The Surfer

Regular viewers of England Test matches will recognise Phil Brown, the freelance photographer whose loud shirts and unkempt features make frequent unscheduled appearances on the screen, particularly during lulls in play and post-match media melees

Harsha Bhogle, in the Indian Express , gives a lowdown on what teams can expect from the conditions in South Africa as compared to last year's frenzy in India

Termed 'unfit, fat and lazy' by Kevin Pietersen, Samit Patel is working his way back to fitness with much rigor at the gym in the hope of making an early international comeback

Neil Johnson, writing in the Witness , says the performances of South Africa's newer players, such as Wayne Parnell and Roelof van der Merwe, and the relative failure of Australia's less experienced players to make an impact, proved critical in

Shane Warne, in the Times , writes of his experience with Rajasthan Royals in South Africa so far, and the interesting interactions he's had with some of the Indians in the squad.

Benedict Bermange, in a guest column on the Supersport website, traces South Africa's knack of producing top-quality allrounders to Aubrey Faulkner, who, a century ago, was establishing himself in the national team.

The ECB's marketing of the the upcoming summer of cricket in England under the banner 'The Great Exhibition' could well backfire and make an exhibition of English cricket itself if the home team fails, writes David Hopps in his blog in the Guardian

Kevin Pietersen, who will captain Bangalore Royal Challengers and play in his country of birth, has a series of factors going against him as he heads into the IPL, despite the small matter of getting richer by US$1.55 million, writes Lawrence Booth

Peter Roebuck writes in the Sydney Morning Herald that Australia's struggles in 50-over cricket means their squad needs a radical overhaul, beginning with changes for Friday's final ODI in South Africa and then in the UAE against Pakistan.

In the Hindu , S Dinakar wonders whether the specialist wicketkeepers are a dying breed and if the modern-day game places too much importance on depth in batting.

In his assessment of the New Zealand players over the domestic summer, Hamish McDouall classifies the performances between the two extremes of 'Scorchio' and 'Chilled to the bone'

The seductive magic of cover drives and leg spin has won cricket fans around the world and now organisers behind a new initiative close to the Gaza border hope the sport could transcend the boundaries on what is perhaps the world's stickiest wicket,

In an interview with the Sunday Times , Shane Warne spoke about the possibility of playing in front of friendly South African crowds, how he took the Royals to victory last year and his relationship with Proteas captain Graeme Smith.

However great the 2005 Ashes may have been, the cricket world four years later is transformed not by Pietersen and Flintoff's heroics, but by Twenty20 and the Indian Premier League, writes Owen Slot in the Times .

Australia have in recent weeks played an anonymous brand of 50-over cricket

A win in New Zealand is laudable, writes Rohit Mahajan in Outlook , but plain tracks, plainer opposition call for temperance