The Surfer

Of course, things happen in cycles and you can’t always expect fearsome head-hunters of the calibre of Allan Donald, Brett Schultz, Mfuneko Ngam or Nantie Hayward to announce themselves every summer, just as fruit farmers can’t always guarantee a robust annual haul from the trees ... But toothcomb the squads thrown up for the earliest salvoes of the SuperSport Series and you don’t see too many other, intriguingly callow “express men” among them.

If, as in the current situation, you have players who have done very well for a long time and a call has to be taken on their future, the selectors first make up their mind and then have a dignified conversation with the player concerned. The non-negotiable here is the selector’s decision. You cannot sign a deal with a player for four games, for example, and keep him in the side if he doesn’t score a run in the first three and drop him if he makes a double hundred in the fourth ...

Consider two scenarios: 1: Your openers have made a flyer in the first five overs. The fielding captain might want to drop more players deep for the sixth over onwards to stem the runs. The batting side can exercise their option to keep the field in, and potentially pile on the runs.

The Nashua Titans have developed an ability over the years to identify unfulfilled talent from other regions and turned it into the finished article. Proteas’ spin bowler Paul Harris and young all-rounder Farhaan Behardien are examples that spring to mind and they may have unearthed another diamond in 22-year-old fast bowler Basheer Walters who hails from the Eastern Province. He has done well enough at amateur level to attract attention and will certainly benefit from playing alongside the likes of Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn.

When MiD DAY visited Srinivasan at his sister's home in Churchgate last week, we expected to see a pitiful sight, but to our pleasant surprise, Srinivasan walked into the living room with a smile on his face, dressed in a t'shirt and a track pant all set for his evening walk down Marine Drive.

At Test level, I reckon Smith could now be on the verge of something pretty special. South Africa have the makings of a side that can challenge Australia. I am still not convinced by their spin options, but in the seam department Dale Steyn has had a lot of success over the past 12 months, and Morne Morkel is genuinely brisk and is going to be a handful in Australia.

Essex enjoyed a successful 2008 season, confirming themselves as one of the premier limited overs teams in the country. Unfortunately a similar winning formula continues to evade them in the championship, where they will start 2009 in division two for the eighth time in 10 years of the two division structure.

When I was at Surrey you'd see Alec Stewart, Mark Butcher, Graham Thorpe and the rest going off and playing for England and that made you realise you had to improve if you wanted to stay in the side. You start thinking like an international cricketer and trying to emulate what they were achieving. Durham have had Harmison, Collingwood and Plunkett going into international cricket and that will have motivated the other players. They've been the stars for the last few seasons and it's all culminated this year.

Conventional wisdom suggested its demise was imminent; the mighty BCCI, after all, had decreed that the rebel league must die, banning players who joined it and threatening and tempting the rest with its massive funds.