Virat Kohli has had a tough few months. Facing up to an inspired Australia attack aside, he’s not been on good terms with the fans and has had to man difficult press conferences. If he was looking for some light entertainment to take his mind off things, he might just have got it from an unexpected quarter: he has been named one of the ’10 best dressed international men’ by men’s lifestyle magazine GQ.

The latest issue of the magazine, which says that Kohli is as famous in India for his style as he is for his batting, puts the batsman at No. 3 on the list. Others on the list include the likes of actors Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling and Vincent Cassel, US President Barack Obama, and business tycoon Ratan Tata.

India’s love-hate relationship with Andrew Symonds continues, with the former Australia allrounder becoming the latest participant in Bigg Boss, the Indian version of the reality show Big Brother. Symonds was vilified in India for his role in the ‘Monkeygate’ affair four years ago but redeemed himself somewhat by helping Deccan Chargers win the second season of the IPL. Now he puts it all on the line with his stint in Bigg Boss House, where his fellow inmates includes an American porn star.

There’s no talk (yet) of Harbhajan Singh, the other protagonist of Monkeygate, joining the fun but the spinner’s exclusion from the Australia tour offers hope of an intriguing alternative to the on-field action. Symonds, though, is upbeat about the state of their relations. “We are great friends,” he told rediff.com. “We party, we get sloshed.” The Indian cricketer he’d like to see in the house: Rohit Sharma. And his expectations of Bigg Boss? “An opportunity to showcase Australian culture, which involves fun activities like barbecues and throwing people into the pool.” Just as well many in India have already seen the other side of Australian culture, most recently via the Masterchef series.

Having become two of Sri Lanka’s leading cricketers of all time, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene now hope to use their culinary tastes to become some of the country’s best restaurateurs.

The pair have teamed up with restaurateur Dharshan Munidasa to open the “Ministry of Crab” at the Old Dutch Hospital in Colombo, the Island reported. The restaurant will serve the best of Sri Lanka’s sea food and a signature dish of export-quality crabs, not usually available in Sri Lanka.

Former captain Sangakkara has been interested in food for a long time and during a spell in England with Warwickshire, cookery shows became his favourite TV programmes.

Another former Sri Lanka captain had dabbled in the culinary world. Aravinda de Silva entered the restaurant business with an establishment specialising in Sri Lankan cuisine but has since disposed of his interest.

The financial imbalance between cricket and other sports in India is well documented. Cricketers are revered for the most part, while other sportsmen tend to go by unnoticed. The scene at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, ahead of the fourth ODI between India and West Indies, was a case in point.

The Anand XI Football Club, winners of Indore's top football league, were hired on Monday to clean seats at the cricket stadium in preparation for the one-dayer. The 15 footballers are being paid Rs 3 per seat for their services, Mumbai Mirror reported. "We have taken up this job to help buy football kits," the team's coach, Ramchandra Chauhan, told the newspaper. "Most players on the team come from extremely poor backgrounds and have no option but to double up as daily wage labourers to make ends meet."

The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association media manager, Ashok Kumat, said the state board did not know that the hired helpers were footballers. “The association has hired professional cleaners for the job of sprucing up the stadium. As far our knowledge goes, this [that a football team was hired] isn't true.”

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.

Australia seamer Ryan Harris faced an unusual problem when he turned out for his local club Toombul in a Brisbane grade match. The Courier Mail reported that Harris, on his comeback from injury, had to strain to pitch the ball up in his opening over. After a series of edges failed to reach the slips, the pitch was inspected closely by the rookie groundsman who realised that he had marked it too long.

"He had mucked up his tape measure and the pitch was 22 metres long rather than the normal 22 yards long,'' Harris said. The error translated to a near two-metre addition to the strip, since 22 yards corresponds to a little over 20 metres.

"It had to be re-marked and the game had to be restarted," Harris said. "Never in my life have I been a part of anything like that on a cricket field, or even seen anything like that. It was so funny but it was also bloody embarrassing for the club."

