The Surfer

Granted, the greatest god in the Indian cricket pantheon was looking perilously mortal as late as the first 15 overs of yesterday's match, but Tendulkar, like Steve Waugh before him, has delighted in proving the critics wrong.

While reading the autobiography by former opener Roshan Mahanama or attending the tearful press conference given by allrounder Upul Chandana I felt that with a little more thoughtfulness those cases could have been handled better ... Even Sri Lanka’s most noteworthy No. 3 batsman Asanka Gurusinha left the game in sheer disgust soon after he had played a prominent role in Sri Lanka’s maiden World Cup triumph in 1996.

Ian Healy, 395 dismissals: The Australia wicketkeeper has been overtaken by Mark Boucher and may soon be passed by Adam Gilchrist but he could have been the first to 400 dismissials

"He has done himself no harm at the moment, his performances in the first couple of games have been fantastic," Nielsen said. "It will be interesting to see when they sit down to select that first Test team what they take into account."

Malcolm Speed must be offering up a silent prayer of thanks that next year he is getting out of the surreal world of cricket administration after the mauling the ICC has taken at the London Employment Tribunal …

Walking back down from the caves it is impossible to miss the inevitable sellers making the most of the visiting tourists. We happened across a snake charmer, who hastily began piping a haunting tune which brought forth two swaying cobras with intricate diamond patterns on the back of their heads.

I was happy enough to watch from a distance but was less enthused when the chap shut the cobras back into their wicker basket and approached me with a python in his hands, which he seemed eager for me to touch, hold, hug, kiss, you name it.

For all the comic appearance of his Falstaffian exterior, he was a serious batsman. A rare few, at their peak, have an answer to every ball that is bowled at them: Allan Border was one, at least when England were bowling, Steve Waugh another, and Brian Lara. On England's last tour of Pakistan in 2005, Inzamam was the same, a barrier, a mountain preventing travellers reaching the plains.

To understand the team mechanics and dressing room atmosphere of the present team, one spoke to several coaches and players who were part of the last significant power shift in Indian cricket — the men who saw closely the new-captain-on-the-block Azhar’s Daddy’s Army. While there was a consensus that Dhoni isn’t as naive as Azhar, at the same they all agreed that it isn’t easy for a captain to keep the flock together and assert himself when those around him include commoners who were kings once.

On the flight from Bangalore to Cochin the pilot spent five minutes taking photos of the Australian cricketers. And that was on descent. Still, no real surprises: cricketers here can't take a breath without several scores of people documenting their exhalations on camera phones.

Nearly four years after crippling shoulder and elbow injuries ruined the South Australian's career as one of the country's most promising batsmen, Davies has re-emerged in Victoria and will make his comeback when the Premier Cricket season starts today, alongside Mick Lewis, as captain-coach of Melbourne.

Brett Lee believes he is a changed bowler, at least in part because he is a changed man. For all the joy Lee experiences as the new leader of Australia's attack in the post Glenn McGrath era, it is the mention of his 10-month-old son Preston that sparks the biggest smile