The Surfer

Strauss is never going to be a natural Twenty20 cricketer, but then if that argument was applied strictly to everyone under consideration England would struggle to put out any sort of XI. The fact is Strauss surprised most observers with his improvisation during the 50-overs matches in the West Indies, in which he finished man of the series - his first one-day series for two years because the selectors thought his game wasn't suited. If they can be wrong about his ability to play 50-overs, surely they can be wrong on 20-overs too?

If Gavaskar was a run machine, Tendulkar used the bat like an AK-47. When former Mumbai Test players saw Tendulkar play a Test at 15, they were all convinced that because of his peculiar bottom hand grip he would be sorted out by professional international bowlers. However, Tendulkar was not prepared to be a slave of any technique.

In the end, a series victory in New Zealand will deflect the questions that need to be asked of the Indian captain. The fact that it has come after four decades will mean that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's curiously defensive captaincy won't come under scrutiny. It was the Indian captain's inexplicable defensiveness that decided the Test in Hamilton, and not the rain.

Oddly enough, the first sign of genuine vulnerability from MS Dhoni's men in New Zealand came when they were at their most dominant, right at the end, with the delayed declaration in Wellington. It was almost as if India did not trust their own (proven) superiority over the world's No. 8 Test team enough ... The team dreams of being No. 1 and so they must; but to get there they would need to sharpen their fielding as well as their risk-assessment skills. India are not roadkill anymore and this habit of looking anxiously over their shoulders in anticipation of calamity must be kicked.

Former England batsman and administrator Doug Insole once defined a cricket captain's duties as those of a "public relations officer, agricultural consultant, psychiatrist, accountant, nursemaid and diplomat". Among a raft of boxes to be ticked during Australia's two-week limited overs joust with Pakistan in the Middle East, the most important is whether or not captain-elect Clarke can perform those duties.

The 64 he made in the third ODI against Australia in Sydney contained some breathtaking strokeplay...but innings' like those have been few and far between, though.

And there's a sense that Gibbs is living off past deeds and not playing with the requisite form needed to hold on to a national spot.

England tend not to beat Australia by playing it safe. They do it by going for broke, essentially by being un-English, by making the selections the opposition would least like to see. Four years ago this column was banging the drum for Pietersen for this very reason. Now it would like to get behind Vaughan. Because Australia would love it, just love it, if England's No3 this summer is either Ian Bell (who will surely come again in Test cricket) or Owais Shah (who may well not).