The Surfer

When news emerged of Pietersen's fateful email to the England and Wales Cricket Board – the one in which he explained he couldn't work with Peter Moores – the feeling was that the coach would probably go on the basis that England needed a happy Pietersen more than a happy Moores. But England, being England, over-reacted and sacked Pietersen too, thus alienating their best player in a bid to avoid the perception that players dictate to boards – this, despite Pietersen being asked to outline his thoughts on the way ahead. Beckoned forth with one hand, he was stabbed by the other.

When he first decided to play serious cricket in his home town Bangalore, Yalamanchili encountered a series of problems. “Whenever I tried to bowl fast, I used to lose my balance and fall down,” he recalls. He was given no chance by most coaches in the region. But one of them, Amit Pathak was convinced that Yalamanchili was ready to do the hard mile, and took him under his wing. “He introduced me to a physio Badrinath who prepared some special exercises for me. He made me work on my body to get the right balance while bowling and bat ting,” he says. Later, Pathak altered his bowling action by reducing his run-up and the two spent long hours together to get his balance right. The revised action was straighter, with a modified follow-through. Fielding was a big problem area as well. “I knew that if I had to play top-level junior cricket, I had to improve myself in every aspect. During the off-season, I underwent rigorous fielding sessions,” says Yalamanchili.

Unlike Mangal, most of the players learnt their cricket in refugee camps in and around Peshawar. Fast bowler Hamid Hassan, who reportedly bowls at over 140kmph consistently, grew up there after his family moved from Nangrahar in 1991-92 to avoid the armed conflict. Ditto for Nabi, who says his family moved there from Logar “at the start of the Russian war”. But unlike Hassan, he doesn’t see himself ever going home to Logar. “One day perhaps,” he says, “But it’s not safe there now.” Logar, incidentally, has been a stronghold for various jehadi groups including the Jamaat for years, even referred to by locals as the “Gates of jehad” during the fight against Soviet occupation. For now though, home for Nabi’s family is in Nangrahar district, where there are over 200 registered cricket clubs.

A source close to Cricket South Africa (CSA) said the magnitude of the event hadn’t hit home just yet, but hoped that when it did, the organisers would not find themselves in an administrative tsunami. But CSA, which has successfully hosted a World Cup in 2003 and a T20 World Championship in 2007, believes it has the capacity and the infrastructure to organise a multi-team event of this nature with aplomb.

The Ashes are a huge deal for the Australians, as we can see from the fact that Ponting and Michael Clarke pulled out of the Indian Premier League weeks ago. Both men were prepared to sacrifice a hefty paycheck just to make sure that they will be in the best physical and mental condition. After some soul-searching during the winter, Ponting can now be confident of bringing a quality side to England, even if some of the players will be unfamiliar to our fans.

To reiterate, though, this was a low target and as such the question remains whether Strauss, in particular on slower pitches, has the weight of stroke necessary to find the really big shots at the top of the innings. Towards the end, with a fielder brought up from the boundary to mid-on, he carted a six over long-on. It was the ninth he has hit in 82 one-day internationals, and, just ­clearing the rope as it did, it had still ­required the kitchen sink being thrown at it. Gayle hit 13 over the weekend. So, brilliantly as Strauss played, we should not be seduced into thinking that all top-order one-day problems have been solved: he may not have a gear beyond that he has revealed.

Kevin must remember that he has been in Barbados, one of the great places of the world, and that there are thousands of cricket lovers at home who would willingly swap places with him. On many a tour as captain I realised that when it came down to the last couple of weeks, a lot of people — including myself — were desperate to get home, but we kept talk of it down to a minimum as it distracted from the task. Every member of the England team will be looking forward to going home on Saturday to see their families again, but they have not made that public.

It has also emerged that he asked to have a break from the tour of the West Indies between the third and fourth Tests. This was not unprecedented because Matt Prior, the team's wicketkeeper, went home at the same time to be with his wife after the birth of their first child. Pietersen, however, wanted the break because his wife Jessica was unable to come to the Caribbean as she was appearing as a competitor in the television programme, Dancing On Ice. Pietersen has not been miserable, or at least not in public, but he has been plainly aloof. And he said in his column in the News of the World on Sunday that the England squad was "a lonely place to be". He was doubtless trying to appease the paper which pays him a considerable amount of money and which was miffed that he was so forthcoming to a rival.

You have no doubt witnessed the fact that event though we had an hour and two full days to get the Indians out in their second innings, our bowlers failed to do so.
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I am sure that at least one IPL team will come clambering for your services, but you know as well as we do that there is far better cricket to be played against the Indians in a game that starts at the end of this week in Wellington.

Manohar's reputation of being laconic was precisely why many chose to see in his candour a stinging rebuke to the UPA. It set tongues wagging—some thought Manohar, a Nagpur-based lawyer, was acting at the behest of Pawar, who was said to be incensed with the Centre playing tricks with the BCCI over the IPL. This perception gained credibility because of a sharp retort from home minister P. Chidambaram...

Last year the league was an unqualified TV success, but worried advertisers will try and bring down rates. Taking a wider view, the teams were looking at a three-year period to break even. That would have to wait. Much would depend on how the IPL management "accommodates" the franchisees' losses—or next year's tourney could see new faces raising the paddle to pick up yet another star player.

He has excelled in every format of the game too, playing a vital role in India's Twenty20 World Cup win and finishing top-scorer for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. Tellingly, he has scored runs at vital times. His consistency in Galle as Sri Lanka were overwhelmed was largely overlooked because of Virender Sehwag's brilliance, but he came into his own with centuries against Australia at Mohali and Delhi.