The Surfer

The distinct lack of cricketing communication between those that have been around for a decade and more, and those who are just cutting their teeth in international cricket left the latter confused and a little disillusioned. The wealth of knowledge and experience gained through hours of battle remained unshared, and that has always been one of the great tragedies of Indian cricket.

Why has a team that was once being thought of rivalling Australia (in Tests) as the best in the world, disintegrated into one that is disjointed, filled with insecure players ill at ease and suspicious of each other.

But his greatest virtue had nothing to do with his cricketing prowess. It was that he had time for everybody. There was no side to Bobby. In the high-pressure world of big-time cricket, he did not seal himself in a bubble. He wanted to embrace the whole world.

Cricket is, and always has been, Bravo's obsession, although this is not unusual for a young West Indian. He has used what he calls his God-gifted talent to attain every one of his goals to date. 'I have always played cricket, no matter what,' he says. 'If I had a piece of stick or an orange in my hand I would always play. I loved shadow batting. I used to pick my own team. I would pick a West Indies team - in the days of Desmond Haynes, Richie Richardson, Carl Hooper and those guys - and an England team and they would compete against each other.

I can understand the feelings of people who say the World Cup should have been abandoned out of respect to Bob but, being a great cricket man, he would have wanted it to continue and at least now we have the chance to honour his memory.

Play badly and Michael Vaughan's men will receive flak in the press and some grumbles from former players, while the Barmy Army defiantly supports them come what may. As Woolmer used to say on the golf course when his opponent deposited the ball into the water: 'The ball's in the lake; nobody died.' Some sense of perspective remains.

“While India have the money to confront the old order, the Pakistanis like to portray themselves as maligned outsiders, an image their players have reinforced in the past three years by favouring a hard-line Islamic faith.”

“The ICC will disregard him, of course, arguing that the show must always go on, if only to avoid shelling out millions to compensate the television companies covering this bloated tournament.”