The Surfer

The Antigua Recreation Ground, the old Test ground in the middle of St John’s, a magnificent ramshackle affair that routinely staged the most atmospheric matches, has been bypassed. The ground that witnessed the emergence of Viv Richards and Curtly Ambrose, giants both, and played host to Brian Lara’s twin world-record Test scores, stands as a forlorn monument to an era of West Indies cricket that has passed. Its successor, the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, is a utilitarian, concrete bowl, built for the ICC World Cup in 2007 in the middle of no man’s land and is inconvenient for the working masses. Between what West Indies cricket once was and what it has become, Stanford saw a chasm that represented an opportunity. As families watched the opening match on Saturday in comfort and in the knowledge that they were partaking in something vibrant, it was clear where the balance of power now lies.

The world has gone mad for it, a lot of people are making a heap of money on its back in a short space of time and the traditional game as most people recognise it, if not necessarily adhere to, has been downgraded in the public mind. India are playing out a pivotal Test series against Australia but this week, like it or not, attention will be focused on a single game, lasting little more than three hours, of no consequence beyond the immense and unprecedented financial inducement it brings.

"People who do know me know that if I muck up I hold my hand up and admit it," he [Prior] continues, "but I was being accused of stuff I hadn't even done. That Porsche comment ... why would I say that to Tendulkar? He's got aeroplanes.

When the rift was detailed some time ago, Ricky Ponting described it as "absolute rubbish". It was a poor choice of words because it happened and he knew it. It is an issue Ponting must address before next year's Ashes tour or risk the tour becoming the same fractured fiasco it was in 2005.

While some football codes, particularly the AFL, are heavily populated by indigenous players and those from post-war migrant families, cricket remains a defiantly Anglo game. Jason Gillespie, a descendant of the Kamilaroi people who once populated northern NSW, is the only Test player to publicly acknowledge his Aboriginal heritage, although Gillespie claims he is as much Greek as Aboriginal.

I won't be watching out of partisanship, loyalty or patriotism, or the pursuit of excellence. If I watch - and I feel no pressing need to - I will do so for reasons that are furtive and shaming. The spectacle may be briefly compelling, but it will soon lose its charm, leaving behind only a kind of embarrassment for the grotesque contortions of the participants. In short, pornography.

You have made big scores from a very young age… I started playing cricket at the age of 8. My father, an ex-Ranji player, has been my coach. So I got personal attention from the beginning. I have made the most of it, I guess.

What makes them click? “Our trust,” says Sehwag. “Our understanding,” emphasises Gambhir. Gambhir adores Sehwag. “He is so helpful, so caring. He is a legend. Look at his achievements and look at his humility. He always gives more importance to what I do,” says Gambhir. “He is a tremendously talented cricketer. I have seen him grow and I know what he is capable of. I expect much, much more than what he has offered thus far,” Sehwag chips in.

The danger signs reverberated from Mohali a week ago even as India were thumping Australia. In a country that eats, drinks and burps cricket it was almost surreal to see empty stands through the Test match. Maybe it was just an aberration, a pre-Diwali quirk. But then Bangalore wasn’t bustling either; if Delhi and Nagpur don’t buoy the spirits, we can officially declare a crisis. If the crowds come back for the Champions League (there is no doubt they will for the Indian Premier League), we can all but kiss those whites goodbye.

.. a toytown stadium, black bats, silver stumps, vulgar amounts of money and a contraction of the game’s skills into the time it takes to consume a jumbo burger, a tub of popcorn and a bucket of Pepsi.

English cricket was slow to accept that a player did not demean himself by making a living from sport. The great medium-pace bowler SF Barnes was left out by England between 1902 and 1907 because he preferred to earn money playing as a professional in the Lancashire League. Now it seems we are just as unhappy that a player's skills can earn him a quick million.

The message the world received was that you had to be something special to make the Australian team, so rich was the country in its deep seam of talent. Yet this was not the story coming from the Aussies themselves. For some years, they have been warning that their cupboard, while not resembling Ma Hubbard’s, was running out of quality stock.