The Surfer

The first is the top four batters. Smith, McKenzie, Amla and Kallis will need to ensure they build solid foundations. Two of the four cannot have a poor series. Smith being the only left-hander becomes even more important in the context of the strategy.

The second aspect is the opening spell of 12 overs. Too many times Steyn and Ntini have wasted the new ball opportunity and allowed opposing batsmen to settle. They need to hit their lengths early.

While the notion of cricket diplomacy is laudable, countries with a history of unstable government and inured to civil unrest and violence make problematic hosts for Tests and limited-overs matches. And while it is so that cricketers, indeed sportsmen, have never been targeted by those wreaking death and destruction, the England, New Zealand and Australian cricket teams have all been confronted with the outrages of extremists, be they in India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka.

Either ways, there is no doubt that the country will turn every stone to make this trip memorable. People, angry people, will surely turn out in huge numbers: and it will not be just to distract themselves from the pain or the fear; they will do so to show their new we-won't-take-cow-dung-anymore attitude.

Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison are pacing the opulent grounds of their Abu Dhabi hotel wondering, like Hamlet, whether to be or not to be. To be, that is, at least as heroic as any other traveller to any of those large swathes of the world map that offer something less than guaranteed safety.