The honours keep pouring in for Muttiah Muralitharan, who recently retired as the highest wicket-taker in Tests with 800 scalps. The latest one is a proposal to name a cricket stadium, currently under construction in Sri Lanka, after him.

A 22,000-capacity stadium, which is being constructed in Pallekele in Murali’s home district of Kandy, is due to stage three World Cup matches in 2011. And according to the Daily Mirror a proposal has been mooted to name the stadium the Muttiah Muralitharan International Cricket Stadium. The proposal has the backing of the provincial governor, Tikiri Kobbekaduwa, and will be put to Sri Lanka Cricket shortly

When the British Prime Minister is visiting India the best way to strike a chord is to talk cricket, the quintessentially English game that now has a distinctly Asian flavour. Addressing employees of a software firm in Bangalore, David Cameron connected by mentioning Ian Botham, whom he called his childhood idol. “Many of you in this room would have grown up revering Kapil Dev. I did the same with Ian Botham,” Cameron said. Then, possibly just to be safe, he mentioned the T word. “And Sachin Tendulkar, the Little Master, is so talented that wherever you’re from, you can’t help but admire him as he hits another century.”

And though the seat of cricket’s power has shifted, for all practical purposes, from Marylebone to Mumbai, George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, showed his knowledge of the game’s nuances by quickly correcting an analogy. According to the Wall Street Journal, one business leader thanked Osborne for making his trip to India within 10 weeks of taking office, likening it to hitting a six in the first over of a Test. Osborne’s response was swift: “A batsman hitting a six in the first over of a Test isn’t likely to survive at the wicket for too long. I have every intention of staying the long haul.” He obviously isn’t a Sehwag fan.

County cricket followers are well known for being a hardy bunch – huddled under blankets and desperately grasping their Thermos flasks - they are used to braving most conditions to watch their local favourites in action.

But two Sussex fans, Jan Marszel and Richard Haynes, had much more than dodgy weather to deal with when a meteorite sailed towards the boundary and hit one man in the chest.

Rudely interrupting Luke Wright and Monty Panesar’s eighth-wicket stand against Middlesex, the rock, five inches in length and thought to be anything up to 4.5 billion years old, crashed into the ground just in front of their two seats square of the wicket and bounced up to hit Mr Marszel in the chest.

“It landed five yards inside the boundary and split into two pieces,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “It came across at quite a speed - if it had hit me full on it could have been very interesting."

Mr Haynes said: “We were quietly supping our pints, both looked up at the same time and saw a black object coming towards us - we didn’t know what it was.

“If it had come from the other direction we might have suspected someone had thrown it, but we saw it come in straight over the ground from quite a way out - it was definitely a meteorite.”

Dr Matthew Genge, a meteorite expert at Imperial College, London, told the Telegraph: “If this turns out to be a meteorite it’s very exciting and would be the first fall in the UK since 1992. Potentially it contains secrets as to the formation of our solar system."

Apparently the 37kg, metre square, 852-pages-edged-in-gold-leaf book on Sachin Tendulkar won’t contain any of the batsman’s blood after all, and it isn’t a biography either.

“There is no truth in my blood being part of the book. The book is basically a photographic publication that celebrates my life and is not an autobiography or a biography," Tendulkar told Times of India. “I understand this information came out during the Test match. As I was focusing on the game, I only got to hear about it yesterday.”

The Guardian had quoted Karl Fowler, chief executive of the book’s publisher, Kraken Media, as saying that the “signature page will be mixed with Sachin's blood. It is what it is – you will have Sachin's blood on the page.”

However, Fowler reportedly told the Times of India that he had been “misunderstood”. "The Opus will not carry any blood as mentioned in the several articles/TV reports that have appeared over the last few days,” he said in a statement. “I believe that my thoughts on this have been misunderstood."

So no blood, no biography and a price tag of $75,000?

What started out as a routine training session, ended up costing Anil Kumble, fomer India captain, dear. Kumble, who is the captain of the Royal Challengers' Bangalore, was at the Chinnaswamy stadium in his hometown Bangalore for a training session. He had left his bag on the ground along with those of the other players before going for training. But on his return his bag was missing. And along with it, his phone, four credit cards, one debit card, three club cards, two airways cards and Rs. 3,000.

"While other players had also left their bags on the ground, it was only Kumble's bag which was missing," said the police. A complaint has been registered in this regard in the Cubbon Park police station and the matter is being investigated

How much would you be willing to cough up for a special edition of Sachin Tendulkar’s biography? Before you decide on a figure, you should know that these particular books measure half a metre square, weigh 37kg, comprise 852 pages edged in gold leaf, one of which has been made with Tendulkar’s blood mixed into the pulp, and include unpublished family pictures and Tendulkar's thoughts about his career. They cost $75,000 each, and only ten copies are being printed, all of which have been pre-ordered.

"The signature page will be mixed with Sachin's blood – mixed into the paper pulp so it's a red resin. It is what it is – you will have Sachin's blood on the page," publisher Kraken Media's chief executive Karl Fowler told the Guardian. "It's not everyone's cup of tea, it's not to everyone's taste and some may think it's a bit weird. But the key thing here is that Sachin Tendulkar to millions of people is a religious icon. And we thought how, in a publishing form, can you get as close to your god as possible?"

