David Gower

London: Inarguably among the most elegant of willow-wielders, David Gower (a former England captain, by the way) took time off for The Telegraph and picked five batsmen who should make the biggest headlines in the near future.

Here goes...

On the qualities he looks for in batsmen

Somebody with more talent than the average batsman... A Sachin Tendulkar will no doubt be an extreme example... I look for batsmen with a feisty attitude... With confidence... A certain style...

On the weightage he would give to temperament

I’d say 60 per cent skill and 40 per cent temperament. Actually, it’s all part of the same package and one is no good without the other. It’s no good being the finest batsman at nets if you don’t have the temperament to deliver when in the middle. Only a good temperament allows you to deal with pressure... Nerves, expectations... Everything plays a part.

Ross Taylor

On whether a decline in the standard of bowling has made batting easier

There are some very good batting figures around, suggesting that the bat is stronger than the ball... How does one compare? Well, no team has the potency of the West Indies attack from the mid-Seventies till the mid-Eighties or thereabouts... Of course, till the other day, the Australians had (Glenn) McGrath and (Shane) Warne... Others haven’t had bowlers of that calibre... Generally speaking, pitches around the world are quite good nowadays. I wouldn’t say I’m not pleased with the quality of batting on display...

On the five batsmen (alphabetically) set to make the biggest headlines

ALASTAIR COOK (22-year-old left-hander, England): He has just beaten me as the youngest England batsman to score 1,500 Test runs... Cook has matured very quickly, in 16-17 months... Some have compared him to me, but it took me longer to understand my game... One or two things are always going to crop up, but he has worked his game out very nicely... He’s level-headed, knows his strengths and weaknesses... He’s honest with himself and, above all, is a nice person. A bright guy, really.

Chamara Silva

DINESH KARTHIK (22-year-old right-hander, India): I know a lot of people have been promoted to open in India, but not too many have survived for long... Karthik is different and hasn’t been a short-lived wonder... He’s got a hundred and a handful of fifties in reasonably quick time. He’s a determined young man who is willing to learn... Conditions were tough in the first Test (Lord’s), but he looked comfortable while the more established batsmen had to work hard. England’s bowling, if you recall, had been really good... The best since the 2005 Ashes. Karthik did well at Trent Bridge too.

CHAMARA SILVA (27-year-old right-hander, Sri Lanka): The Sri Lankans seem to produce good batsmen and he’s the latest... I haven’t seen much of him in Tests, but he has caught the eye in the ODIs... He’s a good timer and isn’t limited in stroke-play. That he has Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara around him means he can learn and get better that much quicker. He’s a good enough talent himself and doesn’t have to copy any of them, though. I’m sure he will soon move up the order and have opportunities to bat for long.

Dinesh Karthik

ROSS TAYLOR (23-year-old right-hander, New Zealand): He hasn’t played a Test as yet, but was very impressive during the tri-series in Australia this year... He’s an attacking batsman... A fiesty player with good shots... New Zealand have been looking for somebody to pin their batting on and he looks good for that role... He’s going to be even better once he’s more consistent.

Alastair Cook

AB de VILLIERS (23-year-old right-hander, South Africa): He’s a natural stroke-maker with a good hand-eye coordination... Of course, he needs to be consistent and probably needs more exposure to different conditions... Perhaps, he could improve his batting against spinners... The more he’s exposed to them, the better he will be. As with the other four, watch out for him!

On the Sachin versus Brian Lara debate

I wouldn’t like to separate the two, but would go for Lara... I think he’s played some genuinely single-handed match-winning innings... Indeed, Lara has more performances where he has been the lone hand. His record shows big hundreds... Quite simply, he’s played a good many defining innings.

On the number of years Sachin has ahead of him

I’d like to comment at the end of this Test series.

AB de Villiers

On whether batsmen get to know within when their time is up

Yes... It could be because of a combination of factors — physical, mental... It would be nice to say ‘Thank-you, I’ve had a good innings and it’s time to say goodbye,’ but that rarely happens... The selectors make that decision for you... Batting is like a drug, it keeps you going... You don’t feel anything when the going is good... The hardest part of batting is not the act itself, but getting up two days later and asking yourself to do it again... Tough itineraries take their toll... Mentally and physically...

Finally, on the No. 1 batsman at this point in time

(Grins) There’s Sachin... I like Rahul Dravid... Kevin Pietersen is very exciting, but my No. 1 is Ricky Ponting. He rarely fails... He’s consistently brilliant.