The Surfer

I have a sneaking suspicion that spin will become even more important than it was at IPL 1 in India. In that same Australia-South Africa Twenty20 game, the home side bowled 10 of their 20 overs with spin; in fact of the 40 overs they bowled in all 18 were bowled by the spinners. But this was a different kind of spin (if that sounds political blame it on the way language evolves!). Peterson, Botha and van der Merwe were pinging the ball in at some pace on a middle and leg stump line. Speeds upwards of 95 kmph were routine and I swear I saw Botha bowl one at 104!

Mum is drastically cutting the amount of oil used in a traditional Indian diet. Ron, lithe and hyperactive, is a useful role model. Patel observed: "I know all about 7am gym sessions these days, but Dad gets up at half past four so I suppose I am still getting a lie-in. I realise it is an attitude thing with me and I have to put in the work, but it's going to take some time."

He begins his term in one of the most critical years for English cricket in recent memory, a year when the spotlight will be turned on the national team both because of the enticing nature of the contests - the Ashes, World Twenty20 - and because there are no other sporting distractions. It is critical, therefore, that he stamps his authority quickly. Big decisions have to be made - and soon. Should Michael Vaughan be recalled? Who will captain England's Twenty20 team (pray not Shaun Udal)? Is Strauss the right man to lead England's 50-overs team?

Graeme Smith is understandably enjoying the “good energy” in his team. In stark contrast, Ricky Ponting appears to have run out of options (and fingernails!). His efforts to galvanise his team appear to have been thwarted by South Africa’s dominance and the underperformance of his youngsters has not helped.

Guys like KP and myself have been lucky enough to play cricket all over the world, but the younger Indian guys in our squad are finding South Africa a bit of a culture shock. They've certainly been dragged out of their comfort zones. Some of them hadn't stepped out of their own country before, let alone played overseas. Even the language can be a problem and at the moment they perhaps feel a bit out of place. They aren't always sure how to fill the time. The danger is that they sit in their rooms and just think cricket, cricket, cricket.

Since the first Test of all was played in March 1877, a total of 65 different men have found their way to the top of the ICC Player Rankings for batsmen. Furthermore, there have been 73 players who have topped the bowling charts. However, only one man’s name appears on both lists – and it will come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the all-rounder rankings of late to discover that he is a South African.
.....
In fact, the only man to achieve this feat was just establishing himself in the South African team exactly one hundred years ago and his name was Aubrey Faulkner.

The Great Exhibition of 1851 was a wonder of its day, designed to symbolise the economic and military supremacy of Great Britain. It was an Exhibition that gained its strength, as English cricket invariably likes to do, by an innate conservatism, a sense that change must take place in a context of stability and tradition. It was driven not by revolutionary fervour, but by an assumption of superiority that underpinned the Victorian age. English cricket's Great Exhibition dare not proclaim such superiority ñ although Giles Clarke, an ECB chairman not often touched by self doubt, will doubtless come close.

Think about it for a moment. Pietersen is returning to a country where voluble sections of the crowd regard him as a traitor. He will be captaining two men - Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher - who probably have their own views on his decision to leave South Africa. He will be playing for a coach who revels in his straight-talking toughness (yesterday, he told us Pietersen "doesn't score enough runs") and for an owner - the whisky, airline and F1 magnate Vijay Mallya - whose expectations of success are such that last year he sacked his chief executive mid-tournament. What does he think this is? Football?

Of course, the reconstruction will be confused by the inclusion of old stagers desperate to prove their fitness and relevance before the winter parties are chosen. So be it. The selectors were in a pickle. They could not very well choose a 20-over world cup team or an Ashes touring team on a wing and a prayer. Accordingly, they included serious candidates recovering from long-term injuries in their squad for these 50-over contests. Players with the records of Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Andrew Symonds and even Shane Watson cannot lightly be discarded. Plain and simple, it is a trial run. Once the winter campaigns have been completed, the 50-over team will need to move along towards the 2011 World Cup.