Ever longed for a quick fix for all your debt issues? Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan found a unique solution: betting tips. In his new book, Pakistan: A Personal History, Imran talks about using his vast cricketing knowledge to help his brother-in-law, Ben Goldsmith, place bets on an England-South Africa Test; in exchange, Imran got some money to help clear his political party Tehreek-e-Insaf’s debts.

“It took me a year to clear the debts the party had incurred during the [2002 parliamentary] elections,” he wrote. “I cleared our last remaining debts in an unusual way; I was with my family in England, and my brother-in-law, Ben Goldsmith, kept asking me about what would happen in an England-South Africa Test match.

“I discovered his interest came from his 'spread-betting' on the game. I decided to watch the match, and that every pound he made … would go towards clearing my party's debt. I have never gambled in my life and have never understood its attraction, but for the sake of clearing my party's debts I watched the Test match with Ben for the next two days, telling him what to do and when.”

And yes, the pair was quite successful – so successful, in fact, that the bookie’s interest was piqued. “At one point the bookie asked, ‘Mr Goldsmith, you don't happen to be sitting with your brother-in-law, do you?’”

Archers head out of the pavilion at Lord's © Getty Images

You’ve probably heard several cricketers gushing about being on the Honours Boards at Lord’s and heard all about the heaps of tradition behind the ground. Could the hallowed turf be special to a Korean archer though? Now, with the English domestic season complete, it is.

South Korean Olympic gold-medallist Im Dong-hyun broke his own world record at Lord’s on Monday, in an archery tournament designed to be a test run ahead of next year’s Olympics. In September, Lord’s had been designated as the Olympics archery venue. The archers will have to shoot over the square, with the famous pavilion as the backdrop. Touches of William Tell at the village square then?

Twenty-three of the world’s greatest living cricketers will be gathering together at Lord’s on Wednesday for a one-off lunch, organised by the Lord’s Taverners, in celebration of the art of fast bowling.

Among the attendees will be Sir Richard Hadlee, Curtly Ambrose, Alan Davidson, Glenn McGrath, Courtney Walsh, Jeff Thomson, Andy Roberts, Clive Rice, Colin Croft, Mike Procter, Devon Malcolm, Makhaya Ntini and Kapil Dev.

Several of the bowlers (McGrath, Ambrose, Walsh, Malcolm and Ntini) will also be visiting Lambeth school in the shadow of The Oval. Some of the West Indian heroes will speak with the kids, in a school where the demographic is 95% black, about their experience of access to sport in London and have a coaching session with Cricket 4 Change. The Lord’s Taverners will donate some cricket kit to the school.

Things may not be going swimmingly for India captain MS Dhoni on the winless tour of England but that hasn’t stopped the awards from rolling in. The latest comes from no less than the President of India, who has made Dhoni an honorary lieutenant-colonel of the Territorial Army, a voluntary unit of the armed forces. Last month, he was made an honorary Doctor of Letters by the De Montfort University in the United Kingdom for his sporting achievements, and earlier this week he won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for his decision to recall Ian Bell after his controversial run-out during the Trent Bridge Test.

The citation says Dhoni and Abhinav Bindra, a gold medallist in shooting at the Beijing Olympics, were honoured “for their outstanding contribution in the field of cricket and shooting respectively, and their commitment to the Army on various occasions.” Dhoni joins the ranks of Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar as honorary military officers. Now if only he can marshal his forces into a winning unit once again.

It’s quite an honour having a stadium named after you, but what happens if the plan goes awry and there’s talk of having it converted into a detention centre? Potentially, that’s what could happen with the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad - the country is currently in a state of emergency and the government, dealing with large numbers of people detained under special laws, is looking for places to inter them. One such place is the stadium - which has led to ‘Lara Jail’ headlines.

