The Surfer

Except, we didn't play on. Instead, those 30 seconds of cricket continue to resonate, to insist on their own significance, recast as a source of moral cant, a karmic sporting boomerang, an ubi sunt lament for the (non-existent) death of the (fictional) spirit of cricket and all the rest of it. Cauldrons of hate have been conjured, pigs co-opted and tedious walk-don't-walk jokes repeated in light of recent foot injuries, just as Broad has been roped in for an extended turn as The Man Who Shot Cricket.

To most cricket viewers in India, 2011 might be the year of reckoning--with the World Cup victory. However, I believe that the transformations that Indian cricket saw in the 2000s was what set the stage for Indian cricket as you see it today. We went through four phases of change in this period. Initially, there were some established paradigms that were revamped and certain assumptions about the way cricket is to be played were changed.

Although I believed Taylor should captain the test side and McCullum the other teams, it would be churlish to keep promoting that system after such a comprehensive series victory. Maybe the Mike Hesson-McCullum leadership has something to it, even if the West Indies helped by rolling over. This New Zealand team are showing spirit and McCullum's decisions, including bowling first in Hamilton, have worked out. But he needs to take one for the team and move back up the order.

Things could have been different in Wellington had we been playing Australia or South Africa with their expert bowling - but we don't beat them in flat conditions, so why not take our chances in a bit of a lottery? However, when it's Sri Lanka, or Pakistan, or the West Indies, I'd say the odds are in our favour when there's life in the pitch. These are the teams we must send packing if we are to climb up the rankings and stay there. I'm not talking about minefields here either, because the Basin Reserve pitch was far from that; I'm just talking about life.

For Yusuf, birds are not just things of beauty but their continuous activity raises the energy level all around. "You never feel lonely in their company. We have an African gray parrot which mimics everyone."

They haven't been easy hundreds either. They've been grinding hundreds on wickets that NZ have been sent in on, apart from Hamilton. Compare Taylor's composure to this time last year, and it's like he's a different bloke. He's been selective with his shot-making, and shown an incredible concentration to bat for incredibly long periods at the crease. More than 19 hours in three test matches is a phenomenal effort in anyone's book.

Also before I condemn this pitch I want to say that if New Zealand can pull this off and win this test, then hats off to the skill of the New Zealand swing bowlers; we saw plenty of skill last evening from all four. It was significant because it was a continuation of the dominance New Zealand have had over the West Indies, in more visitor-friendly conditions.

"He decided, at age 35, I've got more cricket left in me. I'm going to go out there and enjoy it, and play it for exactly the right reasons. As a consequence he has sparkled. Having played as much cricket as Brad has, he's always going to be the one that makes the decision. His performances have been outstanding. I haven't talked to him about it, but I have a sneaking feeling that if we were to get to No.1 in all three forms of the game, I think Brad would retire."

In England earlier this year, the inclination was to cast Australia as the puppy-pawed youngster and England as the wily old dog. This narrative could then be stretched into the current series, in which the scarred veteran finally yielded to the virile new alpha canine. Aside from being tedious, the metaphor is well off the mark. The average age of England's Perth XI was 29 and a half. Australia's was a tick over 31.

Flower will need to make a rapid assessment of which players he believes will be around and in a position to form the nucleus of the squad in 2015. These might include, from the Perth XI Cook, Joe Root, Ian Bell, Stokes, and Stuart Broad, perhaps with the addition of Anderson still, and Bresnan. Michael Carberry probably not. How Kevin Pietersen fits into this is hard to gauge but if his ambition is still there then so should he be.

Then, as now, England did not know their best XI when they arrived in Australia but then, given the injuries they had suffered, they had more excuse for the confusion. Now, as then, they made mistakes with their selections, although none so grievous as the decision to leave out Panesar and pick Giles. Picking three tall fast bowlers, Boyd Rankin, Chris Tremlett and Steven Finn, could yet become as infamous a decision, unless in the last two Tests the trio combine for more than the four wickets Tremlett has taken so far. Do that, though, and the question will be why, one game aside, one or the other or the third did not play when the series was still at stake.

All of the players, in some way, embody this strange ripening. Harris, the thoroughbred who took a career to rid himself of injuries. Haddin, who had to take the locker left by Adam Gilchrist and Ian Healy, and who has had a year that would do honour to either of them. Rogers, the mature-age student whose catch of Tim Bresnan at mid-on on Tuesday had the spring of a curly haired child. Peter Siddle, the David who keeps on bringing down his personal Goliath in Kevin Pietersen. Clarke, whose batting and leadership carried this team until, as with Allan Border in 1989, his team carried themselves.