You’ve probably googled for information on top restaurants, vacation spots or scientific explanations, right? How about googling your way into a national cricket team – ever thought about giving that a try? Well, that’s exactly what Anahita Arora did.

Arora moved to New York from Delhi in 2003 and, sometime later, typed ‘USA Women’s Cricket Association’ into Google. The USA Women’s team, she learned from her search, was looking for players. Arora, who had played in local tournaments growing up, attended the trials and was selected in the national team, the Indian Express reported. Arora played for the USA in the recently concluded ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in Bangladesh, finishing second on the team’s batting-averages chart.

Sachin Tendulkar may be the India batsman who constantly draws comparisons with Don Bradman, but it is Rahul Dravid who has been asked by Cricket Australia to deliver the speech at the annual Sir Donald Bradman Oration in Canberra – a function in which a prominent figure speaks about Bradman’s career and cricket's place in their own lives. Dravid will be the first Indian to deliver the speech at the function, which will be held on December 14 at the Australian War Memorial this year, and joins the likes of John Howard, the former Australian prime minister, Richie Benaud, Ricky Ponting and Greg Chappell.

"Cricket is a noble game, and has a noble appeal. We wanted a distinguished individual with a high acumen level who would participate in the Test series between India and Australia,” CA's General Manager of Public Affairs, Peter Young, said.

Dravid will want to save some of that acumen for the Test series too, which begins with the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

The health, or otherwise, of Test cricket is a current hot debate with crowds dwindling around the world but in England the numbers coming to grounds is less of a concern.

The Oval is one ground that rarely has a problem selling seats and tickets for next year’s Test against South Africa have gone on public sale. The demand was so great that Surrey’s website crashed for a short time.

To bring something a little different to buying a ticket, Surrey are running a promotion called “tweet your seat.” Anyone who buys a ticket by Friday can then go onto twitter and send @surreycricket a message with their stand, row and seat number.

The club will then take a picture of the view you will have of the cricket, while a few will be greeted by an image of a Surrey player – Jade Dernbach, Chris Tremlett or even Kevin Pietersen – sat in the seat with the person’s Twitter name displayed. Go on, get buying. And tweeting.

South Africa’s cricketers have some “new toys”, to quote Dale Steyn. He was not referring to the new Call of Duty, but to Cricket South Africa’s hyperbaric chamber. These contraptions help a person acclimatise to altitude by improving the oxygen supply to the blood. So they come in quite handy at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, where the ongoing Test is taking place at nearly 1700 metres above sea level.

South Africa’s cricketers, especially the fast bowlers, have been using the machine as an aid to recovery. Vernon Philander was spotted in the chamber, which is in a gym at the Wanderers, during a lunch break, while Steyn tweeted a photograph of himself being treated after play on the third day.

A century is worth its weight in gold for any team, some people say. The Mumbai Cricket Association has taken that literally. "MCA President Vilasrao Deshmukh has decided that the association should give [Sachin] Tendulkar 100 gold coins if he completes his 100th international century at his home ground," Nitin Dalal, Joint Secretary of MCA, said on Saturday. India play West Indies in a Test at the Wankhede Stadium from November 22.

Tendulkar's 100th century has been highly anticipated but the wait has been a long one. His last hundred was during the World Cup and he went through the entire tour of England without reaching the landmark. The anticipation has taken on a slightly ironic tone on Twitter where the topic #ThingsThatCanHappenBeforeSachins100thCentury recently trended worldwide. A 100 gold coins is a tempting incentive though and should Tendulkar achieve the feat it should make for an interesting presentation ceremony. What quip will Virat Kohli have for this bizarre show of appreciation?

It’s been eight months since Sachin Tendulkar last got to the three-figure mark. While his fans have been obsessing over that elusive 100th international century, those in charge of the cricket museum at Eden Gardens now have an extra reason to egg Tendulkar on.

"Sachin has told us that he would donate the bat with which he scores his 100th international hundred to the cricket museum," Cricket Association of Bengal joint secretary Biswarup Dey said on Thursday.

The museum had already gathered a small booty after the Kolkata Test against West Indies, which marked India’s 75th Test win on home soil. Tendulkar’s jersey and gloves, and India captain MS Dhoni’s bat – with which he hit a century during the Test – have been gifted to the museum, and will be displayed in an exhibit commemorating the the team's achievement.

At the toe end of the reverse of VVS Laxman's bat was “sisj.in”, the website of Virender Sehwag’s new school-cum-sports-academy © AFP

The modern trend is for batsmen to celebrate their centuries in a way that, through accident or design, gives prominence to the back of the bat – and the sponsor's logo on it. Trust VVS Laxman to buck the trend. When he pointed the back of his recently sponsored bat on reaching his 17th century, at Eden Gardens, he wasn’t doing it for any financial gains. At the toe end of the reverse of the bat was the lettering “sisj.in” – a reference to the website of Virender Sehwag’s new school-cum-sports-academy near Delhi, the Sehwag International School at Jhajjar.

“Viru came to me with the request to promote his school,” Laxman told the Indian Express. “I readily accepted. I am just trying to promote his venture.” It was a typically canny choice by Sehwag: despite a 15-month century drought Laxman, with an average of 111 in Kolkata, was the likeliest man to raise his bat at Eden Gardens.