The Surfer

Ian Bishop, on the Cricket Couch , talks about starting out as an opening batsman, a being timid kid, the mental attributes needed to be a quick, and how tough it was for him to quit cricket early.

South Africa's all-round excellence makes them worthy new world leaders, writes Kevin Garside in the Independent

England had a couple of selectorial dilemmas before this Test

With VVS Laxman’s exit, one of Indian cricket’s most glorious chapters of aesthetic batting has shut, says Vijay Lokapally in the Hindu .

West Indies' victories in the past two decades have been few and far between

Ahead of New Zealand's tour of India, the team finds itself surrounded by problems after a disastrous tour of the West Indies, something that New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has to address to be in a position to call itself a "world leading sports

The Pietersen saga has put the batsman in a negative light and eventually led to his omission from the England squad

Although Kevin Pietersen did himself no favours by letting the world know about his discomfort in the England dressing room, Paul Newman, in his column in the Daily Mail , wonders whether it was forced on him because he wasn't accepted the way he

Jiang Shuyao - the first Chinese cricketer to play in an overseas league - has travelled from Shenyang, China to play club cricket in England

The induction of Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake in the Big Bash League would "trivialise" the tournament, according to Chloe Saltau in the Sydney Morning Herald

After the selection of the Indian Test and T20 squads last week, Makarand Waingankar, writing in the Hindu , concludes today's selectors need to be passionate and less analytical about statistics, as in the past.

The third Test against South Africa at Lord's will be England captain Andrew Strauss's 100th Test

In the Guardian , Vic Marks writes that the South Africans had cleverly jettisoned the man they feared the most, Kevin Pietersen, for the final Test by gently leaking that one or two of their players had been in receipt of text messages from him.

Derek Pringle, writing in the Daily Telegraph , says Kevin Pietersen's exclusion from the Lord's Test is a brave move by England, showing they believe in their team unity even if it means not having the services of their most attacking batsman.

It has been 20 years since Zimbabwe were extended Test status

Kevin Pietersen is likely to get picked for the third Test at Lord's, a sign of special treatment for him, says Steve James in the Telegraph on Sunday

Yohan Blake, the Olympic-medal winning Jamaican sprinter, analyses India's bowling attack, and talks about miming cricket strokes during sprinting training

Stephen Brenkley, in the Independent , says the latest situation involving Kevin Pietersen and the England team has made the build-up to the Lord's Test much trickier.

Mike Selvey in the Guardian writes that if Pietersen, as he has indicated, walks away from Test cricket, England will be deprived of a linchpin of the side that still stands as the world's best in two of three formats

Makarand Waingankar profiles former India captain GS Ramchand , whom he describes as the ideal captain "with a mind so grounded, a nature devoted to remove problems and a temperament which avoided overconfidence while never losing confidence." More