The Surfer

The ACSU does get information from several sources, players, journalists, officials etc. They reportedly even have several players on an unofficial watchlist. However, they find it difficult to push forward because of a lack of evidence that will stand up in court. Against this backdrop, it is interesting to note that a Supreme Court-appointed committee seems to think there is enough "evidence".

Sara says she owes a part of her success to her brother. She took up cricket because of him. "It's because of this guy that I started playing. There is a gap of just three years between us, and so I pretty much did anything he did," Sara says. Which is evident from the fact that like Peter, she too is a wicketkeeper. "Idolised him. He used to go to coaching, I just used to run around chasing balls," she recollects.

There is a consistent theme of hubris in Pietersen's actions. His ego is overwhelming, both to others and himself. After DoosGate his international career seemed to be over before he released a video on his 'OfficialKP24′ YouTube channel that was meant to serve as a public apology. It was posted seconds after Mo Farah had won gold in the 5,000m at London 2012 though, and public euphoria was momentarily pierced by Pietersen's stage-managed attempt at ingratiation. It was a coincidence that the timing of the video's release was so off the mark, but at a time when it was perceived that he was out of touch with his teammates and reality, it added some comic juxtaposition to reinforce the notion.

It's fair to say he was part of the reason for starting this blog. Once he had commanded the imagination, it was hard to resist writing about him, because in working out what he was doing, I was often working out what I felt I knew about cricket, or what it meant to me.

When a player like Pietersen or a writer like Jonathan Rendall comes along, it's easy to develop a relationship with their work that leads you to think that you know more about them than you do. All you really know is that their talent speaks to you in some way.

Twelve Grand seems like an effortless book, and yet Rendall worked so hard on it he was briefly hospitalised. As Kevin Mitchell wrote about him, his love affair with writing 'ebbed away' after that. Pietersen trained and practiced harder than anyone: the imagination demanded it. Nothing good can be effortless at that level.

The notorious 1996 World Cup semifinal turns up again when one speaks to Gaurav Sethi, head of advertising agency Naked and a cricket nut who blends sport and humour in the portal BCCI (Bored Cricket Crazy Indians), of which he is founder. That World Cup should have been ours, just as the 1987 World Cup should have been ours. World Cups like 1991-92, 1999 and 2007, we agree, we didn't have a chance. Even in the 2003 World Cup, we came close--Australia outplayed us in the final. But 1996 should have been ours. When that didn't happen, it hurt. Especially if, like Sethi, it was your wedding sangeet that day. 'Even before the first guests arrived, I knew Aravinda de Silva would spoil my party,' Sethi writes in an email message. 'By the time the people-trickle started, I decided to distance myself from India's chase.' Sethi says the crumbling of India's dream resulted in even non-drinkers hitting the bottle that day

All the bullying, the lies, the threats and the spin cannot erase one simple, central indictment of the big three's plans though. In what is an avowedly members-driven organisation, limping along on the tensions of conflicting self-interests, how does it become better if you give total control to the least number of members possible?

Other bowling attacks would challenge our batsmen more but the belief they now have and the processes they have built will stand them in great stead when they are so challenged. A lot could change in a year but that should only be from a form perspective. These players will not be worse in February next year and players like Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham, I believe, will be accomplished international players with decent experience. If the World Cup was played tomorrow we'd be in with a shot; in a year's time the odds should be shorter.

I think we have to acknowledge how good the Black Caps have been over the past two weeks, and how significant this series win is. New Zealand have improved, they've found a formula, they've done their homework on India - and they've ruffled their feathers. Everyone talked up India. Every newspaper article, every television piece, every radio station. Everyone was talking about how good the India side were, and about how terrifying their batting line-up was. We can't just all of a sudden turn around and say 'they're not that good' because before they came, they were that good.

That's right, the Postman, who always delivered with his economic dibbly dobblies, has been delivering tasty, affordable pizzas for the last two and a half years. Larsen entered this business after stepping down as the CEO of Wellington cricket in 2011. "Our son Corey and daughter Vanessa used to work here," says Larsen's wife Karen, speaking with The Sunday Express, even as she prepares the orders that have been placed by the customers. "Gavin had been with his Wellington cricket job for four and half years. He wanted a change, just a total change from what he was doing. He just needed a time out from cricket, really."

He had prophesied taking 32 wickets in three matches? "No, no, not at all. On my first day with the Indian team, when I was asked to speak in a team meeting, I froze. I didn't know English, you see, and was worried of embarrassing myself. So I said in Punjabi, 'Sorry I don't know English. But what I know is that I'll put my life into my job,'" says Harbhajan. "The funny thing is, I even learned English by the end of that series. You know how much the Australians like to talk on the field."

In 2006, Anderson's form saw him named secondary school player of the year - alongside current Black Cap fast-bowler Tim Southee. It also attracted the attention of the Canterbury selectors and Anderson got the first shock of his life when the provincial team's coach, Dave Nosworthy, called to offer him a professional playing contract. "That still amazes me," he says, "I hadn't even played a senior club game or anything. But I'd been tossing up which sport to follow and that kind of made my decision for me, I jumped at it." It wasn't until later that he found out the coach had already discussed the offer with his parents. At just over 16, it made Anderson the country's youngest professional cricketer in 59 years and Canterbury's youngest in 129 years, achievements that were always going to attract media attention.