The Surfer

As Paris found out, the white ball does nothing through the air even when new, and if the worn ball starts to swing then aspersions are cast on the not-so-natural wear patterns that may have caused these deviations.

So yes, Chris Gayle said something that was inappropriate, disrespectful and stupid….again. But the blame must also lie with others who knew that these risks existed and took them anyhow. If cricket truly want to make a stand against this type of thing, then cricket administrators and broadcasters need to do it properly. Be consistent. Don't allow people to push the boundary on this issue with words, comments or advertising.Because until that happens, you are only making a stand on the issue when it suits.Currently, events like the one that happened with Chris Gayle are avoidable risks that cricket and broadcasters are accepting.

Sadly, Gayle is not a lone ranger. In the past couple of years I've watched greats of sport - men with OBEs and legions of fans - boldly and publicly sleaze on to female members of the media with no shame. It makes me wonder what they're like when the veneer of professionalism is removed altogether and they're operating out in society. Lock up your daughters? More like arm yourself with mace

"Wasim Akram was the first one who got selected for bowling and I was the first batsman to be picked," Dar says. "I came to Lahore from Gujranwala got admission in Islamia College and played from there," he adds. Akram would be selected by the Pakistan team soon after and go onto become arguably the greatest left-arm fast bowler in history. Dar continued to put in the hard yards on the local circuit but soon realised he couldn't cut it at the top level. "I really wanted to be a cricketer. I gave it my best shot," says Dar.

As a captain, I think I always believe and always tell my team-mates that I will never ask anyone in the team to do something that I can't do first. The main ingredient has to be belief. There is no substitute for it. You may have the talent and skills, but belief is paramount. You have to back yourself to win the series and not just a Test match. Winning a four-Test series takes a lot of mental preparation, a lot of discipline. Not easy at all. You have to be ready for the challenge on a daily basis, mentally and physically. We have the skills. We just need to find the right kind of mindset.

Compton, 32, opened in his nine previous Tests but is likely to bat at three in South Africa, the position he confirms would be his preferred place to bat in the side and where he comes in for Middlesex. For a player who put so much into his batting and fulfilling his international ambitions, a lengthy period out of the side has hurt Compton but he believes he has learned from the experience of being dropped by England and returned as a wiser, more seasoned batsman who recognises that at times he put too much pressure on himself in his nine Tests.

I have heard it said that the England captaincy may carry peculiar pressures- perhaps due to the often slightly tempestuous relationship between players, media and fans in English sport. So one may wonder about the England captains of recent vintage in our sample. Of those only, Michael Vaughan (36.02 with captaincy vs 50.98 without) shows a big negative shift. Alastair Cook (49.94 vs 46.36), Andrew Strauss (40.76 vs 41.04) and Nasser Hussain (36.04 vs 38.10) all have pretty similar numbers for the two cases. Mike Atherton shows a slightly bigger shift but in the positive direction (40.58 vs 35.25)

If Steve Smith dreamt of one day climbing to Australian cricket's loftiest perch, naked ambition was never on show. Having been given the job, nothing seems to have changed. Arriving solo in Melbourne the day after the Perth Test, he could be seen collecting his luggage from the airport carousel before wheeling an overloaded trolley into the distance with not a minder, manager, or lapdog, let alone entourage, in sight. Hopefully there was a car.

Twelve months on, the pain is undiminished in Sydney grade cricket, where some of Hughes's inner circle still play. His brother Jason and his close friend Matt Day continue with Mosman, his mate Daniel Smith is at Sydney, batting mentor Neil D'Costa is coaching at Campbelltown-Camden, and Hughes has mates scattered through Western Suburbs and other clubs. They might not be on television, but their grief is real.

The BCCI is attempting to give the impression of doing good while carrying on as before. President Shashank Manohar, more media-friendly than his predecessor N. Srinivasan, has countered perceptions of conflict of interest with perceptions of solutions. Perhaps the board's legal team will come out with air-tight solutions over the next couple of months. But it is too early to send out for the champagne.

This is perhaps best typified by the size of their World Cups. Rugby's version comprises 20 nations. World Rugby, the sport's governing body, is considering increasing the number to 24 for future tournaments. "It allows us to justifiably claim we're a global sport. With a smaller World Cup you could dispute that," says Morgan Buckley, a bigwig at World Rugby. Inclusion in the World Cup has helped smaller nations gain exposure and so increase sponsorship, bringing in more money to develop the game, he says.