And there’s more. The book will also contain Tendulkar’s DNA profile, obtained from a saliva sample, giving those who want to know a look at his “genetic makeup”.

There are around 1000 cheaper bloodless versions of the book as well, which will cost between $2000 and $3000, but will include the DNA profile.

Dean Jones is prone to bouts of controversy, and his latest involves a child born out of wedlock. Jones, the former Australian batsman, recently admitted to having a one-year-old son with a Sydney-based air hostess, and as a result was promptly stripped of a parenting award he received three years ago.

Jones was named Father of the Year in 2007 in his home state of Victoria, in recognition of his work with the Bone Marrow Institute, as well as for being a good father. But the awards council wasn’t too thrilled with his act of infidelity, which he admitted to after learning he would be exposed on a television current affairs show in Australia.

"From now on, 2007 will simply show as blank - that's our attitude," Father of the Year Council president Don Parsons said. "To take off and have a lovechild, and that he hasn't even seen the child... We are somewhat rocked by it. What sort of fathering is that?"

Jones has been married to his wife Jane for 24 years and has two teenage daughters. His affair with Kerri-Anne Hamilton reportedly began in the late 1990s.

Jones also hit the headlines for the wrong reasons when he referred to South Africa’s Hashim Amla as a “terrorist” while commentating in 2006. Since then he has literally donned new hats, offering cricket analysis for an Indian news channel posing as an eccentric academic.

Can Professor Deano come up with a formula to wriggle out of this controversy?

Matthew Hayden fondness for the Tiwi Islands dates back to 2004, when Australia played Sri Lanka in a short Test series in Cairns and Darwin. Now, after his retirement, he has chosen to devote his energies to promote development among the indigenous population there, using cricket as one of the means. "This project is really to facilitate what this wonderful group of people want to achieve in their own community," Hayden told The Weekend Australian. "It embraces all the facets of life which I think are important to a growing child. Sport and the great role it plays, understanding food and the importance of diet and also wellbeing and development through education, which creates self-esteem."

Hayden has visited the islands – just off the coast of Darwin – each year since 2004, and this time he has the company of Allan Border, Michael Kasprowicz and Andy Bichel, former Wallaby Matthew Burke, and 13 prominent corporate executives who have raised AU$200,000 between them for his project. There will be a cricket match on offer, between Hayden XI and Border XI, with an expected turnout of 1000 people, half the islands’ population.

The project also involves a sustainability program, involving planting fruit, vegetable and grain crops, as well as introducing poultry for consumption and sale across the islands.

What’s a ‘Crackit’? It’s a cross between a cricket bat and a tennis racket. It had the shape of a bat but is strung like a racket, and is the invention of Matt King, who played rugby for Melbourne Storm and now represents Warrington.

"It's a lightweight version of a cricket bat, but it's strung and is just like a tennis racket,” King told BBC Radio Merseyside. "It's designed to help kids play cricket a little bit easier and hopefully get families outside and enjoying the outdoors together.”

King said the idea of the Crackit was borne out of his childhood, when his sister would play cricket with a tennis racket because the bat was too heavy, and is now in talks with manufacturers. “We've designed one at the moment and it's a working prototype, but it's a little bit heavier than we would have liked. We're in the process now of getting the weight down and still trying to maintain the strength it has at the moment.”

A 47-year-old mother from North Baddesley, Hampshire, was arrested after refusing to return a cricket ball which her neighbours’ children had hit into her yard, allegedly damaging her car reports the Telegraph.

A visit from the children’s father made no difference to Loretta Cole, who said she was trying to teach the children a lesson, and she was then visited on three occasions by police who tried to persuade her to return the ball. A Hampshire police spokeswoman said that on each occasion Mrs Cole was ''obstructive'' and refused.

''She was made aware that the incident would have to be treated as theft if she continued to keep the ball but that it would be much better for all involved if it could be dealt with by way of a common sense approach,” said the spokeswoman.

“After continuing to refuse to return the ball the suspect was arrested and bailed to attend Lyndhurst police station on July 2. The ball was seized by police as evidence. Mrs Cole was given the opportunity to return the ball a number of times and if this had happened no further action would have been taken. However she left the officers attending with no alternative choice but to take action.”

Mrs. Cole was detained for five hours while she was questioned, had her photograph, DNA swab and fingerprints taken.

''I asked the police if I give the ball back, could I be given a reassurance that they speak to the parents. I wasn't given an assurance and it was left at that,” said Cole.

It was unclear when, if ever, the ball might be returned to the children.

Former India opener S Ramesh is set to appear as the protagonist in his second Tamil movie. Ramesh's character in Patta Patti 50-50 is forced to coach a cricket-obsessed village team for a match to decide which captain wins the hand of a girl they are both interested in.

