It’s almost become a part of the experience of watching cricket in the subcontinent to see a dog saunter onto the field right in the middle of a match. It gives the fans a bit of comic relief and the photographers a chance to get some offbeat photos. But the dogs at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi, could, apparently, have had a more telling influence on matches during the 2011 World Cup. The BCCI pitch and grounds committee had ordered balloons, which were to be used to bring on the covers in case of any rain. However, according to a report in the Hindustan Times, the groundstaff noticed the balloons had been torn up by stray dogs even before tournament had started. Luckily, the balloons were fixed in time, and it didn’t rain during any of the matches.

The balloons themselves have caused a stir as the Kotla curator, Radheshyam, said they take 10 minutes to inflate, which would delay the covers being brought onto the pitch. He also said that when filled the balloons cover a part of the advertising hoardings on the ground, which are an important revenue stream. The BCCI pitch and grounds committee chairman, Venkat Sundaram, though, said the balloons were an effective method and the ground staff just needed to be trained in how to use them. And of course they have to be kept out of the way of hungry dogs.

Are you surprised Shane Warne was never trusted with the Australian captaincy? This might help. He’s come in 100th in a Reader's Digest survey of Australia’s most trusted people for 2011. Warne’s consistency at the bottom (he was 97 last year) is one of the more predictable aspects of the survey of 1350 Australians from all walks of life, in which sex workers fared better than politicians, taxi-drivers and journalists.

Warne’s bowling partner, Glenn McGrath, was at 32, making him the top-ranked cricketer, though it was a come down from his ninth position in 2010. Richie Benaud was at 34, while Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting were 68 and 83.

Public health specialist Fiona Stanley topped the survey, followed by the biologist Elizabeth Blackburn, Australia’s first female Nobel laureate. Oscar winner Mel Gibson (96) and Prime Minister Julia Gillard (97) were the other notables giving Warne company at the bottom of the list.

It’s been an exciting few days for military man Sheldon Cotterell. A left-arm fast bowler from Jamaica, he got as close to the international cricket action as he could, standing guard at Sabina Park’s pitch with other army personnel during the innings break of the final West Indies-India ODI. The experience left him picturing himself “in the maroon colours”. Then, a couple of days later, he did that fantasy no harm, making several of India’s Test team jump around in the nets ahead of the tour’s opening Test at the same venue.

“It was just like me seeing the future to tell you the truth,” Cotterell, 21, told the Jamaica Gleaner of his time out in the middle during the ODI. “Just being out there and seeing the fans gave me a thrill and seeing the West Indies and Indian team warming up. When I was out there I was picturing myself in the maroon colours warming up with the guys.”

On Saturday, he had a bowl in the nets against India and had opener M Vijay in trouble, hitting him on the left hand. While Vijay was attended to by India’s physio, Cotterell impressed with his pace, troubling nearly all the Indian batsmen, ESPNcricinfo’s Sriram Veera reported from Kingston.

Cotterell, who has been playing cricket from the age of nine, bats right-handed and does so as effectively as he bowls. He was the top all-rounder with 317 runs in the 2010 edition of the Senior Cup, a domestic tournament. This season, he made 173 runs in three innings in the competition. What next, then? Well, he’s working towards breaking into the West Indies team within 18 months.

Scott Styris uploaded a photo of his banned cricket shoes on Twitter © Scott Styris

So you think Twenty20 cricket is all about things innovative, gimmicky and unconventional? Not always. Scott Styris has hung up the bright orange boots he wore in the Friends Life t20 for fear of running foul of the law. The shoes were apparently just not white enough, and did not meet the ECB’s Clothing and Equipment Regulations. “I think the thing about Twenty20 cricket is that we are fighting against this gimmick tag and we are trying to make sure that this form of the game doesn't become too much of a gimmick,” ECB spokesman Steve Elworthy, reportedly told the Brentwood Gazette. “We have to make sure that cricket is at the heart of the game and we are trying to keep that balance.”

Styris, who plays for Essex, got wind of the news last Wednesday ahead of a game against Sussex. But the story has a happy ending: the shoes have since been sold through Twitter to raise money for James Foster’s benefit year.

On May 22 this year, former New Zealand wicketkeeper Adam Parore became the first international cricketer to reach the summit of Mount Everest. But did you know that Sachin Tendulkar had beaten him to the top of the world’s highest peak by two days? Well, his poster certainly did.

