The Surfer

Broad's fitness and form will be central to England's hopes against New Zealand and Australia - as well as in the Champions Trophy. England have never won a major 50-over tournament but Broad is bullish. "It's a fantastic opportunity for us because I can't remember the last time we lost a one-day series in England. Just like India were favourites for the last World Cup in their conditions, we stand a good chance of winning it."

The first mis-hit six I actually saw on television was another top-edged hook, by another Pakistani batsman in Australia. This was authored by that little dynamo of a batsman, Qasim Umar, no height but all cut and hook, and affectionately nicknamed "Disco". He was beaten for pace by the West Indian Tony Gray in Perth, so much so that though the ball described a high arc, it went only a little to the left of the wicketkeeper in angle. Umar kissed the edge of his bat, smiling acknowledgment to being beaten, but being alive

Shane Watson telling me in the last Delhi Test that I was playing a sh** on-side flick, though he knew it was the best shot of my game. So it's the kind of sledging you expect from the opposition team and I really don't worry much about it. And somehow when they sledge me I get inspired.

Krishnamachari Srikkanth, the former chairman of selectors, was honest in answering the media's questions. He wasn't responsible for the needless speculation that arose after he had clarified. But it appears as if the BCCI has gagged the current chairman. Any question and Sandeep Patil replies with the text message, 'contact BCCI secretary'.

"After that first couple of weeks when I wanted to give up cricket, move to America, try baseball - all those ridiculous things that fly around your head - I started plotting. I just remember thinking: right, well, I'm going to have to perform to a level where they have no choice but to select me again. Pretty much everyone in the press said I was never going to play for England again, that was it.

The Middlesex county club are based at Lord's, home of the MCC. When the game's most famous club allowed Middlesex members - as distinct from their own, 18,000-strong body - to bring guests into its pavilion, which houses the holy of holies, the Long Room, for T20 games last year, it produced what might be termed an unsurprising reaction from the faithful.

South Africa -- for no fault of the cricketers themselves --was a big issue. Any serious thinking person, anyone who is passionate about his colour, his race, would certainly have turned his back on South Africa. It's nice to hear about my great innings but the greatest innings that Vivian Richards played was not going to South Africa.

The spokesperson was hopeful that the Australian cricketers would take the developments in right spirit. 'I take courage from the fact that already they are doing duty in teams picked by the likes of Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty. So getting picked by any actual cricketer is a really a step up.

Yet while cricket has thrived in the Bronx, it has often been an afterthought to baseball or soccer. The old cricket fields in Van Cortlandt Park, if they could be called that, were too small for games and overlapped in places. The fields had to be shared with soccer, rugby and football teams, who, cricket players said, mucked up the grass and left holes everywhere. Soccer balls often came bouncing into cricket games. By contrast, the new fields sitting side by side have been carefully measured to regulation size and declared off limits to other sports. There is a drainage system to minimize puddles, and a newly posted map to mark the fields, lest there be any confusion.

Why deny the ball the pleasure of running into the arms of the sponsor logos at the boundary? Much easier to wipe out the deficit with a six. When ends change, Gayle is among the last to reach his new position. He shows no hurry when he takes off his cap to smooth down his hair.