Ramesh is not the first Indian cricketer enter the movie industry, and follows in the footsteps of Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, Ajay Jadeja, Sandeep Patil and Vinod Kambli. Ramesh told the Indian Express he found the experience of shooting in a South Indian village interesting. “These guys were like typical Indian fans and kept asking about my former team-mates, mainly Sachin Tendulkar,” said Ramesh, who made an impressive entry into international cricket in 1999 before fizzling out due to injuries and technical shortcomings.

He decided to enter movies after losing his place in the Tamil Nadu team, and played the brother of the protagonist in his first film.

"I wanted to do something I was comfortable doing. And though there aren't many serious romantic scenes in this movie, having to attempt them with 300 random people watching you was intimidating," Ramesh said.

Shane Warne’s love-hate relationship with the British took flight again (pun unintended), with a series of angry posts on his Twitter page describing his experience in a British Airways flight from London to Las Vegas for a poker competition. Despite travelling first class, Warne found several things to rant about, ranging from his fellow passenger’s breath to the air conditioning which failed. Sample these tweets from the legspinner, who has previously hit the headlines with text-messaging controversies:

“I hate British airways, way too arrogant and rude towards people !! Will not be flying with them again after my return from Vegas.”

Two minutes later: “Now on plane grumpy and listening to capt tell me how high we will fly what direction his taking off blah blah.. Just shut up let us chill.”

After two more ‘agonising’ minutes:” They spoke to this young family in front of me like they where criminals, they where traveling first class to, so rude and abnoxious.”

After the slowest seven minutes of his life: “Oh by the way I can smell the guys breath to me he is so close, rubbish seat pattern.. Hate this airline !!!”

After a brief sabbatical, where he tweeted about Andy Murray v Nadal and Spain’s chances of lifting the World Cup, came this: “Now capt apologizing for no a/c !!! Seriously this could be one of the worst flying experience of my life.. SHUT UP CAPT !”

Three minutes later, he summed up the journey in three words: “This trip sucks.”

David Cameron has the scissors out again

Having spent his first two months as Prime Minister cutting spending across the country, David Cameron took a break on Friday to snip the ribbon at Chadlington Cricket Club instead and unveil their new match pitch.

The pitch was installed thanks to funding from The Lord’s Taverners and MCC Foundation who between them contributed £7,375 of the £9,013 total cost. The Lord’s Taverners, the official charity for recreational cricket and the UK’s leading youth cricket and disability sports charity, is currently celebrating its Diamond Jubilee and has donated over £400,000 to cricket clubs, schools and youth organisations in the form of cricket equipment bags and grants for non-turf pitches and nets.

Cricket fans in Shropshire will get to see a sneak preview of Andrew Flintoff’s comeback from injury on Sunday, when he takes part in a charity cricket match in Ludlow to raise money for the Armed Forces charity, Help for Heroes.

Flintoff intends to be back playing county cricket by the end of July, following knee surgery last summer, but this will be a far more gentle work-out - featuring two former England players-turned-journalists, Vic Marks and Derek Pringle; Boysie and Marleen from Only Fools and Horses; and the Harry Potter actress, Imelda Staunton.

For more information, visit www.ludlowcharitycricket.com.

Frank Thorogood, a farmer and club cricketer from Writtle in Essex, has come up with a design for a flexible polypropylene throwing device which could revolutionise the way cricket coaches work with batsmen in the nets.

The ‘Sidearm’ allows coaches to manipulate the swing and speed of a ball with a simple flick of the wrist, allowing balls to be hurled at speeds of up to 80mph while greatly reducing the strain on the shoulder when sending down the thousands of throw-downs necessary to hone a batsman’s technique.

"I saw something similar when driving around that people would use to throw balls to their dogs," Thorogood told thisistotalessex.co.uk. "The problem there is that they throw the ball very far and high, which is obviously not right for cricket so I put my ideas across to a company that drew up the design and it seems to be working well.”

Though the product is still at the prototype stage it has had some high-profile endorsements and is already being used by Essex coach Paul Grayson, Essex and England batting coach Graham Gooch and by Grant Flower, who has suggested that he will take one of the devices to Zimbabwe to help in his role as batting coach.

"I'm going to take one to Zimbabwe if I can get one," said Flower. "It's actually a pretty realistic thing for the batsmen because it gives you a proper net, I'm all for it."

Such is the success of his invention, Thorogood has even been shortlisted for Barclays’ One Small Step Competition, which helps fledgling businesses with great ideas and innovations, and could win £50,000.

Graeme Swann recently suggested that the England cricket team, rather than the footballers, are the “golden generation”, and it appears that English sports fans agree with him.

Since England crashed out of the football World Cup in South Africa, viagogo, Europe’s largest online ticket marketplace, has seen demand surge for cricket tickets, with the website recording a 200% increase in online searches for tickets ahead of the fifth and final game against Australia at Lord’s on Saturday. Tickets for the match are currently trading for as much as £200 on the site.

The figures imply that disappointed football supporters are switching allegiance to the more successful cricket team, who have enjoyed a successful 12 months of cricket – including triumphs in the Ashes and World Twenty20 – and are currently leading their series against Australia 3-1.

“Since the England football team has returned home early from the World Cup, Brits are desperate to see England reclaim its sporting prowess,” said Ed Parkinson, director of viagogo UK.