The Surfer

At a time when he is surrounded by a crop of batsmen without class and consistency, it speaks volumes about his commitment, dedication, skill and determination. Considered a player of no more than average ability, Chanderpaul makes up for it with other qualities that are sadly lacking among his teammates.

Their first masters, the Australian board, have drawn up a schedule which is as crazy as anything that England's board have ever conceived – and this is saying something. Thanks partly to another accident, the postponement of the Champions Trophy, England are now enjoying a nice break before late October, and have another month off before going to the West Indies in late January: the right sort of place to tune up for an Ashes series which is sure to be dominated by pace.

There will be blood in the corridors of power at Cricket SA in the coming fortnight as the 11 provincial unions prepare to usher in a new president and vice-president after a huge restructuring of the administration of the game.

I have said for some time now that it is a luxury to carry two wicket keepers in the side. Mark Boucher may have to go. AB de Villiers is just as capable with the gloves, and can do the Adam Gilchrist thing of keeping and opening the batting.

The work pressure at the office was high and I had been smoking quite a bit. So it was that I trudged reluctantly to the Hyderabad nets on a wet afternoon long after the scheduled start of practice. I had a bad cough and cold, and told my captain Abbas Ali Baig I was unfit for the game on the morrow. It had been raining and the practice wickets were wet, so Abbas was having a knock outside the nets with a young marker throwing a few balls at him. “Come and bowl,” he ordered me, and I obliged, still in my working clothes. After some ten minutes, he said to me with finality, “Nothing wrong with you. Sleep well tonight and come back in the morning. You are playing.”

He has to learn how to keep batsmen constantly under pressure. He has to learn how to stop allowing his left shoulder fall away, which inevitably leads to a ball wide outside the off stump. He still has to learn how to think batsmen out and how to adapt his attack to the requirement of the conditions — be it on the subcontinent, in England or Australia. It has so often been shown that wickets in Test cricket come almost as much from pressure, as they do from outstanding deliveries and Steyn — and his new-ball partner Morne Morkel for that matter — needs to learn how to tighten the screws and keep them tightened.