That has hurt the man himself and he's come out strongly. “I consider this headline to be totally irresponsible and disrespectful of my family's name," Lara said in a release. "I am now requesting the media to immediately desist from such a reference. [The] offending headline not only brings my name into disrepute, but has had the effect of pushing my name into an area of major contention and controversy where it does not belong.”

Construction of the stadium, which was commissioned for the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, has been at a standstill since 2009 with costs far exceeding the projects’ budget. A tour of the property by government officials in June categorised the stadium a “very feasible” choice to house detainees, but a final decision is yet to be made.

In 2006, Goldsborough 2nd XI suffered the worst defeat in modern English recreational cricket. Ten of their players got out for ducks and their last batsman was also stranded on zero against Dishforth in the Nidderdale Amateur league. This year they got a rematch, and their revenge, with a little help from scruffy, beer-bellied and long-haired Gary Watson, from Leeds ... aka Michael Vaughan. For a campaign aimed at supporting grassroots cricket, Vaughan played his first match since his retirement in 2009, wearing a prosthetic mask, wig, and a pillow stuffed down his shirt to hide his identity.

“I had to have this blue seaweed goo all over my face to make the cast, which made it difficult to breathe, let alone talk,” Vaughan told the Daily Mail. "The pillow stuffed down my shirt to give me a beer belly made it hard to run. I was worried I might get run out.”

Chasing 105 in the 16-over match, Goldsborough won by three wickets. Vaughan’s contribution? A five-hour makeover off the field, and 28 runs and a catch on it.

“Our lads were in total shock when they found out who they had been playing with,” Dishforth captain Steve Wilson said. “We thought, ‘this bloke can play’ but had no idea he was a legend.”

Earlier this week an auction and benefit dinner was held in London to mark the UK launch of an Indian cricket fan collective called the 'Indian Cricket Dundee' and to raise funds for the Yuvraj Singh Foundation aimed at providing funds for under-privileged sports enthusiasts.

Most of the members of the Indian team turned up for the black-tie event, not wearing tuxedos of course, but dressed in jackets, blazers and suits. Ten lots belonging to various India players were sold in the auction. From Gautam Gambhir's gloves worn during the World Cup final, one of Yuvraj Singh's shirts from the same tournament signed by the whole team, Sachin Tendulkar's IPL bat (which went for more than £10,000) to the shirt Harbhajan Singh took his 400th wicket in, all were put under the auctioneer's hammer. The black-tie event went on even after 11pm (UK time) on Monday night and ended just after most of the members of the Indian team had left. Just as well, because right at the end, only one item went unsold: a bat belonging to India captain MS Dhoni.

An elaborate scheme has been concocted to recruit a cricketer from outside the conventional pathways - Andrew Symonds is welcome to apply - to the Brisbane Heat Twenty20 team for this summer's Big Bash League. Country and club cricketers from around Queensland will be selected to take part in a regional T20 competition in October, from which four players will be chosen as part of the Queensland squad for the T20 'Baby Bash' among Futures League teams in early December. Two of the players will then be awarded BBL contracts with the Heat.

Darren Lehmann, the Brisbane coach, said the gambit was a genuine attempt to see who may have slipped through the usual net. "This is no gimmick, this is the real deal,” he said. “T20 has an x-factor about it and we are going to find out if someone local has that." The 'search for stars' scheme is the second such concept to be mooted for this summer, with Cricket Australia running its own 'Cricket Superstar' program.

Australia captain Michael Clarke showed his thoughtful side recently, when he came to know of the tragedy facing young Harry Rowe and his family. Harry’s father, 36-year-old Andrew, died a few weeks ago of a heart attack, prompting friends to organise a tribute night. Clarke, it was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, hearing of the event from a friend, asked what he could do to help. An autographed cap for Harry was requested. Soon enough, Harry got his cap, as well as a phone call from the Australia captain.

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.

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.

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."

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…”

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.

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.

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."

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.

