The Surfer

I live in Queensland and have had Bulls players tell me all summer that Symonds' head was nowhere near right for a recall to international cricket. That he simply is not the player he was. That he was distressed at the fact he lost millions of dollars in the collapse of the Storm Financial Group and, even more painfully, that his family lost money as well. And that he had fallen out of love with the game. It showed almost every innings he played in a season when he averaged 15 for the Bulls.

It is almost certainly that brief time spent with the IPL in South Africa – rather than any overwhelming ambition or belief that, as he is over the trauma that affected his Test career, it is fine to resume the role that contributed to the trauma – which has convinced him that there would be no harm in leading the side again for what is a very limited period of time in any case. This will be more a working holiday than an encumbrance.

It was Glenn McGrath's serial wind-up – with his own team replacing England of course – and it came painfully true in Australia in 2007, but I would back Ravi Bopara some time soon to mouth those cheeky words. Three Test centuries in a row did much for the Essex batsman's confidence, but they did even more for that of the selectors. They now believe in Bopara as much as he does himself. If he gets in the face of Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson – the only language they understand – anything is possible.

Both Trescothick and Gimblett made the undisputed point that cricket is, like no other game, played with the head. There is too much to worry about, too many complications that are as much intellectual as technical. Tresco's disaffection was less marked and nowadays he looks infinitely more relaxed and at peace with himself. But there were times, in the worst of the doldrums, when he, too, was repelled by the sight of a cricket bat. The similarities and phobias of these two West Countrymen, both opening batsmen bountiful of innate talent, is uncanny.

The narrative arc seemed fairly typical for an English sport: invented it, lost it, never quite got over it. Here's my tip - don't bother coming up with a sport. Wait for someone else in another country to do it. Then casually perfect it while they're still sitting in leather chairs and hugging themselves about how clever they've been. It seems to work out so much more happily for everyone concerned if you don't “give the game to the world” but simply snitch it a few years later.

For the rest of the time since England reached the last of their three World Cup finals 17 years ago, their one-day form in global competitions has veered from laughable to execrable with a bit of abominable thrown in for good measure. No playwright could have combined comedy, tragedy and farce more seamlessly.

He was always popular in the dressing room, especially with Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison, which may not have met with the former coach Duncan Fletcher's complete approval, and he had a nous for the game. Indeed, essentially a championship player, he reinvented himself as a batsman when he became captain of Kent in 2006 to embrace changes within the game.

There is no denying that the World Cup is a major event which features the best talent. But it also has sub-standard teams and mediocre players who drag down quality. Ireland versus Bangladesh might be attractive for the ICC but for a fan it is enough reason to reach for the TV remote and switch channels. The reason for the IPL's stunning success is that it produces top quality cricket, and is intensely competitive. The Kolkata Knight Riders may not have finished at the top but,on any given day, are capable of defeating the other seven sides and are stronger than half a dozen teams in the World Cup.

...We were riding on the disaster of the West Indies World Cup, so I told the boys that a win would be special.

Instead of muddling through, they hired Steve Elworthy as tournament director, after his success in a similar role at the World Twenty20 in South Africa two years ago. He intends to get things right from the start. There is no opening ceremony of the shabby kind which got the event a decade ago off to a laughable start from which it never recovered. There will be an opening presentation, short, sharp, spectacular in a low-key fashion. Elworthy cannot guarantee two things which would help in making this World Twenty20 successful: the weather and a decent run by the host nation. With the usual caveats, it seems the first of those wishes will be met and that the sun will indeed shine. The second is much trickier, although at least England have two chances. For the first time in any major team sport, a men's championship is being run alongside that for women. While England's men have been undergoing their usual rollercoaster ride and have been careering towards the ground in Twenty20, the women's team have taken all before them. As world champions in the 50-over format, they have a copper-bottomed chance of further triumph. If England perform as well as expected, they will make a breakthrough into the public consciousness never seen before.

There are no £1.50 tickets this time, with prices for the final as high as £90. Still, the matches are being staged in pairs, back-to-back, so if anyone does get momentarily bored, it's no worry. Another match, another six, another wicket will be along soon enough.

Chris Gayle

Now he's declared his love for T20, the Coolest Man on the Planet would do well to spread that amore. No better player to watch when the muse strikes.

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