Shane Warne has been synonymous with the MCG for the best part of two decades, and now he's set to become a much more permanent fixture at the venue. Warne was in Melbourne in Monday to be measured up for a statue to join other bronzed legends such as Don Bradman and Keith Miller outside the MCG.

And it was a much slimmer-looking Warne who had his measurements taken, compared to the chubby legspinner who took 129 of his 1319 first-class wickets at the MCG, his home ground. The MCC's sculptor Louis Laumen met with Warne, who will join Bill Ponsford, Dennis Lillee and several AFL stars and Olympians in being honoured with an MCG statue.

"Just finished measurement sitting for my statue at the mighty MCG," Warne tweeted on Monday. "Feel very privileged and honoured to join so many amazing and wonderful sportsmen in the way of a statue at the mcg - thankyou - humbled!"

And at least this statue, which is expected to be unveiled on Boxing Day, isn't subject to the whims of party politics. Last year, the Victorian premier John Brumby proposed renaming the Junction Oval, Victoria's second cricket venue, as the Shane Warne Oval, but his government lost November's election and it became unclear whether the new government would honour the commitment.

Brett Lee is all set to have Australia dance to his tune. Literally. Lee, who returned to Australia post the IPL this weekend, plans to release a single by his band, White Shoe Theory, soon.

“We're going to launch our single shortly, so it's all happening. We're working out which one [song] we want to release first,” Lee told Australian newspaper, the Daily Telegraph.

Lee, who plays bass and does back-up vocals for the band, said apart from exercise, music was his key to feeling good. “For me, music is my outlet; the guitar is the first thing to be packed [when travelling].”

Louth CC beat Market Deeping CC by 72 runs on the back of steely century by Arran Brindle. So what’s the big deal, you wonder? Well, turns out Arran Brindle is a woman, playing in the ECB’s Lincolnshire men’s premier league. Brindle’s 128 is the first hundred by a woman in men’s premier league cricket in England, and possibly anywhere.

Brindle, who has represented England in nine women’s Tests and 58 ODIs, took a break from international cricket in 2005 to spend more time with her family. She will return to international cricket this summer, following her inclusion in England Women's 14-player squad for the 2011 NatWest Women's Quadrangular Series. In the interim, she captained the Louth first XI over three seasons.

“The timing of my innings means that my confidence is high going in to the international women's quadrangular tournament this summer,” Brindle said. “I have played for Louth men's first XI for several years now, and I captained the side in 2007, 2009 and 2010. It's a totally natural environment for me."

What’s the connection between a set of pristine, genteel cricket whites and the violent anarchy of Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film A Clockwork Orange? Actor Malcolm McDowell, who played the role of the psychopath Alex in the cult classic, has revealed that his ultra-stylish look in the film – in full whites with a giant codpiece - was inspired by his cricket gear. Actor and director were pondering over the charismatic delinquent’s possible costumes when McDowell said, “Well, I've got my cricket gear in the car. We could try that.” Kubrick loved how McDowell looked in the crisp white uniform and suggested that he wear the outfit's groin protector on the outside. The outfit and makeup went on to make Alex one of Hollywood's most memorable menacing young on-screen hooligans. The film was recently re-screened at the Cannes Film Festival ahead of a special 40th anniversary release.

To the list of cricketing stoppages, from the familiar 'rain stopped play', to the more confusing 'reflecting sun stopped play', the downright bizarre ‘stuffed toy stopped play’ can be added after an academy match at the Rose Bowl was held up by a cuddly toy.

A stuffed toy animal brought a large-scale police operation in Hampshire after an alarm was first raised by a concerned member of the public who believed there was an escaped white tiger hiding in a field near Hedge End.

Officers were sent to the scene along with a helicopter and thermal imaging cameras, at about 1600 BST on Saturday. When no body heat was detected police moved in and found a toy tiger.

The match between South Wiltshire and Hampshire Academy was stopped for 20 minutes before they were given the all-clear to continue. A police spokeswoman said: "After a brief stalk through the Hedge End savannah, the officer realised the tiger was not moving and the air support using their cameras realised there was a lack of heat source. The tiger then rolled over in the down draft and it was at that point it became obvious it was a stuffed life-size toy.

"This incident will definitely be the highlight of our day. The CCTV footage convinced us all we were dealing with a real tiger. It's not often an incident leaves our staff with a smile on their face and it.”

Cricketers often say they feel on top of the world, but Adam Parore, the former New Zealand wicketkeeper, can actually claim to have been there. After nearly two months in Nepal, he has finally made it to the summit of Mount Everest. Parore, however, told Radio Live that the feeling is not all sunshine and roses. "In a lot of ways, it was quite disappointing at the time because you didn't just have the faculties to actually enjoy it," he said.

