The Surfer

Once upon a time, it all began near the College gate when we were about to enter the school premises. As usual there were pavement hawkers selling American comic books, toffees and lollypops; hot milk tea, pineapple and mangoes and many more things. But on this particular day, I noticed something different. There was a man selling small “Blue and White” flags. It attracted me. After all it’s our college colours and our college flag. Like many other college boys, I too wanted to own one of those flags. I begged with Marthinamma, the old maid who accompanied me to school, carrying my suitcase filled with school books in one hand and a huge lunch container on the other. Instantly she refused my request. But I was keen to possess a small, lovely “Blue and White” flag and to wave it shouting aloud “Come on Joes”. A lengthy pleading with Marthinamma, resulted in having a small “Blue and white” flag in my hand.

"To be honest with you, I wouldn’t have taken the England job even if this role at Warwickshire hadn’t come up," Donald says. "Working with the England team was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed it and feel I made a positive impact. And, I have to say, the ECB were brilliant. They are a highly professional organisation and, in many ways, everything about the job was great.

This line-up was once regarded as aggressive in the modern mould. Occasionally such tigerish aggression might backfire. That happens. But now they bat like poodles.

Only two innings have elapsed since they were bundled out for 81 by Chaminda Vaas at Galle, and when they've not been getting out, they've been getting bogged down instead, as their disgracefully slow first innings testifies.

It beats me why there is no world body in sport to initiate punitive action — I don’t mean little fines and suspension for a couple of games — on those indulging in racism in any form. It’s a hydra-headed monster with far more destructive implications than even doping. And we don’t need research to tell us whether a monkey chant is a racial taunt or a bhajan by devotees of Lord Hanuman.

By removing Sarwan as the captain of the team without giving him a fair chance to prove himself, the selectors and the board have once again demonstrated one of the reasons why West Indies cricket is still, after so many, many years, languishing at number eight in both the Test and one-day versions of the game.

Until the Indian leagues came along, smash-and-bash cricket was dismissed as a garish hybrid to be used sparingly - a couple of games to whet fans' appetites at the start of a tour. Suddenly, it threatens one-day (50-over) cricket's role as the sport's money-spinner. Conceivably, cricket could go the way of sports like soccer and, increasingly, rugby - dominated by club/franchise competitions with few opportunities for meaningful international competition outside a world cup every four years.

These fellows wear the insolent bravery of youth and a cloak of effrontery, though at times they needed to clutch at the experienced hand of Tendulkar. Australian cricket is somewhat a faded photocopy of itself, but beating them at home required from the Indians substantial commitment to the cause and each other and they found it. Opportunity knocked and was tackled to the ground by the Indians.