I thought that if we see through the spell then the doors are going to open for us and when we can play some shots.

I had a small part in framing the preamble to the present Laws of Cricket, described by Atherton as a lot of well-meaning guff. There was more of it in its original form, but it was still intended to send the same message. Mike may well be right, and perhaps it does need rewriting. On reading it again I think he is right and that he might like to have a shot at it himself.

But I am sure it is as well to have something of the sort, even if we all know really what is meant by the spirit of the game. Even now, is chivalry not the word that says it all?