The Surfer

Mallya used the whip, trying to bring about what some newspapers bizarrely called "corporate-style accountability". (How many corporates can you name that would sack someone on the basis of a week's results?) Mukesh Ambani, on the other hand, kept faith in his side and gave them space. As Lalchand Rajput, their coach, told Outlook: "Even after four defeats, we were not put under pressure. Even I was a bit surprised by this, but they only said as long as you put in your best efforts, it is fine." See the difference in results. Isn't it obvious that Mallya is already being held accountable for his mistakes? Isn't the brand value of his side slipping and sliding even further because of his public tantrums? And when he tries to hire top players or a much-wanted captain for the next season, do you think they will choose to work for him if equivalent offers exist from other franchises?

All of the Australians are in the Caribbean and, unlike the West Indians, are not conflicted about who they are representing. They took the field against a Jamaica Select XI on the weekend wearing blue baseball caps bearing the name of their brewery sponsor. Plainly, they were playing not for us, but for yet another franchise.

Those poor, long-suffering souls have seen enough horror movies to know that no matter how dead the bad guy looks, he always manages to reach a gnarly hand out of the grave one last time ... The greatest leg-spinner of all time admitted the whole notion of an Ashes comeback is a "fairytale" and Cricket Australia treated it as something of a joke, but Warne has never tired of the spotlight and knows that even the peak of his nose through the velvet curtains is enough to raise excitement in the cheap seats.

Deshmukh’s two passions, movies and cricket are predictable choices for a young Indian. But at 26, Deshmukh has been able to bring both these passions together. Relatively new in the business, he has been an assistant director to the equally youthful Mohit Suri in three films. Jannat, his debut film, which releases on May 16 in India and premieres in Lahore, explores scandals from the cricketing world and readily lends itself to a Mahesh Bhatt banner. Emraan Hashmi plays Arjun, a small-time bookie who is propelled by love and greed into the higher echelons of match-fixing. One strand of the story is also a fictionalised account of cricket coach Bob Woolmer’s death.

Bravo's appearance was restricted to a brief - albeit colourful - cameo as he arrived in designer clothes and Calvin Klein shoes, looking a million dollars, before retreating to the team hotel to try and escape any lingering jet-lag. The rumour he had been flown in via private jet after staying on to play for the Mumbai Indians on Sunday began to spread like wildfire around Sabina Park, with Sarwan eventually confirming the report.

At one stage, coming in at 121 for one, he seemed to have the idea of filling his boots and forcing a win. Daniel Vettori changed his mind with three quick wickets, leaving Vaughan to play an intriguing half-and-halfer of an innings: leaving the ball a lot, spending plenty of time off strike, looking for ones and twos. But every now and then he would make that profound genuflection, right knee kissing the turf, as the prettiest cover drive in England made its little hop over the boundary rope, a shot breaking out of a cautious innings like Superman leaving a phone box.

After Michael Vaughan's ropey start to the summer, there had been plenty of recent speculation over his form, focus and future. But the man himself is not given to self-doubt. At Monday's Vodafone dinner, he boldly predicted: "I'm going to make a hundred at Lord's."

I was not overly keen to see McCullum elevated in ODIs because I believe in the importance of bite in the tail and not just strike power at the top. However, what he has shown of late at the top of the order you simply cannot downplay. I've not the same reservations when it comes to his elevation to five in test matches. The difference between batting five or seven in test match cricket is nowhere near as drastic as the difference between opening in ODIs or batting in the lower middle order.

Warne's leadership has followed to the letter the pre-tournament game plan he set out for the side of which he is captain-coach. He hand-delivered to each of his players a four-page document [which was published in the Hindustan Times] that set out his expectations of each and every one of them, including himself.

Mudasir was discovered during a pace hunt conducted by Javagal Srinath and TA Sekar of the MRF pace foundation at Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium, Srinagar in 2006. He represented the J&K under-19 team last season and bagged 35 wickets.