The Surfer

Graeme Smith's sense of pride and purpose appears to have had a salutary effect on his team as the South Africans, who were once (in)famous for being chokers, are now playing with the panache, aggression, enterprise and ambition that defined the best

Test of the best

25-Feb-2013•Judhajit

Kevin Pietersen: sacked for being Kevin Pietersen

As the dust settles on a week bizarre even by the standards of English cricket, we must ask ourselves what it is that Kevin Pietersen has done wrong, writes Simon Barnes in the Times .

Peter Roebuck in the Age looks at Australia's new Twenty20 hero David Warner and finds that, pleasingly for headline-writers, he has a brother who also plays

Warner brothers: A tale of two sons

In the Australian , Peter Lalor chats to the national coach Tim Nielsen about his coaching philosophy

Australia's low-key coach knows his place

Ashley Mallett's newest book tells the story of Barry "Nugget" Rees, the talisman in the Adelaide Oval dressing-room

Nugget: Man of the Century

In celebrating Mahela Jayawardene's 100th Test, Rex Clementine pays tribute to Sri Lanka's captain in the Sunday Island , listing his achievements and pitfalls in a fulfilling 11-year Test career

Mahela's unsung achievement

25-Feb-2013•Judhajit

'Umpiring chose me' - Taufel

Simon Taufel, in an interview with Gautam Sheth in Daily News and Analysis , speaks of his career as an international umpire, the challenges, and the increasing use of technology in making decisions.

'Pietersen lacked the qualities of a Test captain'

High scoring encounters on flat tracks where bowlers stand no chance, and high profile matches played a neutral venues that have failed to draw crowds, have adversely affected the Ranji Trophy competition, writes Bobilli Vijay Kumar in the Times of

Flat tracks in Ranji matches a concern

G Viswanath, writing in the Hindu , lauds Wasim Jaffer for the manner in which he's led the Mumbai team in the Ranji Trophy, and traces his success as an opening batsman to his formative years as a cricketer in Mumbai's National Cricket Club.

Jaffer's enormous contribution to Mumbai

New Zealand's selectors have indicated they do not rate the country's domestic cricket as a strong enough standard of play for form alone to enable selection to international level, feels Mark Richardson

A mountain too high for some

25-Feb-2013•Jamie Alter

'A' tours let selectors sort wheat from chaff

The selections of two new batsmen (Martin Guptill and Neil Broom) for today's ODI at Eden Park gives an insight into the importance of the modern A tours for the national selectors, writes Adam Parore in the Weekend Herald .

Plenty of people, not least those in the South African team, have termed Graeme Smith's decision to bat at the SCG last week with a broken hand as inspirational

Graeme's gallantry was glorious, but wrong

25-Feb-2013•Jamie Alter

'Strauss can do anything he puts his mind to...'

Peter Roebuck, writing in The Witness , feels the climax of the Sydney Test provided a fitting end to a closely fought series.

The best Test series in Australia for decades

Heroics of legendary allrounder Kapil Dev, who turned 50 this week, inspired childhood dreams in India, writes Dileep Premachandran in the Guardian .

Kapil's mighty contribution must not be forgotten

Sachin Tendulkar airs his opinions on night Tests, the switch-hit, over-rates, world domination and more in an interview with the Hindu .

Tendulkar on switch-hitting

25-Feb-2013•Nishi Narayanan

Guptill gets his chance at No 3

Two months ago the idea of making his New Zealand debut against the West Indies would not have entered Martin Guptill's head, writes David Leggat in the New Zealand Herald .