The Surfer

Nari Contractor,who played Jack Iverson in 1953, believes Ajantha Mendis is similar to Iverson who could bowl off-break, leg-break and googlies without a change of action.But Contractor believes the Indian batsmen could have done much better than

Mendis is good but ...

South Africa play England in the first Test at Lord's on Thursday and iafrica.com 's Barend Prins asked former national coach Eric Simons to share his experiences of the 2003 tour to England.

Flashback 2003

25-Feb-2013•Nishi Narayanan

Show some respect to local coaches

Makarand Waingankar, in the Hindu , feels local coaches should be given their due

The Guardian's Mike Selvey lists out five areas England need to focus on during their upcoming Test series against South Africa

Five things that England need to do

Steve James, in the Telegraph , calls for the increased use of technology to assist umpires and backs the umpire referrals system

Referrals a must

Derek Pringle, in the Telegraph , writes about the Ashes and England's chances of reprising their series win in 2005.

The pre-eminent contest

The Guardian's Donald McRae interviews Hashim Amla, who, among other things, talks about his famous beard.

The bearded wonder

Anil Kumble says he was surprised how the Indian batsmen played Ajantha Mendis

Mendis? No problem, says Shukla

"The passing of radical bowler Bryan 'Bomber' Wells reveals how far old bonds of comradeship in cricket have declined," writes David Foot in the Guardian blog.

Bye-bye Bomber, a sunny face of county cricket past

John Dyson, the West Indies coach, has said that the West Indies players must realise that they have to curb the ‘natural West Indian way’ in order to achieve consistent success

Windies players need to change their approach, says Dyson

"The 'chokers' tag attached to South Africa's cricket team since their return from sporting isolation 17 years ago may be due a revision following the appointment of a bit-part England one-day player called Jeremy Snape to their coaching staff,"

Choke or panic?

"As it stands, if NZC were to withdraw from next year's tour of Zimbabwe for reasons other than security or safety issues, they would be liable for an automatic fine of US$2m, plus all liabilities suffered by the host board (television rights

The tour that nobody wants

Scott Styris fired a salvo of harsh text messages at Mark Richardson, a former New Zealand opener turned journalist, because of what the allrounder thought to be a negative article written by Richardson

The delicate balance of a newspaper columnist

"There are some captains who remain captains, and there are some who grow into the role of a leader," writes Imran Khan in the Hindustan Times

Imran and Kumble impressed with Dhoni

"Over the years you begin to realise that your life is not in peril every time you walk out to bat against the likes of Donald, Walsh, Ambrose or Malcolm Marshall

The test against speed

In the Observer , Kevin Mitchell writes: "What matters to the ICC is they have been saved from making a judgment call (which they would have fudged by suspending Zimbabwe temporarily because 'they are not good enough'), and England don't lose

Selling conscience for votes

25-Feb-2013•Kanishkaa Balachandran

The summer picks up speed

'The ICC should just write out a cheque for $10m to Mugabe'

The ICC elite might be congratulating themselves on a satisfactory compromise, but the initial reaction from the media indicates they are less impressed.

25-Feb-2013•Martin Williamson

A bad precedent

Simon Barnes, in the Times , criticises the ICC for changing the status of the controversial Oval Test in 2006 from that of a forfeited match to a draw.