Haryana's Narinder Singh, a staunch Tendulkar fan, had vowed to honour his idol should India win the World Cup. India lifted the trophy at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on April 2 and on April 16, Pawan Grewal, who hails from Bhiwani in Haryana, handed Tendulkar's poster to Singh who was at the Everest base camp. Armed with the motivation to see Tendulkar on the summit, Singh battled a leakage in his oxygen cylinder, and made the final push to reach his goal without the cylinder. Having fulfilled his wish, Singh reportedly remained on the summit for an hour without the cylinder. “Sachin is my inspiration and that only kept me moving even when I was without an oxygen cylinder," Narinder told the Hindustan Times. “Hopefully, I will be presenting my photograph, holding Sachin's poster on the summit, to the Master.”

A 13-year-old Cambridgeshire schoolboy has written his name into the record books by taking two hat-tricks in successive overs to bowl his team to victory. Josh Fox, from Chatteris, didn’t concede a run in the two wicket-taking overs and helped skittle the opposition for just 14. The feat is extremely rare in professional cricket, and appears to have only happened once in English first-class cricket – way back in 1907.

"I was just bowling straight and aiming for the feet. I was gobsmacked," he told The Cambs Times. “I have never played in a game like that and it’s probably the only time I ever will.”

"I was on the phone to his dad at the time telling him how Josh was doing,” added Marie, the boy’s mother. "I saw him take the first one, then another, and he just kept going before I could get off the phone. He just got on with it really and he didn't take any praise. We're a cricketing family - and he'd love to play professionally when he's older."

ECB unveils unique adverts on live crickets to celebrate this season’s 2011 Friends Life t20 competition © ECB

Twenty20 cricket has brought all sorts of wild and whacky novelties into the game, changing the way it is presented, played and marketed, but the most recent innovation by the England and Wales Cricket Board’s PR team could well stump the lot. To promote this year’s Friends Life t20 competition, the ECB has created a unique marketing concept called ‘cricketvertising’ which sees branding transferred directly onto live crickets - of the insect variety.

Miniature artist Aidan Campbell has been commissioned to paint the crickets using water-based transfers, and each of the 18 counties involved in the competition will have their colours painted on a handpicked selection of the game’s smallest six-legged ambassadors.

“I’m used to painting on canvases no bigger than a 1p piece but to brand a cricket was a whole new ball game,” said Campbell. “I had no idea how it was going to work to begin with but it’s been a lot of fun.”

“The Friends Life t20 is a smaller but more exciting game of cricket which is full of energy,” said Sally Brooks, the ECB’s t20 event manager. “We were considering how to get this message across to cricket fans and the humble cricket acts as the perfect metaphorical ambassador.”

“Obviously no crickets were harmed in the making of cricketvertising but I can confirm that they requested we stop for tea and their batting skills weren’t a patch on our boys,” she added.

Following their photoshoot, the logoed crickets were re-released back into the wild outside the stadium of their representative team. The organisers of the stunt hope children and adults will find the brightly-coloured insects – presumably before any birds or insectivorous mammals spot them - and ultimately get behind their county.

Ever wondered how far back spectators should sit for safety if cricket were played on the moon? Or what makes the ball reverse swing? You will soon have the answers to these, and a number of other questions ranging from the pressing to the outlandish, in a new book, The Physics of Cricket by Mark Kidger, published by the Nottingham University Press.

The publisher’s preview promises that the 200 pages will “improve games, ignite debates, explode myths, settle arguments and clinch pub quizzes from West Sussex to the West Indies; from The Oval, London, to its namesakes in Adelaide and Bridgetown. It reveals how players already employ anatomy in ways they didn’t realise, and can harness optics, mechanics, fluid dynamics, materials science, statistics, infrared technology, and acoustics to their advantage – if only they knew how.”

While he is not following and sending feedback to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentators, unfailingly before anyone else manages to, Kidger works as a rocket scientist with the European Space Agency. “For years, everyone from schoolboys to world-class cricketers have perfected their skills, often based on intuition – but, actually, physics,” Kidger says. “Now, for the first time, they can not only explore what’s going on as they enjoy playing and watching others, but improve their game through understanding the many factors they can influence.

“And perhaps have some fun along the way…”

In May, Adam Parore conquered Mount Everest. Now, another cricketer is set to take on a different colossus. Michael Vaughan will trek some part of the Great Wall of China in September, with wife Nicola – who came up with the idea, according to the BBC website – and about 20 buddies for company.

The trek, which is for charity, will take seven days. The group will follow the Huangyaguan Hills, go northwest of Beijing through the mountains, and up Heaven’s Ladder – a steep climb of over 200 steps.

Right then, any guesses who our next cricketer-turned-adventurer might be?