The Surfer

Australia haven't been in the best form for some time while things are looking up for England ahead for the Ashes

England can win in Australia

Javed Miandad, the former Pakistan captain, is directing the Chinese team’s preparations for their debut international appearance at the Guangzhou Asian Games.He tells Uthra G Chaturvedi in the Indian Express that China could be the surprise team

China - the next big thing in world cricket?

A thoughtfully selected all-time XI can spark off debate, which can be very educating, says Ayaz Memon in the Mint

The overcoming-injury XI

Nasser Hussain, the former England captain, faces Australia's fast bowlers but through a bowling machine at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough

Hussain faces the Pro-Batter

Mike Selvey, writing in the Guardian , says the ECB is getting things right by investing heavily in coaches at the game's grassroots in England with 33,000 coaches graduating from the board's Coach Education Programme since it was started four

ECB gets coaching house in order

Andy Bull, writing in the Guardian , explains why this trip to Australia is such a significant one for England cricketers despite the current Australian team being among the weakest to have hosted an Ashes series in quite some time.

Why the Ashes matter

Greg Baum writes in the Age that England's comprehensive series of warm-up games means they should be ready - perhaps more so than Australia - for the first Ashes Test.

Australia's odd Ashes build-up

25-Feb-2013•Brydon Coverdale

Let Ponting bat, without the captaincy

Ricky Ponting was never a great captain, though he led a great side, says Suresh Menon in Tehelka

In the semi-final of the 1981-82 Ranji season, with Karnataka left-arm Raghuram Bhatt spinner coiling webs around Bombay's batsmen, Sunil Gavaskar walked out as a left-hand batsman to negate him in the second innings

When Gavaskar batted left-handed

25-Feb-2013•Nitin Sundar

India's cricket journalism marred by jingoism

In a scathing indictment of the cricket media in India, Peter Roebuck writes in the Outlook that individual glorification and jingoism have blinded the bulk of the media to what should be its chief job, being the eyes and ears of the nation.

Venkat Ananth and Akshay Sawai of the Open magazine go behind the scenes to find what cricketers do, speak, and most importantly, eat, during the lunch break.

Hayden and Warne go for the <i>naans</i>

25-Feb-2013•Nitin Sundar

Why Tendulkar's bat looks big

Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald , David Sygall tries to analyse what makes Sachin Tendulakar's bat look bigger than normal.

Cricket Australia's AGM is approaching, and Robert Craddock writes in the Courier-Mail that it's time for some firm decisions on the country's new Twenty20 competition.

Time to save domestic cricket

25-Feb-2013•Brydon Coverdale

India's rotation policy robbing cricket fans

The rotation policy of venues for international cricket in India is impractical, says Anand Vasu in the Hindustan Times

Writing in the New Zealand Herald , Adam Parore says that for all of the praise we must send the way of Bangladesh, following their 4-0 ODI series win over New Zealand, there is one word which best sums up this result: embarrassing.

NZ have a a mountain to climb

Hartley Anderson, in the Jamaica Observer , is optimistic about the future of West Indies cricket

Ray of hope for West Indies cricket

Cricket in the Indian state of Jharkhand, which has produced MS Dhoni and Saurabh Tiwary, has remained mired in the shackles of mediocrity

Dhoni's Jharkhand experiencing change

Walking towards the government headquarters in Bangalore, to catch a glimpse of the unfolding political drama, Ramachandra Guha instead chose to go to the Chinnaswamy stadium to watch, as he writes in the Telegraph another, and indubitably more

Cricket and consolation