Ever thought we’d use John Wright and rock music in the same sentence? Well we must, for the soft-spoken New Zealand coach is a keen guitarist and a fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In Bangalore on Friday for the Royal Challengers Bangalore-Pune Warriors IPL game, he was spotted pottering about a hotel lobby with a guitar.

“I’d have to say the Chili Peppers are my favourite band,” he told a Hindustan Times journalist. “I like their musical style.” And his favourite RHCP number? “It has to be Under the Bridge, that song is a classic.”

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik last played for Pakistan in August 2010 in England and was even left out of their World Cup squad. So what does he do? He turns out to play club cricket in India. Malik, who is married to Indian tennis player Sania Mirza, has apparently been playing for Turf Cricket Academy in New Delhi for the past couple on months. “Malik was here as a TV expert for a channel during the World Cup,” Sachin Khurana, who owns Turf Academy, told the Hindustan Times. “He hadn't been getting an opportunity to play cricket, so he asked us if he could play. He practiced with us at Modern School, Barakhamba Road, and even played in local events.” Malik will be playing for them in a local Twenty20 tournament and even scored 123 off 57 balls in a game on Friday.

"Match practice is the best and back home in Pakistan, it's difficult to gather net bowlers for practice, even at the academy,” Malik told the Indian Express. “Good bowlers are usually busy playing matches and it had been quite some time I spent in Delhi, and jab koi yaar dost bula lete hai [when friends call] I come and play.”

No, Shane Warne has not had a facelift. Or so he tweeted on Saturday. “Questions regarding facelift and Botox are absolute rubbish,” he said on the microblogging site. “I am 86 kgs, lost 7 kgs and am close to being the fittest I have ever been.”

Warne put his new look down to a change in lifestyle. “I am also eating very healthily and am flattered that people think I look younger. I have worked hard over the last five months on fitness and lifestyle – it's far from a quick fix. Fitness and being healthy is now a daily habit.”

The only unnatural part to his transformation has been his pearly whites, but turns out they’ve been pearly for over a year now and we just didn’t notice. “Yes, had teeth whitened (18 months ago),” Warne said. And of course, a good moisturiser always helps, as Warne admitted: “New Estee Lauder moisturisers for my skin have made a big difference too.”

The healing power of sport is well-documented – charity games following a natural disaster are as much about raising smiles as about raising money. And so it proved for a group of Indians living in Yokohama. Terrified by the earthquake and traumatised by the news of the tsunami’s devastation in Sendai, a dozen men and women came together at a Yokohama stadium on Saturday to play a Twenty20 game as thanksgiving.

“On Saturday morning, we were relieved to hear that the tsunami warning was off. We were yet to recover from Friday’s nightmare. So, we decided to organise a cricket match,” Sriram Balasubramanyam, a techie from Bangalore, told Bangalore Mirror. “As the batsmen started hitting fours and sixes, we began to forget what happened just a few hours ago.” A sliver of good news in tragic times.

We’ve all heard of teams losing wickets in a heap, but four wickets in two balls is stretching things a bit, right? Well, that’s what happened in a premier club cricket match in Napier on Saturday, when Napier Old Boys’ Marist claimed four wickets off two legal deliveries against Napier Technical Old Boys – and no run-out off no balls.

The drama began in the 48th over of the Napier Technical Old Boys innings. Offspinner Indika Senarathne had No. 7 Stevie Smidt stumped off an ‘unplayable wide’ and then re-bowled the delivery – legally this time – to knock over the leg stump of Liam Rukuwai for a golden duck. Senarathne did not disappoint with the hat-trick delivery that followed, flighting the ball to have JK Whyte caught and bowled. Things got worse for Napier Technical Old Boys; the flurry of wickets caught No. 10 batsman Craig Herrick off guard. He’d doubled up as scorer for the innings, and amid all the drama, had forgotten it was his turn to bat. Mindful of the three-minute timed-out rule, he rushed to the changing rooms from the scorer’s spot in the pavilion and wrestled with gloves, bat, helmet and various protective pads. Senarathne – credit him for his attention to technical detail – soon started appealing, with an eye on the watch. Going by the rules of the game, umpires Del Whyte and Paul Anderson had no choice but to give Herrick timed-out. Talk about troubling the scorer.

