The Surfer

To begin with, PCB, the cricket board charged with organising the sport, is largely composed of government nominees whose basic interest is to enjoy the perks as long as they can. Few of them have the expertise and the dedication required to lift standards and provide the infrastructure needed for the development of the sport at the grassroots.

One hopes that all that big purse that the PCB is in possession is spent on sensible and cricketing projects from which at least we are able to save our face from people who now believe that we are only a bunch of nincompoops and nothing else.

Khurana, and a host of spinners over the last few years, were treated no better than spare parts because the son of a Sports Committee member is a spinner. To keep his career alive, all spinners in Delhi became targets. Other specialists aren’t spared either. For instance, the players who helped Delhi to its solitary national Under-17 and Under-19 titles in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Most prominent players of those teams have either stopped playing or joined other teams.

Is there a lesson to learn from Australia’s fall?

It hasn’t been a sharp fall... The Australians haven’t had great success over the past year-and-a-half or so, which is why it’s such a challenging time for them. You can’t be at the top forever... It’s a cycle... One shouldn’t forget that quite a few teams travel quite a lot nowadays and, so, are more used to playing in conditions overseas... Till a few years back, it was assumed that it would be difficult to beat Australia, that has changed and India took the lead in bringing about that change... We showed the way by beating them in India and winning Tests on Australian soil as well.

So when it comes to making the bold new picks in the future, will the Black Caps captain actually be as educated as the full-time selectors Glenn Turner and Mark Greatbatch, and the adviser John Wright? There's no doubt Vettori is well placed to move the underperformers on from the national team but that's just half of the selectors' job.

England have the makings of something here, having won from despair. The post-Flintoff era will bring challenges of balance and tone, it may also be the opportunity for restructuring elsewhere (Paul Collingwood and, despite his three late joyful wickets, Stephen Harmison). It is rapt with possibilities. Smashing.

So the South African-born allrounder can be slotted into the 'ours' category by virtue of coming out almost four years ago. Further entrenching his Kiwi credentials are the fact his dad Ian works as the coach at Auckland's Parnell club six months of the year. Trott also has a sister living in Auckland.

Justin Langer thought he had met somebody on the same impassioned-plain when he received probing queries from the teenager via email some years back. Now the little opener is turning to the Little Master. He intends to fly to Mumbai on Monday and hopes to have dinner with Tendulkar. Hughes promises to gorge himself on cricket."I'll chew his ear off," he says with a laugh. "I've got questions about a lot of things that I want to ask him. I like getting around and talking to the guys who have been around for a long time."

Walking distance from Mannat, Shahrukh Khan’s bungalow on Bandra Band Stand is a bus stop. These days, you can find KKR officials lurking there, hissing at folks waiting for the 211 bus: “Pssst, hey you, want to coach the Knight Riders?”

Well almost. At least that’s what it looks like. They haven’t left out anyone not so why not give Mrs Yvette Salgado from Chium or Jude D’Lima from Shirley Rajan Village a try?