He may be the world’s top-ranked Test batsman, but it was Jacques Kallis’ putting prowess that was on show when he helped raise R80,000 (US$11,448) for charity during the Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament at Simola Golf Estate in Knysna on Wednesday. Kallis came out on top in a three-way charity putting competition against team-mate Mark Boucher and former South Africa great Barry Richards, whose efforts raised R20,000 apiece for the Birdies for Kiddies campaign.

"I certainly didn't have a great day today," laughed Kallis, who had struggled through the day’s regulation play. "I didn't strike it well. Actually, I think I caught everything fat, but I'm going to blame the wet conditions. But when it really counted, I managed to find a couple of putts.”

"I have to thank him for that one par putt, but I had to carry him for 17 holes, so I think we will have to up the stakes to get him going," joked Boucher. "I think it's going to take a couple of cash bets with the guys tomorrow and playing for some proper money to get him to perform. I'm sure we'll do a lot better."

Most bowlers say bowling to Sachin Tendulkar teaches them many things. But is it permissible at a practice session ahead of a much-anticipated match, and you technically happen to be from the opponent's camp? Andy Flower, the England coach and team director, thinks not. Flower was not pleased to hear of left-arm spinner Monty Panesar’s nets sessions with Tendulkar ahead of the Lord’s Test, calling his actions ‘naïve’.

“He did bowl to him in the nets before Lord's and I think that it is quite a naïve thing to do," Flower told PTI after the Lord’s Test. Panesar has not played a Test since July 2009, and is unlikely to break into the side in the immediate future, but Flower said it was still not right for him to offer net sessions to a player as dangerous as Tendulkar. "I haven't spoken to him yet, but one would hope he understands that it won't happen again."

That firmly puts an end to Panesar's attempt to better himself against “a wonderful batsman and person” in his spare time.

What’s the best insurance against a medical emergency on the field? How about a playing XI made up of doctors? And it's even better if one of them happens to have a defibrillator handy. Harry Parkin, a businessman, suffered a heart attack and slumped to the ground unconscious a few overs into a game between local doctors and a football team in Budleigh Salterton, Devon, England. According to Thisisdevon.co.uk, his team-mate Dr Richard Mejzner rushed to fetch a defibrillator from his car and revived Parkin, comforting him for 15 minutes until an air ambulance arrived.

Dr Mejzner’s timely intervention earned him praise from the local cricket club secretary Kevin Curran, not least because Parkin happens to be a big contributor to the club. "He is a well-known member of the community who does an awful lot for the club and everyone was completely shocked when this happened,” Curran said of Parkin. “He was nowhere near the ball when he collapsed. It was extremely fortunate there were a number of doctors around and one had this piece of equipment in his car – he may well have saved his life."

The match was abandoned and the incident has inspired the club to invest in a defibrillator. "We have all the basic medical equipment but this incident has highlighted just how important defibrillators are," Curran said.

The 2000th Test has attracted so much attention you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the biggest milestone to have occurred in the game. But for the 2000th to have occurred at Lord’s, a 1000th had to have happened. It took place at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad, Pakistan, a venue that now hosts wedding parties and serves as an occasional helipad. The 1000th Test, in which Pakistan beat New Zealand by seven wickets in 1984, remains the last one to have been played there.

"It's disappointing to see the condition of Niaz Stadium. With no international cricket in Pakistan and facilities unused, it had to happen," said former Pakistan spinner Iqbal Qasim, who played in the 1000th Test. "There's no comparison between Lord's and Hyderabad, even the players didn't know about the occasion and it is only now we know that ‘Oh, we were part of the 1000th Test.’"

Pakistan were unbeaten in 12 games at the Niaz Stadium. It was there that Javed Miandad and Mudassar Nazar shared a record partnership of 451 against India in January 1983. Miandad was left stranded on 280 when his captain Imran Khan declared and then proceeded to demolish India with 6 for 35.

The ground fell into disrepair later with no international match being played for more than ten years. The PCB regained possession of it in 2007 and it hosted a one-dayer against Zimbabwe in 2008 but matters seem to have gone downhill again for what should have been a celebrated venue.

After launching a massive six over long-on to complete India's victory in the World Cup final, MS Dhoni twirled his bat nonchalantly and tucked it under his arm. It was an iconic moment: India's captain cool maintaining his air of composure even as the rest of the team let their emotions take over; a matter-of-fact way of saying "job done", from a man under so much pressure.

Or ... maybe he was just making sure the bat did not get damaged so he could auction it for charity later. The bat fetched £100,000 (Rs 7,170,135) in an auction at a London hotel on July 18, according to PTI and the proceeds will go towards Dhoni's wife's charitable organisation, Sakshi Foundation, for under-privileged children.

Filling the hours and days between games can often be quite a chore for cricketers on tour, but the Australian A squad have been treated to some remarkable experiences on their trip to Zimbabwe. Ahead of the four-day game against Zimbabwe XI in Harare, they spent a day and a half at Antelope Park in the central highveld, Mitchell Starc describing the experience of walking through the bush with lion cubs in his tour blog.

Such an amazing, beautiful animal, these two lion cubs played with each other, climbed trees and wandered through the bush as we walk side by side with them. The experience is definitely one I’m sure none of us will ever forget. After all who can say they’ve walked through the bush side by side with the King of Beasts!