Darren Gough was offered the chance to stand as a Conservative Party candidate at the forthcoming by-election in his home town in Barnsley, according to The Guardian, but hung up on what he assumed was a prank call when the Prime Minister, David Cameron, rang him personally to make the overture.

The extraordinary offer came in the wake of the Conservatives’ poor showing at the recent by-election in Oldham East & Saddleworth. A Conservative party spokesman said: "Darren Gough is a supporter of the party and will be taking part in the campaign for Barnsley. He will not be standing as an MP, however."

Gough, who retired from professional cricket in 2008, is said to have cited his work commitments as the main reason for turning down the offer, which was eventually made to him when another Tory MP called him back to convince him that Cameron’s approach had been serious. Having won Strictly Come Dancing in 2005, he is much in demand for media appearances.

Had he chosen to take the stump, however, Gough would have been in good company, with several former cricketers choosing to go into politics after finishing their careers – including the former Sri Lanka captains Arjuna Ranatunga and Sanath Jayasuriya, and the former India captain, Mohammad Azharuddin.

A No 10 source told The Sun newspaper: "The PM's a big fan. They ... had a very good conversation.”

Desmond Tutu during the 2008 Cowdrey Lecture © Matt Bright Pictures

Desmond Tutu and Andrew Flintoff haven’t often had much reason to be mentioned in the same sentence, but today the pair shared top billing in a press release from Lord’s, as both men were awarded honorary life membership of MCC.

Archbishop Tutu’s previous honours include the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, in recognition of his vigorous stance against apartheid in South Africa, and he has received more than 50 honorary degrees from academic institutions around the world. But as a renowned cricket enthusiast – who in 2008 was invited to deliver the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture – this latest recognition will doubtless be one he treasures.

“Last year on his retirement (aged 79!) he said that he hoped now to watch more cricket,” said the MCC president, Christopher Martin-Jenkins. “He may now do so at Lord's whenever he pleases, and he will always be welcomed.”

Flintoff’s invitation, Martin-Jenkins added, was in acknowledgement of his exceptional contribution to the game. “Throughout his career he has demonstrated that you can play hard but fair – the two central tenets of the MCC Spirit of Cricket message – and we are thrilled that he has accepted the invitation. Andrew was a talisman of the game and a hugely popular figure, and I very much look forward to seeing him at Lord’s in the future.”

He joins a select group of former players, including past greats such as Sir Garfield Sobers, Sunil Gavaskar and Sir Ian Botham, alongside modern heroes Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar and Adam Gilchrist, who are already Life Members of the Club. He also becomes the second member of England’s 2005 Ashes-winning side to join the MCC fold, following Michael Vaughan’s award last year.

Cricketers have made their presence felt on the silver screen often enough; films like The Final Test have featured cameos from Len Hutton, Denis Compton, Godfrey Evans and Jim Laker, while Salim Durani, Derek Pringle, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and Ajay Jadeja among others, have all tried their hand at acting. And in the latest such alliance between the film industry and cricketers, the Bollywood film ‘Patiala House’, which is slated to release later this week, features an ensemble cast of cricketers – former Pakistan paceman Wasim Akram, former England captains Nasser Hussain and Graham Gooch, South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs and Australia allrounder Andrew Symonds. "The film is about a cricketer's life and therefore we have taken many cricketers as actors so that we can get a real look for the film,"Nikhil Advani, the director of the film, told AFP. The film starring Akshay Kumar, is set in the west London suburb of Southall and tracks tensions between a traditional Punjabi father and his son Gattu, played by Kumar, who aspires to play cricket for England (shades of Monty Panesar?). It is rumoured that Akram plays the role of young Gattu’s bowling coach and some scenes of the film have been reportedly shot at The Oval in London. Another Bend it Like Beckham in the making?

