The Surfer

But he does not appear to have given the game at large the pastoral care it needs. How could the Pietersen/ Moores situation have been allowed to develop in the first place, never mind become so public? Why were the imaginative group of board constituents who drafted a model for an original and potentially lucrative English Premier League, not allowed a hearing?

Any match of this nature is fraught with the fears of officials in case a big name is injured, but all the cricketers escaped unscathed, as did all the footballers with big games looming, singers with important gigs to play, surfers with good waves to ride, and a politician with the environment to consider.

There is still some way to go before cricket can hope to match football for greed and dishonesty, but it’s getting there. Graver issues are afoot than a fraudulent appeal for a catch, but it’s all part of the wider philosophy – so shamelessly embraced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) – of the end justifying the means. Otherwise, why, on the final day of the gripping Antigua Test match, did the England wicketkeeper triumphantly claim a catch, when the gap between ball and bat would have accommodated an Eddie Stobart lorry?

Clarke and Collier may have been insufficiently mindful of the image of a game that is peculiarly wrapped up in morals. Football can be mired in as many financial scandals as it likes; cricket cannot. Stanford was simply too risky a venture. That should have been clear from the outset.

The sight of a lonely Luke 'Sparrow' Gillian waving the flag alone at Australia's first game in South Africa is an indication of just how bad things are. With Australian cricket. And the economy.

"I've had to grow up very quickly," he says. "A lot of that was down to me going to Australia for six months after I left school [Oakham School in Leicestershire]. I learned how to be a bloke. I knew no one over there, I had to meet people, play tough cricket. I had to grow up a lot quicker as an 18-year-old than most because I was out in the big wide world, living on my own.

But what to do? This is the last time New Zealanders will see the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and possibly Virender Sehwag playing on our shores and it would be a shame to cheat the New Zealand fans once more of their considerable skill should we try to nullify them in seaming conditions. But we also want to win don't we? Nothing but the perfect cricket conditions will suffice for this tour. In the ODIs, we want conditions that provide for quality stroke play but ones that don't turn Iain O'Brien and Co into cannon fodder.

A staggering 28 players have taken the field for New Zealand since the summer started in Bangladesh in October. Two others, wicketkeepers Peter McGlashan and Gareth Hopkins, have also been flown overseas as cover for Brendon McCullum. That's 30 players picked to play for their country - even in these days of million-dollar IPL contracts, surely the highest honour the sport affords you - out of a professional player pool of 92.

How refreshing is it that the debate around his nonselection is about what is best for the team from a winning point of view. It is good that we are finally seeing the next generation of cricketers come through whose talent and not race is the issue in the media.

Lara and Tendulkar never had to wallow in the darkness of playing for a minnow. So, their aggregate runs will be higher than Aravinda. But, neither of them have won the World Cup with their own bat ... Like George Headley (the Black Bradman), Aravinda was burdened by the fact that he was a maestro in the weakest team. The Sri Lankan batting in those days was vulnerable and impulsive. Aravinda stood out. He was not just a gifted batsman, but he had the gall.