The Surfer

The statement made by Michael Holding regarding short term solutions is also very valid. I will join this call and ask that you do NOT seek to address the current impasse in West Indies Cricket and attempt to resolve the “present issues” as articulated by the parties concerned. These current issues are but a reflection of the underlying fundamental problems that have caused similar standoffs over the years, and will continue to do so if long term solutions are not found. I would like to suggest, that rather than fill in the cracks, plaster over the top and put a new coat of paint, to make the relationship look new, that you ask for some time to deliver a LONG TERM solution to the problems, and ease the pain of die hard West Indies supporters like myself and many others who are hurting as a result of the present predicament in which we find ourselves.

As any good lawyer will tell you: read the fine print. And the fine print is this that despite our wonderful victory, which we shall savour till time out of mind, it was achieved against a side missing all of its stars and most of its reserves. Stripped of jargon, this was a Test win against a rag-tag bunch of replacements full of washed-up pro's and rising upstarts. Not that it should take away anything from Shakib and Rokibul's wonderful rearguard, or from Tamim Iqbal's superb century in the first Test. In the end, the Tigers could only face what was put in front of them, right?

Don't get me wrong, Lee seems a nice and amiable lad and is doubtless popular with mums, it's just I'm not sure if that's what you really want from a strike bowler. Fast bowlers need to be crazed and angry. Bob Willis steamed in with such a wild and psychotic look that the fact the embodiment of evil in Twin Peaks shared the same first name was surely no coincidence. I bet David Lynch saw the highlights from Headingley and yelled: "Screw Dennis Hopper! That's the madness I'm looking for!"

In England, Ricky Ponting received a round of applause only when his team had lost. In Australia, Andrew Strauss is being vilified for claiming a catch that never was ... In the days and weeks ahead, their teams will come increasingly to rely on them, on the calls they make, on the leadership they offer and on the comfort they give. For the men at the centre of the storm, it is the most severe test of their sporting careers

Third man and its more threatening but now rarely seen relative, the fly slip, are so unfashionable that sides seem prepared to leak scores of runs there rather than plug the gap. Perhaps not stationing a man down there is designed to encourage the streaky shot, and the cheap boundaries conceded there are a quid pro quo for the edge to slip the captain hopes will eventually materialise. But it seems obvious that if the bowler's plan of attack is to hit that famous corridor outside off-stump the penalties can quickly outweigh the rewards.

Early in Michael Clarke's commendable innings at Lord's, he was forced to jerk his head out of the way of a searing Andrew Flintoff bouncer. The ball clipped Clarke's helmet on its way through to wicketkeeper Matthew Prior... from the slips cordon, England captain Andrew Strauss appealed. For what? A man who had made nearly 200 runs himself in the match assuredly has better eyes than to believe it was a catch and no other form of dismissal was possible. It can only be that Strauss was trying one on. Already, officiating was a burning issue. Already, there was consternation. If the umpires already had made one bad decision, might they not make another, especially if rattled?