Since when do Reebok and MRF make cricket bats? © AFP

From sponsored blimps to commercial-filled broadcasts, advertising’s influence on modern-day cricket is inescapable. Bat-makers haven’t been spared, as they are forced to watch their carefully crafted pieces of wood gilded with stickers of anyone and everyone but the company actually responsible for making the product. "Buying players with advertising is far cheaper than investing in making bats. We are crafting bats, they are using stickers. They are ruining our brands, because we cannot afford to give that kind of money, those royalties to the players,” Rakesh Mahajan, director of BD Mahajan and Sons (BDM), one of India’s premier bat-makers, told www.supersport.com. “Sponsorship is no harm, but removing the manufacturer's branding is not fair. We are building the bats, but people are not recognising us; the sponsors are taking the credit.”

Mahajan summed up his frustration by saying he didn’t mind seeing bats with Gray Nicholls or Kookaburra logos because at least they were fellow bat-makers. But, “the problem is Nike, Reebok, Adidas, people like Britannia and Hero Honda,” he said. “They make biscuits and motorbikes, not bats!”

Jesse Ryder, not new to controversy, finds himself in hot water again. No, this time it is not any alcohol-related indiscretion; rather, it's his tweet on social networking site Twitter where he had a dig at fellow Wellington batsman Stephen Murdoch. Ryder, who was opening for Wellington against Northern Districts in Sunday’s game in the NZC One Day Competition, was run out for 4 after a mix-up with his partner Murdoch. Ryder, no doubt frustrated with his dismissal, tweeted: "I just got run out by my other batter. What a waste of time this day is ... I love getting left high an [sic] dry by my other batter."

However, this has not gone down to well with New Zealand Cricket – NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan said, “You get the good with the mediocre. We let the players know there are limits, but it's the way society is, it's a fact of life and I don't think we can preclude it." But Vaughan did add that Ryder venting his frustration through tweeting was “better than throwing a bat against a wall." Ryder found support from team-mate Scott Styris, who tweeted: “Don't let the idiots get to you bud! The media are the problem, not you". New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, though, is not a big fan of tweeting. “I'm not as much of a narcissist as Scotty so I can't get on it,” Vettori said.”They can do what they want, they're all grown men."

A Perth property development company owned by the former England cricketer Adam Hollioake and his family has collapsed, owing $20 million to more than 40 creditors, including Hollioake’s former Surrey and England team-mate Alec Stewart.

According to the West Australian newspaper, there is only a “very slim” chance of any of the non-secured creditors, including Stewart and Hollioake himself, seeing a single cent of their money, after liquidators were appointed to take control of the company in September 2010.

Stewart, whom the newspaper claims is owed A$700,000, made his first investment with the Hollioake Group in 2000 and reinvested in 2003. "I have to say it has been very profitable and dealing with THG is so easy," he said in a statement on the company’s website. "I am secure in the knowledge I am dealing with such an honest reputable company."

Shane Warne and Darren Gough have been discussing the possibility of a "legends" Twenty20 Ashes game to help raise funds for the Queensland flood disaster victims.

Gough approached Warne via Twitter on Tuesday, saying: "why don't we play a masters England v Australia cricket match at mcg like tsunami game ? Raise lots give me a bell."

According to the West Australian newspaper, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hoggard and Michael Vaughan are among the players, past and present, to have expressed an interest, with the match already being billed as a Warne XI v a Vaughan XI.

"Trying to organize a big concert as well after the 20/20 match - lots to organize but everyone been great re donating time.. Thankyou..," Warne later tweeted.

Gough's sister-in-law lives in Queensland. "She's safe but others are not Need our help now," he wrote.

