The Surfer

From the initial racism row to the threats about the whole series being called off, my head hasn't stopped spinning. There have been meetings with lawyers and advisors, a day in the Adelaide courtroom, the charges downgraded by the court, fingers pointed and all of a sudden I'm somehow getting the blame. To have people questioning my integrity as a person and cricketer is pretty ordinary. Anyone who knows me understands that I'm a very straight up and down bloke, what you see is what you get, so to have people saying I'm not playing cricket in the right spirit really makes my blood boil.

When holed up in his personal fiefdom of Chandigarh, where he developed the fine stadium of Mohali, Bindra led what opposition there was to the Calcutta businessman Jagmohan Dalmiya, who long ruled Indian cricket and became the first Indian president of ICC.

Gilchrist also seemed to understand that we want our sports stars to tell us a story, preferably with a happy ending and plenty of action sequences in between. We want them to take us away from mortgages and work and petrol prices and the dog's weird weepy eye for a few hours and tell us, show us, an uncomplicated, exhilarating tale of what is possible.

India must stop being defensive. It has a mighty story to tell, a functioning democracy created from a chequered history, a nation built in a generation, temples and mosques sitting side by side in so many cities. Nor does its cricket history justify the comment made not long ago by a white opponent that "all Asian cricketers are f---ing cheats." Please can First World newspapers dust off all articles published between 1901 and 2001 deploring the manner in which Anglo-Saxon interests dominated the game? Suddenly India is ruling the roost and the boys are worried about monopolies and cultural hegemony. It is a bit late for that.

Barely worth his place in the Test side after patchy form with the bat, he must prove that he understands Test cricket is paramount, fifty over cricket is next and twenty over matches are a light-hearted romp that ought not to define a cricketer or his community. Otherwise recent victories in the shorter versions of the game will do more harm than good.

In my mind's eye, I'm standing at the end of my 21-pace run-up. There are 45,000 screaming Indian fans in the stands and the outer ground. It's as hot as hell - 38 degrees - and sweat is dripping from my hand. Before I start to run in I look towards one of the fielders square of the wicket. He tells me where the batter is standing on the crease. It's vital information because that is what allows me to alter my length to ensure I get the yorker right.

For a start, the way Ryder presents himself is a bad sign.He's too fat. He's in no fit state to play for New Zealand and if I was still in the national side, I wouldn't want him in my dressing room.

Many Indians are discomfited by the board's greed and naked displays of strength but there's also a new, prosperous brigade that takes perverse pride in sticking it to the old world. The voices of reason look at the lack of facilities in small towns, ramshackle stadia and haphazard itineraries and wonder where all the money goes. Those that burn effigies and parade donkeys on the street couldn't care less.

Nearly a century ago, MK Gandhi returned from South Africa to lead a motley crew of princely states into the modern world. He did so with humility, common sense and an unshakeable belief that truth would prevail. Indian cricket awaits a similar statesman.

The Herald understands that the players, through their representative body, the Australian Cricketers' Association, will formally air their grievances to an employer they believe pressured them into accepting a move to downgrade a charge of racism against Harbhajan.