The Surfer

Symonds had the right to expect better from a fellow professional than from a mindless crowd. Harbhajan said he was sorely provoked. The Australians said he had a history. Both doubtlessly are true. But did it warrant the throwing of the whole anti-racism book at Harbhajan? Did this walnut need a sledgehammer? Cricket is right to make an example of an offender. But it must be the right example, the right offender. Really, this ought to have been sorted out on the field, between players, captains and umpires. Since it was not, a suspended sentence should have sufficed. That sentence would have said to Harbhajan: if you didn't know better before, you do now.

For all intents and purposes, they are playing puppeteer while NZC jiggles. This, apparently, is the brave new world of New Zealand Cricket - where we become a subsidiary of the BCCI. That chiselling sound is the engravers at NZC's offices, changing the brass-plate from New Zealand Cricket to Board of Cricket Control India, New Zealand Division.

"Neither have actually been sanctioned by the ICC. It seems to be something that people have run with and not corrected. The IPL has only been sanctioned by the BCCI and the last time I looked they weren't the governing body of world cricket. While NZ Cricket is very eager to do as the Indian Cricket Board says, it should be careful it doesn't devalue the international game by putting out a weakened team."

VVS Laxman is using his wrists better than Edward Scissorhands. He posts a brilliant century in front of his wife, Laxwoman, and his children, the Laxettes. Sadly, Rahul “The Wall” Dravid is batting like a bug dying on your windscreen: you want to focus on the road but are compelled to watch the stricken insect’s last moments.

For 127 years the game's greatest players have celebrated their art at this special place and earned the plaudits of the grateful citizens of the city. But aside from Don Bradman, surely few can have received such a sustained and emotional ovation as that accorded the diminutive giant of the contemporary game, Sachin Tendulkar. When the little maestro completed his second run through cover point to complete his 38th hundred and eighth against Australia, the crowd of 29,358 rose as one to acknowledge not just this innings but his undisputed greatness as a batsman.

It is passing strange that Laxman reserves his best performances for his team's most feared opponent. Against lesser sides he can look awkward, like a bear trying to perform a jig. At such times he seems inferior to tap-dancing colleagues. Then his mind becomes bogged down with thoughts of his own fallibility and his boots might as well be cased in mud.

At such times it is easy to sit in a box with all the aids and blame the poor umpire for his mistake. But the snick was heard by pals sitting in the hullabulloo on the boundary's edge. It was heard in the sponsors' boxes, where the wine was flowing. It was heard by every fieldsman. Mahendra Dhoni has a reputation as a fair opponent, and he seemed to regard the decision as a formality. But Steve Bucknor did not hear anything. Clearly, the sweet-natured Jamaican is past his prime. Indeed, he was expected to retire after the World Cup. Those responsible for allowing him to linger were also partly responsible for a decision that changed the course of the day and possibly the match and series. David Richardson is the ICC's man in overall charge of these operations. He was lucky to survive the debacle at the World Cup.

The game is at a critical point in its evolution with its traditional values and virtues being undermined or destroyed by the crass commercial imperative. India's hysterical reaction to its Twenty20 World Cup success in South Africa late last year was characteristic of the myopia that exists. Six months earlier, India had shown no interest or care for this style of the game. Now it is seen as the future and a perfect fit for a Bollywood view of the world.

Earlier in the year she asked each member of the team to research a player, so they could understand better what it means to represent their state. There is a secret players' code known as "The Wilson", after the legendary former all-rounder Betty Wilson. Attempts to discover the meaning of The Wilson are met with silence, but it is safe to say the forthright 86-year-old who still attends every game in Melbourne embodies the hardness and determination to which the Spirit players aspire.

The Indian fielding was poor, maybe even laughable, and no one is taking away the right of the Australian media to criticise it. But to write that the fielders were behaving as if waiting for servants to fetch the ball is an obnoxious piece of below-the-belt writing, which needs to be ignored rather than highlighted.

They’ve consistently also maintained that to keep winning, it’s vital to get over the fear of failure. The team works in percentages, backs itself to win most matches and is prepared to lose one here and there in the bargain. Only Australia could have lost the game to India in Adelaide in 2003-04 after scoring 400 on the first day. They still didn’t change their way of playing because of just one failure. They maintained the same scoring rate and played for a result.

The lefty angle slanting across the right-hander, particularly at high pace, is the most severe of challenges for front-foot play. To drive anything but the fullest of deliveries is to court the risk of exposing the blade’s susceptible outside half. And forcing strokes with the vertical bat off the back-foot are for none save the foolhardy.