Kevin Pietersen has never been shy about, well, anything really. But when he took credit for England’s Ashes success Down Under by claiming it only happened because he got Peter Moore fired as coach and himself sacked as captain, and that he did it all for the good of English cricket, his ego had officially taken him three or four steps too far. So its no surprise he finds himself named in the Daily Telegraph's list of top 10 sporting egos, alongside other big-headed stars such as golfer Nick Faldo and NBA star Lebron James.

Pietersen is not the only cricketer to make the list either. Joining him is Yuvraj Singh, who was once hailed as the crown prince of Indian cricket and a future captain but today finds himself dropped from the Test team altogether. “Ego, bank balance and waistline have all swollen in recent years, but his performances have deserted him.” As the paper suggests, Yuvraj’s Twitter biography sums up his impression of himself best: "Cricketer, Celebrity, Entrepreneur, budding Philanthropist aka Yuvi." At least he mentions cricketer first.

He may not bat like his father but he has the same nomadic itch. Australian-born Riki Wessels is one of few overseas players who dabbles in all forms of the game in Zimbabwe, not just Twenty20. Last weekend he made history by scoring a century in both innings of a first-class game for the Mid West Rhinos against the Matabeleland Tuskers.

Kepler and Ricky are the seventh father-son pair in the world to both score a hundred in each innings of a first-class game, and the second South African dad and son to do so, after Jimmy and Stephen Cook. Riki clearly has the same hunger for runs as his dad, but he certainly didn’t learn his batting style from the old man. While Wessels Snr. was usually cramped and trusted his eye rather than his footwork, his son is light on his feet and an adventurous boundary hitter. He also has a substantially healthier strike rate than dad. Kepler’s Test strike rate was 46.48 and Riki’s first-class equivalent is 63.48.

India captain MS Dhoni is going the James Bond way. No, he’s not going to become a secret service agent. Rather, he is soon going to be the owner of a Walther rifle, something that is synonymous with 007. Shimon Sharif, the director of a website that imports shooting equipment for many Indian national shooters, confirmed that such a request had indeed come from Dhoni. “A week after the Commonwealth Games, I got a mail from Dhoni wanting to buy a Walther rifle,” Sharif told the Hindustan Times. “I replied to him and, to my surprise, I got an answer in five minutes. He seemed very serious about buying the rifle.” Dhoni will soon be wielding a Carbontec air rifle, also used by Beijing Olympic Games gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra at the Olympics. And the cost? About Rs 1.48 lakhs or approximately USD$ 3260.

The next Pakistan-South Africa Test is four days away but it’s already causing a few headaches. Specifically for the broadcast team, who will commute daily between their hotel in Dubai and the stadium in Abu Dhabi, a trip that’s 80 km each way. Distance is one problem, as the commentator Mike Haysman noted in his blog on supercricket.com: since they need to get to the ground two hours before the start of play, they will need to leave their hotel at 5:30am to beat the rush hour. Ergo, a wake-up call at 4:15am (it takes time for them to look good, in case you’re wondering). That’s not all: the E 11 highway that runs between Dubai and Abu Dhabi is rumoured to be among the fastest (read: most dangerous) in the world. In 2008, the highway witnessed an accident that involved 200 cars, and killed three people, injuring 277. The speed limits have since been reduced to 120km/h. The commentators would probably feel safer padding up to Dale Steyn or Umar Gul.

If you saw Sourav Ganguly walking out onto the pitch of the Salt Lake Stadium, you would be forgiven for thinking he had turned up at the wrong ground in Kolkata. But the former Indian cricket team captain did in fact play his first professional football match on Friday for Mohammedan Sporting Club against East Bengal in the Mohammedan Sporting Platinum Jubilee Cup. According to the Telegraph, he proved that he was no novice in the sport and created several chances for his strike partner. The crowd was expectedly overjoyed when Ganguly nearly scored with a side volley from just outside the penalty area. Ganguly lasted 60 minutes before being substituted in his side’s 0-1 loss, proving he’s got the fitness levels to play the sport. Now what if Mohammedan has a game that clashes with one of Kolkata Knight Rider’s? Ganguly might want to consider the fact that he has never received so much praise for not scoring.

