The Surfer

This rural belt may not have produced any remarkable sportsmen, but its barren fields are dotted with scrawny children wielding the willow and tossing tennis balls. A little known fact is that Mukhtar Ansari, an imprisoned mafia don from Mau, is such a cricket buff that he has converted part of the compound of the Jaunpur jail — where he is lodged — into a makeshift cricket ground, and has taught many inmates how to bat and bowl. But despite the ‘Iqbal effect’ on youngsters in the religious schools, Madni was keen on explaining why his school did not encourage cricket. “We do encourage sports that help boys build their bodies,” he said.

Bryce McGain would not seem to fit the job description as set out by Andrew Hilditch's panel. A solid performer for Victoria this summer with 38 first-class wickets, McGain will nonetheless be 36 by the time Australia arrive in the Caribbean. At best, he represents a band-aid solution to Australia's spinning problem.

It will seem unthinkable to most sport lovers how playing cricket for your country can cripple a man so, especially one of the finest batsmen of his generation. But modern cricket entails a life lived on the road, one less acceptable now that families are no longer content to subjugate themselves to the employment needs of the paterfamilias.

India's new cricket coach is chauffeur-driven each day to where he wants to go and is quickly getting used to simple things like when the department stores open and being mobbed by people who want his autograph.

"I'll feel a bit weird being in the opposite camp when we face South Africa in my first hurdle as coach. But I suppose I'll get over it. I won't let emotions get in my way."

It's been obvious for years that Fleming's career would fall short of expectations if it needed to be judged by numbers, that his above-average talent would not be reflected in the averages column.

Having brought Strauss back, with what to some was unseemly haste, it is unlikely that, if the axe does fall, the selectors will act with the same swift kindness again. A spell in the wilderness awaits. All this adds up to a lot of pressure second time around in Napier. Strauss may not be playing for his career, but he probably feels he is, which amounts to just about the same thing.

At his first Test at Old Trafford in 2001, we hurried down the pavilion steps together for the first time as England openers. I had asked him if he wanted to face first ball or not, as I usually did with my new opening partners. He shrugged his shoulders and said he wasn't bothered, as if he had not a care in the world. Things must have seemed so simple for him then.Seven years and a thousand hotel rooms, plane journeys and practice sessions later the world is a more complicated place.

The stress-related illness that was diagnosed has relented but never disappeared. A few days ago, he reached the airport in order to travel on Somerset's pre-season tour to Dubai. The old sensations invaded his thoughts again. He went home.

Tucked away from the tumult and discord in Dubai was the Stanford 20/20 in the West Indies. It was, by all accounts, a thrilling, packed tournament - a template the ICC could profitably borrow. Prices were reasonable, interest compacted and intense. Of course the founder, Allen Stanford, wanted to make money. 'He might have broken even, this time, maybe not,' said a source, 'but it's long-term, America, huge market there.'

Fleming's imprint on cricket in this country has been massive. Forget the fact he has been New Zealand's best, if under-achieving, batsman for a decade and think bigger picture. He took on the captaincy of a team at 23, a team rife with cliques, factions and ordinary cricketers.