In fact, Srikkanth and his team would do well to take inspiration from the chairman of a previous selection committee some 40 years ago.

Cricket is always bigger than any player or group of players, and the cricketing authorities must react swiftly to ensure that the game's reputation is not tarnished any further than it already has been.

This is our problem, as I see it: whenever there is an episode of this kind, we tend to see it in isolation. We make noises, we say all the right things, we demand 'strict action', we get our blood pressure up… and then we move on. Until the next episode, and the one after that.

From a neutral point of view the result keeps the series alive: they have an opportunity to level the series and there should be some good crowds at Lord's.

What has been the point of much debate is how Pakistan are able to produce so many great fast bowlers even while India have the occasional Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath or Zaheer Khan.

England need to refocus on their batting: they must be careful not to push too hard at the ball outside the stumps. Prior showed how to play that way, and so did Cook.

Mohd. Yousuf is one of the very few to have an equally successful career in ODIs with almost 10,000 runs at an average of over 42 and a strike rate of 75, underlining the fact that in the midst of the big hitters there is a place in the shorter version of the game for the true artist.

Honestly, I had sworn to bury my head in the ground, retreat to some remote forest of my cricketing mind. It wasn't fickleness, fate or bad luck that put my well heeled plans to naught. The culprit was V.V.S Laxman.

Deep down inside they are aware that if they are injured or indisposed they could well lose their place for good if the replacement proves to be successful.

Financial security apart, the most important aspect of a sportsman's career is the accepted cycle of fitness and injury issues, and in today's circumstances that has become more acute than earlier.