The Surfer

Make no mistake, cricket is in Zimbabwe up to its neck. The leaders of the game in that benighted land work hand in hand with Zanu pf. Peter Chingoka, the long standing chairman of a disreputable board, is allied to the influential Mujuru faction. He has mining interests, vast investments and houses overseas. Ozias Bvute, his opportunistic and thuggish CEO, is cut from the same stone. These fat cats did not actually pour the burning plastic but they gained from the activities of the CIO, Green Bombers and all the other ghastly representatives of the repressive state.

A bad opening spell could have turned the match, but Zaheer allowed no liberties to be taken. It was a wonderful example of accurate bowling in a one-day game, allowing the ball to do just enough to command respect.

His stubborn refusal to make peace with CA following January's Adelaide court hearing - in which Australian players were convinced to drop charges of racial abuse against Harbhajan Singh before the Indian spinner's eventual exoneration - has eroded team harmony, and frustrated administrators and teammates alike. Likewise, Symonds's courting of controversy in more social settings has angered many within Australian cricket, particularly as the majority of his teammates seem to have mastered the dual arts of enjoying a beer while avoiding trouble.

You have reached the end of the road as a dignified sportsman when rugby league players steer clear of you because you are too much trouble. It happened to Andrew Symonds at the Normanby Hotel on Sunday when several Kangaroo players decided Symonds was an incident waiting to happen and moved on to other company.

No one is indispensable. There will always be someone to fill the void. When Fazal Mahmood ended his playing career, we didn’t expect someone of his calibre to come along, but in came Imran Khan and changed the face of Pakistan cricket. After Imran, we got Wasim Akram. No one goes on forever, but life does.

The crowds here are pretty good, ruined by a few, actually quite a few, idiots who think a day out at the cricket is just to abuse the guys playing any way how. You get called anything and everything. Embarrassing for these guys really, as a lot of the others around them are cringing. I don’t know how many times I’ve was called a ‘faggot’ this afternoon.

The opening partnership of Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara should have been split. Bell is a good foil for a quick scorer - I always thought he would bat well alongside Marcus Trescothick - but not a crackerjack in his own right. And it was asking too much of Bopara - the number eight this time last week - to take on Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel from the start with the required rate standing at nine per over. An experienced hitter should have been promoted.

What Kirsten has also done well is to understand the Indian pecking order, and the way of doing things, which is different from most other countries. On the playing front the captain and convener of selectors are top of the pile.

Somehow, England forgot the basics upon arrival and were 2-0 down in the blink of an eye. In India, proper spinners are required. I thought we all knew that. England have one in their squad - Graeme Swann - and for two matches, he carried the drinks. His presence in the third game at Kanpur on Thursday could not change the result, but at least the captain had somewhere to turn.

At the core of fractious negotiations is Twenty20 cricket: the Indian Premier League and whether England's players appear in it, the so-called England Premier League and Indian involvement, and the future format of the Champions League. Everyone wants a share of the money, but in essence it is up to India whether they get it. England must have Indian players, and many other nationalities, taking part in their Premier League due to start in 2010, otherwise it could face serious trouble under trade description regulations, let alone crowd resistance. But in return India want more involvement by English players in the IPL.

And the danger for England is that if our players are not involved in the IPL in future we could get left far behind in certain areas. Yuvraj Singh has been fantastic, of course, but other less well known batsmen, such as Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan, have shown what they've learned from the high-pressure demands and challenges of regular Twenty20 cricket against top opposition in the IPL. Batsmen are no longer content to look for 260-275 as par scores, and are now looking for a minimum of 290-300 every time.