The Surfer

Laid out across the sheets are a spread of the day's papers. Buchanan had been in the press a lot of late. Not least in the Times, where Shane Warne had recently written: "I think that for the ECB appointing Buchanan is a great move, because that means Australia have got more of a chance." The criticisms of old players and pundits are one thing, but Warne's, surely, are not so easily ignored. Buchanan sees the antipathy as the natural product of his coaching style. He almost suggests it was intentional. "If you take coaching on its broadest basis it's about helping people, about establishing a relationship. Shane and I have a relationship, it might not be as close as I'd like it, but we do have one. My role was to challenge him. Challenge him on a personal level, a playing level, and a team level. Because sometimes, for some people, you need to be provocative, to question what they do. They may not like it, but that's the role of a coach." That, presumably, was his thinking when he called Warne "vain, stupid and self-centred" after his drug ban in 2003.

Remove the playing condition that restricts bowlers to having a maximum of five fielders on the leg-side. Packing that side of the wicket can restrict the scoring, but it would open up the off-side field allowing bold batsmen to score boundaries that are such rarities in the middle overs these days.

Waugh Junior may not go down as a "great" because of the manner in which he sometimes frittered away his considerable gifts, but his example should remind us not to use the word lightly. The best test, as it has always been, is to check how the player did against the finest team of his era. Sunil Gavaskar had 13 centuries against West Indies, Sachin Tendulkar has 10 against Australia. Brian Lara had nine. Inzamam-ul-Haq finished with one from 14 Tests. If he's not always mentioned in the same breath, you know why. Numbers in isolation, without analysis, mean nothing. Not every 36-24-36 bimbette can be a Paz Vega.

What I’m saying is, if you allow a bowler to bowl more, you are going to bring his confidence up. I am not blaming anyone, neither the team management nor the selectors, I’m blaming myself. It’s good I’ve got a break from international cricket, the attention will be away from me and I can train hard, play matches, and show what I am really capable of.

I just about snapped over my crackle and pop at this point. NO. Vettori is not a better player than Hadlee and never will be. And no, he might not even be our second greatest player.

Just as important is the stability radiated by Andrew Strauss. There ought to be no debates over the captaincy in 2010-11 as there were in 2006-07. And this time there will be firm leadership - Strauss would never have boozed until the small hours with the Australians after one of English cricket's most harrowing defeats at Adelaide. You may not think it after the absurd fuss made over Flintoff's contribution to England's 2-1 win this summer, but the dressing room is relishing the challenge of moving on without him.

When Mike Brearley wrote that a cricket team succeeds by the dint of differentiation, he meant that in a team of eleven, the bowlers, the batsmen, the wicketkeeper have distinctive roles, unlike say a team of rowers most of whom have identical roles.

But in Sri Lanka ‘differentiation’ takes on a new meaning – how different are their spinners from craftsmen from around the world!

The corporate tournament will be seen by some as a breeding ground for the IPL, while some others will see it as their livelihood. It does not matter how the basic objective of this tournament is perceived so long as the fringe cricketers are called upon by the corporates and given appointment letters. Cricketers in the western and northern regions of the country will see a revival of corporate support while the cricketers in the east and south will be delighted that some opportunities are opening up.

Flintoff was great for a couple of months. In those two months, in the summer of 2005, England beat an Australia side packed full of indisputably great players, regaining the Ashes after 16 years. Flintoff was the inspiration, the deal-breaker, the match-winner and the series-winner. In this brief, enchanted period he was genuinely great, and if the rest of his career has failed to measure up, then it was much the same with Beamon.