Parore had suffered altitude sickness during the climb, and had to abandon his first attempt at the summit due to bad weather. "It hasn't really sunk in yet to be honest ... the physicality of it and the sheer physical and mental commitment to make the top," Parore said after reaching the top on the second attempt. "I never expected to make the summit so it was quite a pleasant surprise to actually get there.

"But what a view mate. You can see the end of the world but it's just a shame you don't know what you're looking at. But everyone here who has climbed before says as time goes past you start to appreciate it more and more."

The 40-year-old Parore will donate all the money he raised by scaling the peak to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

High-profile cricket is all set to make its debut in Jaffna after years of a bitter and bloody civil war. The Northern Province, of which Jaffna is the capital, is among the seven teams that will be part of the Sri Lankan Premier League (SLPL) Twenty20 tournament beginning on July 19. “The decision to include Northern Province as one of the teams was taken to promote the game in the region, where the talent pool has been largely untapped because of years of fighting,” Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga told the Indian Express. “Since the end of the war, we have tried to promote the game in the Northern and North-Eastern Province.”

There have been ongoing efforts over the past year to develop cricket in the region with plans to construct two turf wickets at selected Jaffna schools. “Over 20 qualified coaches have been working to promote the game through the Jaffna Schools Cricket Association and the Jaffna District Cricket Association. Former fast bowler Ravindra Pushpakumara has been in charge of coaching in the Northern Province over the past year and the talent is very promising,” Ranatunga said. Sri Lanka’s cricketers have been doing their bit in Jaffna with former batsman Aravinda de Silva having been involved in school cricket training programmes, while the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara were involved in relief efforts when the tsunami struck the region in 2005.

Craig Kieswetter was forced into damage limitation mode after seemingly posting a picture on twitter while driving on the motorway.

On Wednesday he tweeted the following message: "My view right now", followed by a link to a picture taken out of the car's windscreen.

The following day Kieswetter had seemingly cleared his twitter account, kiesy22, which showed no followers and though it said 198 tweets were listed none was available to view.

However, a search of the internet brings up archived versions of his tweets, including one where he said: "Just so everyone knows! That picture wasn't taken by me in my car! Mate took it over my shoulder! Very silly."

Former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Parore is just days away from scaling the biggest challenge of his sporting career - the Mt. Everest. According to a report in the Dominion Post, Parore, who is is climbing the world's highest mountain to raise funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, left for Nepal on March 27 in a bid to train and acclimatise for the task. However his first attempt to reach the summit ended in disappointment, as the climbing group had to turn back because of 50kph-to-60kph winds and poor weather forecast for what was to have been their summit day, May 14. Parore, who has been regularly updating a Facebook page while trying to scale the 8848m mountain, wrote about the first failed attempt, after the group returned to base camp. "All up a 16-hour day – Sherpa-esque. 1000m up, 2000m down and about 15km covered all up. 100 calories intake, about 20,000 expended. I was a bit tired after that. Unsurprisingly I slept like a dead man. Strangely I woke yesterday morning feeling 100%, like I normally do at sea level. Go figure? I feel better now than before we left for the summit."

However, he posted on Sunday that the the group was heading off at two in the morning "for another crack at the big girl". Parore said the group was expecting to summit about mid-day on Saturday, all things equal. "Same drill as last week except we are hoping the weather window holds this time. I was just thinking that it all seemed a little easy – not any more. Everest the hard way we're calling it. Fingers crossed for blue skys and happy trails," he posted.

Thieves raiding the main members pavilion at New Road have made off with medals and artefacts that had belonged to former England and Worcestershire allrounder Basil D’Oliveira. The items, which included D'Oliveira's Man of the Match medal from the 1973 Benson and Hedges Cup final against Kent at Lord's, a silver goblet and a presentation card, were taken from a display highlighting the South African-born D'Oliveira's distinguished career.

"These items are of great sentimental value,” Damien D'Oliveira, Basil’s son who is himself a former Worcestershire player and now the county's academy director, told Press Association Sport. "We were asked by the county's Heritage Society to lend them for a display in the pavilion during the winter. It is a shame someone has done this. The items are not of great value financially and we hope they will be returned."

It isn’t often that Himachal Pradesh stages high-profile cricket matches at the picturesque stadium in Dharamsala so the local officials are doing everything possible to make the three upcoming IPL matches there a success. There’s only one thing beyond their control – the weather. Last year’s game between the “home” side, Kings XI Punjab, and Chennai Super Kings and was preceded by thundershowers and the weathermen have forecast scattered rain in the area once again. So, ahead of Sunday’s game between Punjab and Delhi Daredevils, the HP cricket association has turned to greater powers to ensure a smooth match.

Apart from fire rituals to appease the weather gods the HPCA has also constructed a big concrete gate dedicated to Lord Indrunag [the rain god in the hills]. During last season the HPCA had organised a yajna [a fire-based religious ceremony] at the Indrunag temple that overlooks the stadium with over 2000 cricket fans participating in it. And there are plans to organise one more such ceremony before the May 15 game. But god helps those who help themselves, so the ground now boasts a more efficient drainage system, four water-sopping machines and a lightweight plastic sheet that can cover the entire ground in five minutes. Time for the cricketers to do their bit.