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is not the kind of player for whom things come easy. He spends inordinate amounts of time at the crease for his runs, grinds down the opposition rather than flattening them with silky strokes and even after 17 years of cricket, is not always mentioned in lists of Caribbean greats. The adulation he received during the Dominica Test must have felt almost a little disconcerting for the workman-like Chanderpaul. Becoming West Indies’ most-capped Test player drew attention to his contribution to Caribbean cricket, he was cheered even when he came on to bowl, and after he helped save the Test with a second-innings century, the prime minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, declared Chanderpaul an honourary citizen of the country.

If all that wasn’t quite enough for Chanderpaul, on Saturday, while he was compiling the first half of his 23rd Test hundred, his son Tagnarine Chanderpaul top-scored for the Guyana Under-15 side, against Jamaica in the WICB Under-15 tournament. Chanderpaul junior scored 37 out of a score of 95 at Honeymoon Park. Perhaps West Indies will not have to look too far to replace Shiv.

Vithushan Ehantharajah

Ashley Gray surpassed The Don
© Cricinfo

Ashley Gray, a 19-year-old batsman from Queensland, smashed 358 not out in 40 overs, and a clutch of records in a cup match last month in the Home Park grounds of Windsor Castle.

Her Majesty’s grounds were treated to an onslaught from her Australian subject, who helped his team – Royal Household Cricket Club – beat Tambler Valley Ramblers by the small matter of 334 runs.

Gray led them to an astonishing 454 for 1 from 40 overs, smashing 34 sixes and 26 fours on his way to his 358, which surpassed the previous record of 177 not out by a fair way. Gray normally plays for Old Actonians Cricket Club in the Middlesex Championship, as their designated overseas player, and was in shock after his mammoth innings.

“I’m still pinching myself now,” he said. “I was hitting them well, but I never thought I’d get 358 not out. I beat my personal best of 200, which I had made only a couple of weeks back in a league match and offered to retire after 30 overs (while on 240). But my teammates told me to go on and I didn’t really look back!”

As well as getting his name (and picture) on the honours board, he also goes down as one half of the highest opening stand for RHCC, putting on 354 for the first wicket with fellow opener David Skirrow, who contributed a rather paltry 75. Word of Gray’s exploits reached home - where he plays for the Sunshine Coast Scorchers – and he was featured live on Melbourne’s Radio Sport National network.

While the Royal Household Cricket Club regularly hosts international stars – past and present – in exhibition matches (Andrew Strauss, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey played there in July of last year), this looks to be one record that may stand the test of time.

“It’s such an honour to have my name on the board of such a prestigious club,” he said. “Even to get a score in excess of 300 is an amazing feeling; when I got past 334 I couldn’t help but think of Don Bradman. It goes without saying that he is on another planet, but it felt pretty special.”

Sri Lanka are known to produce bowlers with the most unique actions, but few know about the ones that got away. Delivering the Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's on Monday, Kumar Sangakkara mentioned two such characters to illustrate how the team management thinks out of the box in their search for talent. "A district coach had discovered a volleyball player who ran to the crease slowly but then delivered the ball while in mid-air with a smash-like leap", Sangakkara said. "His leap would land him quite a way down the pitch in the follow-through". Unfortunately, despite an interest shown by the national selectors, the high-flying bowler didn't quite make it beyond his first screening. The reason? Bowling for half an hour in the nets – his longest spell ever – had strained his back.

And then there was the story of the monk. "A letter postmarked from a remote village in Sri Lanka had the writer claiming to be the fastest undiscovered bowler in Sri Lanka. A district coach investigating this claim found the writer to be a teenage Buddhist priest who insisted upon giving a demonstration of bowling while still dressed in his saffron-coloured robes." As Sangakkara put it, cricket in Sri Lanka tempts even the most chaste and holy.

Moments from the life of Imran Khan, arguably Pakistan’s most charismatic cricketer, will soon appear on celluloid. Faisal Aman Khan, a Britain-based independent filmmaker has directed an independent film titled ‘Kaptaan’ (captain) which focuses on Imran’s political life as well as glimpses of his relationship with ex-wife Jemima Khan. The film is currently in post-production, and Faisal met Imran several times while researching the project to get his endorsement. “Imran Khan was reluctant at first and claimed that it was more important to focus on other aspects of the country," Naveed Anwar, the film's assistant director and screenwriter, told the Express Tribune. “We wanted to make a film that would project the positive side of Pakistan. It was hard as there are very few personalities in Pakistan that who have a global appeal.”

Anwar said the film traces Imran’s entry into politics and juxtaposes his struggle for Pakistan's future with that of Mohammad Ali Jinnah's, the country's founder. Pakistan model Abdul Mannan, who reportedly bears an uncanny resemblance to Imran, will play the title role. Pakistani-American mode Saeeda Imtiaz, plays Jemima and her role looks at the various challenges Jemima faced while living in Pakistan as Imran’s wife and the various complexities of their relationship. The film has a cast of 107 actors and while the producers are yet to reveal its release date, they plan to screen the film in Pakistan and abroad. A film on his cricketing life is awaited – and no one can play his role better than the man himself.