The Surfer

I have never seen any batsman impose his willpower as Pietersen could. Where Sachin Tendulkar was a genius of skill, Pietersen is a genius of self-belief. His confidence and desire filled the whole arena, relegating the other players to the status of pawns. He could be gauche and socially awkward, but that doesn't explain why people took against him. There was something more innately domineering about Pietersen, a quality that transcended language or manners, as though he could succeed only by putting other people down.

A group of 24 young women from the Asian University for Women in Chittagong, an eight-hour bus journey from Fatullah, have occupied seats in stands packed to the brim with Bangladesh supporters. The fatigue of the journey is forgotten and the strain on vocal chords kept away. They've come here because it's a Saturday and there are no classes. No encouragement can be loud enough for their history-making team during the one shot they have of cheering them on.

It seems odd to argue that a foreign sportsman could have such a far-reaching influence on a country's youth, but the view that Pakistanis had of India - and by extension of Tendulkar - is unique. Their attitude towards the Indian team was how Pakistanis proved they were Pakistani, as the post-Zia nation over the last three decades went from isolation, and in search of recognition, to a place the world knows about - not necessarily for the right reasons. It's no coincidence that at the time the rest of the cricketing firmament prostrated before Tendulkar, a major Pakistani news channel ran a segment about how Javed Miandad, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf were each his equal.

Not every cricketer can be Rahul Dravid. Not ever cricketing utterance can be a Mike Brearley-style dissertation, nor should be a Clarke-esque circumlocution. Warner, unable to dissemble, most often tells his see-ball-hit-ball truth, and pastiche notions of ''respect'' be damned. The least that can be said of his approach is that it is crazy-brave: it is he who stands in the 22-yard front line, facing an attack doubly rearmed by a new ball and fresh slight.

As long as Warner's gibes are not personal, nor demean innocents, what harm is in them, except to a spurious ideal of respect? Impugning professionalism is as old as professionalism. Separately, it is mystifying that work to coax a ball to reverse swing is regarded as a sin. Ryan Harris, in distancing himself from Warner's stance, inadvertently bore him out. ''You've got to do something with the ball, everyone does it,'' he said. ''They handled the ball better than us.''

Stanford's effect on English cricket was a fleeting, if huge embarrassment. Why the England cricket team was effectively sold to play in an exhibition match that had no proper sporting context was not properly resolved. They lost abjectly by the way after being bowled out for 99 to climax a surreal week in the sun.Stanford's effect on Antigua was dramatic. His arrest and subsequent conviction brought the country to its knees. Its repercussions are still being felt. They may never completely be erased.

"There has been a tremendous impact as a result of the demise of Allen Stanford," said Harold Lovell, the Antiguan Minister of Finance. "The estimated impact on the economy is approximately 434 million Eastern Caribbean dollars. That is quite a significant lump. The total GDP is just under three billion EC dollars so it was taking out more than 10 per cent of GDP. Overnight we lost more than 10 per cent of our GDP."

A look at the list of centrally contracted West Indies players is instructive. There are three tiers, with six players - Dwayne Bravo, Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sunil Narine, Sammy and Marlon Samuels - in the top grade. Of these, Narine alone, at 25, is under 30 years old, with Chanderpaul almost 40. Only the pace bowler Kemar Roach is in the next banding. It does not speak highly of the next generation, however optimistically the West Indies Cricket Board says it is "fully confident" of being the top ranked side in one form or another by 2020. It will not be Test cricket.

In 1970, the elegant opener Barry Richards nearly scored a Test century before lunch on his home ground at Kingsmead. A wicket fell at the other end on the second ball of the last over before the break and after lunch, Pollock strode to the wicket with Richards. Pollock hit three of the remaining four balls from Alan Connolly to the boundary, then crossed his legs and leant on the handle of his bat. As I walked to slip at the other end, I said to Keith Stackpole; "We've got a problem." He asked; "What do you mean?"

"This bloke (Pollock)," I replied, "is going to see how many Richards makes and then he's going to double it." I was wrong. Richards made 140 and Pollock was dismissed for only 274. That day Pollock set out to show the fans at Kingsmead there was a batsman other than Richards who could really play.

This was bound to happen with Ravichandran Ashwin. He has been trying so many variations for a very long time now. In this case a bowler is bound to lose his original style and that is exactly what I feel is happening with him. He is basically doing what he is comfortable with at the minute because he doesn't know his original action ... I feel Ashwin is using more variations than he has numbers of balls to bowl in an over. When you do that you are going to lose control. I sometimes wonder what the bowling coach does with him, letting the lead spinner drift away like that.

If anything it looked like a taller, heftier version of Sunil Narine was in action donning India colours ... The change in action had come out of nowhere. There were no hints of it in the nets during India's practice session on the eve of their Asia Cup opener. In fact, Ashwin hardly bowled and seemed more keen on working on his batting skills. Replicating Narine in a bid to get back to wicket-taking ways might come across as a desperate move. But the desperation is understandable. It was also an indication of the 27-year-old's muddled state of mind.

The first innings at Port Elizabeth started with a familiar pattern. Five of the usual top seven scored a combined 41 runs. Smith, though, batted beautifully on a pitch that no one else had been able to gauge. It looked for all the world like another escape, until suddenly something changed. In every previous episode, Australia's rescuers had a decent wedge of luck. Reprieves were offered by bowlers, fieldsmen or umpires. This time, with Smith on 49, a caught-behind appeal was reviewed, and a squiggle that didn't have the sound signature of a nick appeared on the snickometer. The third umpire gave it out anyway. The rescue was aborted, Australia falling 177 behind.

"Today you need your x-factor players, your mavericks and different personalities, because people express themselves at a whole new level. You don't need robots. In fact you cannot have robots anymore. If you're going to win things you're going to have to give these mavericks a leash and allow them to perform. They can't all be like that but team dynamics have changed. Look at Australia. Going into the Ashes I thought they were ready to blow up. There seemed no real team ethic. But see what they're doing now with these maverick players. They can blow you away."