The Surfer

So what can MCC do to not discourage such wondrous feats as Pietersen's on Sunday, but at the same time maintain the integrity of the game and intrinsic fairness to bowlers? Well, it could consider the following: that a fielding side should not be penalised once the batsman decides to switch-hit. That is to say, once a right-handed batsman has changed both grip and stance to become in effect a left-hander, the bowler ought to be allowed to bowl both sides of the wicket, without incurring a wide, and, taking that one stage further, he ought to be allowed to get leg-befores by pitching both sides of the wicket as well. At a stroke, the kind of genius we saw on Sunday would not be prevented, but would be discouraged by the subsequent advantage accruing to the bowler.

The timing of a contest between a West Indies side climbing off the pavement and an Australian side descending from its peak has proven ideal, providing three competitive Tests, each of which has progressed deep into the fifth day. For both sides, the events of the past month have provided cause for concern and optimism.

Alan Cousins was shovelling cow dung from the outfield and scouring his back catalogue of last-resort players. Later, while Kevin Pietersen was holding court about the merits of becoming one-match dollar-millionaires thanks to the distorting largesse of a Texan financier, Cousins hit on his solution. A call to Devon and Ken Balfour was rerouted from his holiday.

Percy McDonnell, in the 1880s, is believed to be the only batsman to be demoted immediately after posting hundreds in consecutive Tests, and that was because of a contractual dispute. Katich, however, could join him if, as expected, Matthew Hayden recovers from his achilles injury and resumes his place atop the order for Australia's tour of India in October.

Some players walk and others do not. Does that mean that some are bad and others are good, is it cheating to stand? Of course this subject cannot be discussed without talking about how the umpires feel about it all and what part they play. There are some people who say that they are traditionalists and would like the umpire to continue to have a role to play in the game so would take the rough with the smooth as things even out over time. Others feel that human error has too much influence on Test matches.

It is above all in duels within the team game - Warne v Flintoff, or McCullum v Panesar, ad infinitum - that a player's character is revealed, and Twenty20 has no time for duels: after a couple of bad overs, a batsman or bowler is out. Test cricket shapes and displays a player's essential self; in Twenty20, which is all action and no drama, he is little more than a robot. He has therefore to play in the former to be marketable in the latter. Sir Viv, one of the Stanford courtiers at Lord's, would never have done what he did for the identity of Afro-Caribbean people if he had played only Twenty20.

Money aside, Test cricket will always offer something that no 20-over match ever can: human interest. When Brendon McCullum scored 158 in the first IPL game, we could all see that he was a brilliant attacking batsmen. When Kevin Pietersen scored 158 in the Oval Test, we could see he was not only that: he was also a man who could be a bit insecure at first (those early missed chances) but, when warmed up, a risk-taker happy to fly in the face of convention, self-confident to the point of arrogance.

Save for a pair of catches - one a spectacular, diving effort to remove the West Indies captain Chris Gayle - the rookie spinner had little to show for his day in the field, finishing with an unflattering 0-43 from seven overs.