The Surfer

When Mahela Jayawardene was translating for Ajantha Mendis in the press conference following the conclusion of the third Test, there occurred the sort of moment that throws light on the natural humours of two men, and the relationship sport binds them in. Jayawardene would incline his head in Mendis’ direction, listen to the reply, which to every question was incredibly brief, and answer in English, looking at his young spinner from time to time to see if he had anything to add.

Both men have good reason to be in high spirits. A series win in England has been an elusive grail for South Africa, and finally nailing it this time around is a hugely satisfying achievement for Smith — particularly given that the series was sealed by the skipper playing the best innings by a South African since Jacques Kallis in Melbourne in 1997. A firing top order, an exciting pace attack, and a team full of confidence — Smith has every reason to smile. Pietersen might not have won a series, but he did win his first Test in charge, with a first innings hundred for good measure.

For that they must ask themselves if each of the four is likely to succeed consistently in this period — if the tour of Sri Lanka was an aberration, not a portent — and how best to renew the middle-order, so the eventual transition is, as far as possible, painless. First, the tour of Sri Lanka. Was the batting failure entirely a function of the particular — the combination of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis — or was it a sign of decline of physical and mental skill with age and wear?

“Funnily enough, India at first weren’t interested in participating,” Mali revealed. “It took a great deal of persuading by the ICC before they agreed.

“Then, when they won it, things started happening.

It was the angle of downswing and position of the front shoulder pointing towards cover as opposed to mid off or straighter which was restricting the bat from coming in front of the pad and that created a problem most of the time. Rahul Dravid seems to have figured it out in the last Test but it was too late.

Pietersen, seemingly, already has his eyes fixed on next summer's Ashes but there is a danger that he will suffer a couple of heavy falls over the next few months if he spends too much time dreaming about the future, starting with next week's five match one-day series against South Africa. Graeme Smith's side will overtake Australia and become the number one ranked one-day side in the world if they defeat England comprehensively and, when the hosts' indifferent limited over form is considered, a walloping at the hands of South Africa is not out of the question. Such a result would partially deflate Pietersen's pumped up tyres.

"It was back in 1989 and we were playing against Australia in Hyderabad in a one-day tournament, the Nehru Cup. For one reason or another we had to share a single changing room, which was bad enough, but all there was between the two teams was a flimsy bamboo screen. We were packed in like sardines," Gooch chuckles, "and you could hear every word anyone said."

"Australia batted first and put a decent total on the board but I thought we could get the runs. Before we started batting I wanted to chat to the team about our approach and the best way to put their bowlers under pressure. Obviously we couldn't talk in the changing room so we went onto the outfield. Because of the noise from the crowd we needed to huddle so that everyone could hear me! It wasn't something I thought would be repeated again," Gooch said.

Yes, if he hasn’t seen me for a while, he just makes sure I’m doing the basics right, and he’s a shoulder to cry on as much as anything. He’s seen it all before and you know even when you don’t score runs he’s been through it all. He knows what it’s like, he’s always there for that bit of reassurance as much as anything of your technique, and as a person. He’s a great man in that respect – he gives you that belief if you’re lacking it. He’s more of a friend, a friend who actually coaches.

The Mendis footage can be divided into two categories: ‘How to play’ and ‘How not to play’. The first section will mainly feature Virender Sehwag while the second category will have a collection of batsmen in different states of discomfort against his variations.

I’m very impulsive... One can plan a lot of things, but it all gets down to how the bowlers bowl and how well the batters have been able to adjust to the conditions... Strategy, I think, has to be flexible with a Plan B and a Plan C ready all the time... I do go with my instincts and if I feel that something could work, I give it a shot... When I get back to the hotel, I shouldn’t be thinking that I ought to have tried what I’d thought could work.