The Surfer

The charts have not been updated since 1918, so there was a chance that it had moved or shrunk. However, we decided it was worth investigating. My brother would not allow me to take his proper cricket gear, but we found a small bat and a tennis ball and set out to play the first game on the sandbar for 80 years.

“On Monday morning I saw a newspaper headline which read: ‘One hero wanted at The Oval, report in at 10.30 in the morning’,” Pietersen said. “I wanted to be that hero.” The hero rode his luck. The hat-trick ball was deflected off his shoulder to slip. Then, he edged Warne behind but Adam Gilchrist knocked the ball out of the path of Matthew Hayden. Pietersen was then dropped on 15 by Warne.

"I am not young but at the same time I cannot be called a veteran too. There are many in the Elite panel who are 55-58 but there are still good. I think, as you go ahead, you tend to handle pressure better. One thing I have learnt in these years to stay in control of the proceedings, and in these times, it’s important."

I look around and I see almost everyone here sitting with a laptop in front. I belong to the transistor generation. My columns even now are written in longhand.

I was captain for the final six years of my Test career and I am certain my players would have thought I'd gone bonkers if I'd even put up the idea of such a gathering. How would I have handled Australian coach John Buchanan's modern-day version, which he hopes will toughen his players for the Ashes battle against England? For a start, I would have taken great care to protect my right shoulder.

Two months ago, assuming his return to full fitness, a Flintoff-led England in Australia looked inevitable. But Strauss' candidature has gained momentum as his calm and authoritative leadership has guided England to a victory against Pakistan in the Test series and a drawn NatWest Series that had seemed beyond them. The decision, to be announced tomorrow, remains too close to call.

A little over three years back, the Oval was not even a figment of anyone's imagination. Rubber plantations abounded in this part of the Malaysian capital, and what is now the Kinrara Oval was also a plantation then

With a capacity between 4,300 and 4,500, the Kinrara Oval boasts of six pitches, apart from four turf practice pitches and three other synthetic tracks, and 21,000 square feet of soil has been imported from Darwin in Australia

Riding the Honda CDI in his usual carefree fashion with Razzak in the back, Mortaza suddenly let go the steering and spread his hands on reaching the Chitra Bridge but still managed to balance the bike with ease. “He has fantastic control of a motorbike so I wasn’t worried,” Razzak tried to put up a brave face. One of Mortaza’s childhood pals inform that they used to jump from the bridge on to goods carrying barges as they passed.

I have been India’s best bowler for two seasons, I have been consistent in all the series that I have played and I am still India’s fastest bowler. I have experience on my side and I have done well, especially in the death overs, so if the selectors think I am back to my best, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t get my place back. It’s another thing if the selectors don’t want me, in that case I am happy playing for Delhi.