The Surfer

India out-thought New Zealand; they out-hustled them. Find a word prefixed by 'out' and India did it to New Zealand.

No doubt there is a logic to the ICC regulations with which the umpires work during these one-day matches, but they do not appear to take into consideration that it gets dark quite quickly in the Caribbean and that teams in the field in the second innings of a close contest take longer than they should to bowl their overs. After the interruption for rain, common sense required the interval between innings to be 10 minutes rather than 30. Common sense also required the match to be played to its conclusion even if it was murky, but the regulations said something else and the umpires regrettably followed them.

His ingrained negativity is the last thing this England team need; they are naturally cautious enough. In his time as coach with Sri Lanka and West Indies, not to mention as a crabby opening bat for Australia, Dyson has shown himself oblivious to cricket as entertainment.

One can understand that everyone wants a bite of the large, juicy pie that IPL is assumed to be, but should it be at the risk of diluting security arrangements for the elections? Anyone who has a voice seems more concerned about IPL and, in this din, the Indian public's democratic right to vote in a free, fearless atmosphere does not seem to bother most of us.

A call to one senior member of the Jamaica squad confirmed that the only way that the local cricketers would be at Sabina Park that day was if someone other than Allen Stanford arranged a winner-take-all US$10 million match.

For the England team this final is the culmination of a run that began by retaining the Ashes in Australia last winter. "Last year was a massive turning point for the team, coming to Australia and being so successful gave us a real belief. Since then we've overcome all the challenges that are being put up against us, which is the true test of any team. I'm not surprised we're here in the final because over the last year we've played some really good cricket. But, if you'd asked me what our chances were two years ago, I wouldn't have imagined we would be here.

McGain's fellow Victorian infamously took 0 for 113 in the one-day international in Johannesburg three years ago when South Africa scored 9 for 438 to win. Lewis holds the world record for most runs conceded in a one-day innings and McGain's Test debut was shaping up like a similar shocker after Friday's second day of the third Test against South Africa.

By allowing England to win a game - and win it in farcical almost miraculous fashion - Dyson knows that the English media, which had been getting a bit down on their team, would start to ramp up their claims that now England are ready to win back the Ashes. Stuart Broad would be hailed as a new Botham, Andrew Strauss a new Brearley and Matt Prior a new, if less reliable, Bob Taylor. We'll all get carried away, England will get their hopes up and Australia will be inspired to rub our noses in it.

Firstly, Kent, where Graham Ford is coach, decided this week to sign Stuart Clark as overseas player for the start of the county season, thereby giving Australia a pre-Ashes lift by helping one of their frontline bowlers to gain match practice after injury. Kent may well benefit, but that may not be answer Morris wishes to hear from Ford if he is called to interview.

O'Reilly had an ability to read the play that left everyone else in the press box for dead. But for an odd quaver in his voice, O'Reilly would probably have done well on TV if he had wanted to. Interpreting the play is the TV commentator's stock-in-trade, although some, like O'Reilly, have a special gift for it.