The Surfer

Three years later against Australia at Perth, Walsh was captaining West Indies when he tore a hamstring. The team doctor took one look and signed him off but Walsh kept his physio up all night demanding more and more ice treatment. Most believed he would at best bowl a couple of overs off a short run but he amazed everyone by bowling 20 overs non-stop until West Indies had won. Unable to walk properly for two weeks, he maintained – and still maintains – that it was worth it.

My one major concern, though, is the length of the tail. I know it's an old hobby horse of mine, but look at how South Africa won in Australia at the end of last year – it was thanks in no small part to contributions from the lower order. Australia used to have Adam Gilchrist at No7 and clever players like Shane Warne and Brett Lee beneath him. I'd prefer to see Matt Prior at No7, with Stuart Broad – promising though he is as a batsman – coming in at No8. It just shows you how the balance of the side is thrown when Flintoff is not there. Finding that all-rounder is crucial – as Australia are themselves discovering.

Green shoots are everywhere at the moment and certainly the Lord's pitch was tinged with green yesterday, which makes it all the more likely that Onions and Bresnan will play. Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, quipped that he had never even tasted onions, never mind seen him bowl, but the four left-handers in the touring team's top six should be wary, lest England's new boy induces some unwanted tears because, from his delivery close to the stumps, Onions enjoys bowling at southpaws.

John Emburey: The central contract system came in to help the coach and selectors manage the players: the idea was they would play less county cricket, which would mean they could be fully rested when Test series came around.But that hasn't necessarily stopped players playing more cricket – Test cricketers still complain they're tired, mentally and physically because of the full international calendar despite the presence of central contracts. And if there's big money available, like there is in the IPL, players still seem willing to fit a few extra games in. You can't really blame them for that either, especially given the huge sumsof money involved.

In soccer, the one-footed striker has virtually faded out of the game; to be successful you have to be able to shoot off either foot. If fielding is given the attention it deserves, then batsmen will no longer play to a fielder's weak side because there won't be one. Push to the left of cover, and he will pick up with his left hand and throw; to the right and he is equally comfortable on that side. Twenty20 clearly calls for such skills, and necessity might be the mother of training.

The message is clear and very much of the man. He is not one of those guys who leaves room for misunderstanding. In Africa we have something we call "a mother's look", which I guess is a variation on the English phrase "if looks could kill". A couple of times when I played under Andy's captaincy I got that look. There was no misunderstanding. No need for a word, no need for further explanation: I knew what I'd done and what he meant. There would be no repetition. And that's what England can expect. I doubt that there will be much room for politicking or undue diplomacy in Andy's world – after all he did not shirk from going head-to-head with a president when he had something to say – and I understand that it is the straight talking that has impressed already.

England last won the opening Test against Bangladesh in 2005, which hardly counts. But they had also done it in the three series preceding that and had not actually lost the opening game since 2002 (Australia, naturally). The rot for the present run set in against Australia in 2005 when they were hammered by Australia at Lord's. Of course, they came back from that to regain the Ashes but the start of the series has been a picture of woe since then. That applies as much to the ones that got away as much as the one they were never in.

In the IPL-II, most players (barring a few Delhi Daredevils) have given up the names on their backs for the sponsors’ name (which means money). Below the sponsors' names comes a gigantic numeral (which means nothing). The player’s name has sunk somewhere below the nonsense number, near the waistband. Which is why you hear the commentators hollering sponsors’ names out rather than identifying the lesser-known cricketers accurately – see, the cameras can’t catch the names on their T-shirts fast enough.

Even if we take a queue from the recent home Test series success against England, the flow of continued success can hardly be guaranteed, now that we are just a few days away from the first Test. For a start, our three key players, Chris Gayle (captain), Dwayne Bravo (star allrounder) and Fidel Edwards (most penetrative fast bowler), have all opted for the Twenty20 IPL financial extravaganza, with coloured clothing, white balls and dancing girls intermingling with hefty sixes and super catches.

In the sad circumstances of his passing, it is fitting to remember Harmison as he was at his very best: a great rampaging, unshaved Dirty Harry of a bowler — you don’t ask him to bowl, you just turn him loose. And it wasn’t the sort of thing that lasted for ever, it was great while it did. If Rick and Elspeth will always have Paris, then Harmison (and we) will always have 2005.

In Godfather, Don Corleoni removed Tom Hagen as his chief adviser when it was time to battle against rival mafia gangs because he was not a 'wartime consiglieri'.

That's after a 31-Test career of essentially unfulfilled potential, in order to be fit and available to indulge in a series of meaningless slogfests for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Matches that last 40 overs are deemed more worthwhile than those lasting 400. Oram won't be the last high-quality international cricketer aged around 30 and troubled by injury who'll flag test matches just as he should be approaching his prime.