With the IPL heading into crunch time and India’s tour of the West Indies looming on the horizon, you’d expect India’s cricketers to be focused on, well, cricket. And that’s true for 99.9% of them. The exception? Sreesanth, whose band S36 (the name tattooed on his neck) are planning a show in Singapore around the end of May and a second show in Dubai early in June. India’s tour of the West Indies starts on June 4.

“After the IPL, if there aren't any matches, then I shall be travelling with my band to do a show in Dubai," Sreesanth told the Times of India. "I am crazy about music and dance, and it has always been a dream to start my own band. And now finally, I have formed one!"

He also said he’d have an arranged marriage once his playing career was over and that he is working on building 8-pack abs, inspired by his elder brother Dipu, who already has an 8-pack and is currently working on a South Indian film.

The veteran BBC Wales commentator Edward Bevan felt the full force of Peter Trego’s 59-ball century for Somerset against Glamorgan at Taunton on Monday, when one of the batsman’s six sixes smashed through the commentary box window and struck him in the small of the back.

Bevan, who was on air at the time, had just enough time to say: “It’s coming up towards us, is it going to hit us?” before the sound of smashing glass confirmed his fears. There followed several seconds of silence before Bevan’s co-commentator, Steve James, took over the microphone.

It was the third time in his long career that Bevan’s commentary stint had been interrupted in such a manner, but the first time outside of Cardiff. "It hit me on the back and I was quite shaken for a while," he told the BBC, after briefly losing sight of the ball. "There's a bruise there this morning - in fact I couldn't carry on.”

"Steve next to me turned round and the thing came through the window," he added. “As I turned so it wouldn't hit my face or head, it hit me in the small of the back, which wasn't nice. Had I stayed where I was the consequences would have been much worse.”

Trego’s innings proved to be the difference between the teams in the rain-affected match, but that one shot was a personal highlight, as Bevan noted. "Apparently when the ball went through the window, he [Trego] stood down and put his fist through the air as if to say 'I've been trying to do that for years and I've done it at last'!"

Rajasthan Royals have a new team member. No, they’ve not brought in an injury replacement, nor has Shane Warne unearthed another obscure talent and signed him up. The latest addition to the team is about a foot tall, wears pink and comes with a commemorative cap – her name’s Pinky and the plastic doll is Warne’s latest motivational tool – or an innovation to keep his team-mates on their toes. The punishment for anyone breaking a team rule – coming late for a team meeting, for example – is Pinky and a cap with the words ‘you banana’ splashed across the front. The offender then has to wear the cap and carry the doll with him – all the while following “doll rules” – at all times, be it at the ground, on the team bus or on a flight between games, until someone else goofs up.

Ross Taylor was the first to take charge of Pinky, and has been followed by Shaun Tait, Johan Botha and Warne himself. It’s not all bad news, though: Botha took charge of Pinky after refusing to participate in the team’s ‘dancing activities’ but churned out a Man-of-the-Match winning performance against Mumbai Indians while in possession of her. Not enough to convince his team-mate Amit Singh: “I’ve been lucky that I haven’t got Pinky,” he told Mumbai Mirror. “And I don’t want to commit mistakes.”

Considering the IPL has a team dressed in purple and orange, and cheerleaders wearing saris, it’s pretty amazing no one has thought of turning the whole hoopla into a comic strip before. Chennai Super Kings have finally clued in and have launched ‘Chennai Super Komics’, based on their team and players, available in stores in India for Rs 40 a copy. The books are aimed at fans under the age of 10 according to their head of marketing Rakesh Singh. In the inaugural edition, Lion of Chepauk, Dhoni rescues a street puppy that goes on to become the team’s lucky mascot.

Shane Warne’s routine of dishing out nicknames to his Rajasthan Royals team-mates continues with Ashok Menaria being christened ‘Doxy’. How did the name come about, you ask? It has everything to do with Warne’s fear of Malaria, and the anti-malarial drug he has stocked up on - Doxycycline. The story goes, Warne, who had trouble pronouncing Menaria’s name, called the allrounder Doxy, as his surname sounded like the mosquito-borne ailment.

“Since Shane is scared of Malaria, when he first met me he jokingly asked if it is Menaria or Malaria,” Menaria said. “When he came here, he brought a lot of medicines, mostly Doxycycline. So, I was named Doxy after the drug.”

Much like in the previous IPL seasons, Warne’s innovative team-building exercises also continue. “Like in the first edition of the IPL, he has nicknamed the players, and also formed groups of three with a leader for every team activity. This helps with infusing confidence, leadership qualities and sense of responsibility in players.”