The Surfer

Three of the four semi-finalists – Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand – were trapped on the same charter flight which was mysteriously delayed at Grenada airport and there were further delays for the teams in Barbados. Hundreds of international tourists were scouring airports throughout the Caribbean for lost bags as the worst fears of cup organisers were realised when the West Indies' fragile flights system fell apart.

What on earth were we thinking a couple of months ago when we believed our best one-day team didn't have him in it? By far the highlight of this long-winded World Cup is not the potential of Shaun Tait, the deception of Brad Hogg or the injury status of Shane Watson, but the return to his commanding best of Hayden. Hayden's century against New Zealand last Friday was further confirmation of his position as player of the tournament.

Filling this man's boots will be no sinecure and quite why the ECB have done so in haste is a mystery. Having commissioned the Schofield report, it might have been wise to wait for its findings, which are due in mid-May. Michael Vaughan can handle the team perfectly adequately in the short-term and Peter Moores could have dealt with the peripherals. But Moores was signed and delivered in full before Fletcher's tears had dried. It has a strange smell about it. The ECB should have covered the globe in their search for the right man, or men even, for the demands of modern international cricket may now call for separate coaches in the two forms of the game. The ever-present nature of the role, the endless nights away from home and the repetitive calls to arms, take an extraordinary mental toll. But not a bit of it - out with the old, in with the new, just like that.

Peter Moores has been given the next worst thing to a hospital pass. He should have been inducted by Fletcher this summer and allowed to bring in his right-hand man to bolster his authority.

The family is behind me. At present, we need to balance a little bit with some personal contact with them all. But they understand that cricket is my life. They have been more than generous in allowing me to achieve so many things in my life.

... these reports, part of a whisper campaign over the past month to oust Ganguly, have referred to his taking 129 balls to make 66 against Bangladesh, and implied that he took the time for purely selfish reasons. There is unattributed talk within the cricketing fraternity that these reasons are to do with some vague clause in an endorsement contract he has, that allegedly fetches him more money for more minutes spent at the crease.

Cricketers can be precious and take criticism poorly, but with Peter it was always fair and, mostly, constructive and it was this, combined with his genuineness as a human being, that inspired the Sussex players to want to improve and win trophies.

They say marathon runners hit the pain barrier and get a second wind to get them to the finishing line. Can this World Cup do the same? It's been a marathon and the pain barrier has been strung out over a month, but let's hope the second wind arrives in the form of an exciting finals series.

"It's all happening," Lee said. "I love music and am interested in acting. Rather than think in a few years, 'I wish I'd done this or that' I thought, 'Bugger it, I'll give it a go'."