The Surfer

If the series against New Zealand teaches England anything it is that they have yet to come close to mastering the nuances of one-day cricket. In two of the three games, they were beaten with embarrassing ease and in the third survived to win only on the back of a remarkable four-over assault by Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan.

While the Dhoni-Rhiti nexus has made news, on the evidence available, the Indian captain is guilty of impropriety rather than proven wrongdoing. There have been more egregious cases that have been ignored. In 2006, Kiran More's cricket school in Baroda became the first Indian client/partner of the Australian International Sports Academy, a private enterprise that Greg Chappell was affiliated to and that ran a programme called The Chappell Way.

Why is Guptill's innings so significant? Please choose from the following: a) it helped New Zealand win the series with a game to spare b) it backed up his Lord's 103 not out two days earlier which was previous uncharted ODI territory for a Kiwi c) it equalled Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards for the highest score in an ODI against England d) he bolstered a team coming off a low ebb after being trounced in a test series e) it trumped Lou Vincent's previous highest score against Zimbabwe in 2005 by 17 runs f) all of the above.

The harsh demands of international cricket coupled with the England team director Andy Flower's understandable need to not neglect his own family, meant that the novel idea of splitting the national side's coaching hierarchy was implemented as soon as Giles stressed his enthusiasm for taking charge of the limited-overs teams.

It is not that there was no media coverage of these events. There was enough reportage. But, every story was limited in its scope of investigation and each of the above listed malaise was seen in isolation and dealt in isolation. Two important beats of modern journalism -- politics and business -- failed to even embark on a study to understand the diabolic convergence that was taking place in the name of cricket.

Scrap the BCCI and start afresh. Have a public audit of this body's activities over the past decade. The BCCI is characterised by its contempt for the public interest. By the impunity it could act with, confident of its power, corporate, political and media. Start over. Build and launch a body that is transparent and accountable. A body that runs the Indian team must be accountable to the public and the country in whose name it acts.

The characters have been varied too, from king of understatement Trevor Bailey to the wildly exuberant Henry Blofeld, who was described on the programme as the Virender Sehwag of commentary.

Apparently, stringent and lucrative player and commentary contracts are seen to have 'bought' the silence of our icons. Last year, all cricket players, past and present were given hefty cheques as retirement benefits. It was a nice gesture by the board, but one that appears to have been designed to ensure servility. Today, our star cricketers are either players, mentors, brand ambassadors, commentators or selectors: all subject to the BCCI's diktats, each compromised by the relentless desire to be on the gravy train. The few like Bishen Bedi and Kirti Azad who have spoken out are branded permanent angry rebels driven by personal agendas.

Wouldn't it have been wonderful if the fans had refused to turn up at Eden Gardens for the final, forcing it to be played before an empty stadium? Alone among the stakeholders in the sport, they have the power to force the cricket board to clean up its act, first by keeping away from matches and then by boycotting the products of the sponsors involved in the IPL. That fantasy was, however, short-lived.

Put simply, there has been a bit of soft cricket, and it's something they need to eradicate before they take on the Australians. A lot of the talk will focus on Nick Compton, especially when Kevin Pietersen is fit to reclaim his place.