Shane Warne has received many accolades during his cricket career, both during his playing days as well as post retirement – whether for his cricket punditry or his poker skills. But here’s a new ‘meaty’ one. According to a report in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, fast-food chain McDonald’s is set to release a burger in Warne's name – called the ‘Legend’ burger. This top-secret meal is set to be launched in the upcoming weeks ahead of the Ashes. And what will you get when you bite into the ‘Legend’? A bit of bun, some regular cheese and lettuce, along with your choice of chicken (crisp or seasoned), all mashed together in a saucy combination. There’ll probably be baked beans on the side. Howzat?

Tiger Woods has found an unlikely ally in his bid to win back his fans – and his form – in the wake of the sex scandals that wrecked his clean-cut image during a miserable year that culminated last week with the loss of his status as the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer.

At an official dinner on the eve of the Australian Masters in Melbourne, Woods was partnered at a question-and-answer session by none other than Shane Warne, another great sportsman whose after-hours behaviour has been the subject of some pretty lurid tabloid headlines.

While the reception for Woods was at first awkward, Warne’s presence soon helped to ease the atmosphere. According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, the evening’s compere, Mark Nicholas, welcomed the pair with the loaded words, “promising relationship!” to which Warne responded with a dead-pan: “'I reckon we've got a little bit in common ... I love golf.''

Woods couldn’t help but laugh at that, a reaction that was more spontaneous than any of the unconvincing attempts at contrition he has turned to in previous public appearances, and set the tone for one of his more comfortable grillings of the recent past. It just goes to show, even the greats need an experienced hand to guide them through the tough times.

As England and Australia prepare to wage war with the Ashes just three weeks away, a gold medal presented during the first ever official Test match, between James Lillywhite’s England and a combined Australia XI in Melbourne 133 years ago, will come up at auction in London next week. The medal, engraved with crossed cricket bats, stumps and a ball, was presented to one of the England players, Harry Charlwood, by George Browne, the architect of the first grandstand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It is expected to fetch up to £20,000 at Graham Budd Auctions at Sotheby’s Bond Street sale room.

Budd explained that the medal was the only one known to remain from Browne’s commemoration, but it was presumed he presented a medal to each of the England team. “Perhaps he gave similar medals to the home team too, as a suitable souvenir of his achievements in developing a ground more than worthy of hosting Test match cricket” said Budd. “Browne is known to have socialised heavily with the England cricketers during the tour. Browne’s MCG grandstand cost ₤4,500 but did not last long as it was destroyed by fire in 1884.’’

Would you pay Rs 42 lakhs (approximately $94,786) for a cricket bat? Well, that’s what the bat Sachin Tendulkar used to score 163 against New Zealand in an ODI in Christchurch in 2009 fetched at an auction in Mumbai, the proceeds of which went to the NGO ‘The Foundation’. Tendulkar’s bat, along with other personal items donated by 25 sportspersons from India and abroad, went under the hammer at a sports auction for an NGO called ‘The Foundation’. Rahul Dravid’s bat, with which he scored a century in each innings against Pakistan in the Kolkata Test in 2005 fetched Rs 20 lakh (approximately $45,136). Sunil Gavaskar’s bat, which was signed by all the 1983 World-Cup winners, went for Rs 17.5 lakh (approximately $39,494). The jersey that Anil Kumble wore when he equalled Jim Laker's record of taking all ten wickets in an innings, against Pakistan in Delhi in 1999, and the Test cap that he wore between 2004 and 2006 went for Rs 11.5 lakhs (approximately $25,953).

If you thought owning a part of the Marylebone Cricket Club’s (MCC) history was beyond you, well, think again. Or better still, be at Christies, in South Kensington, London on November 17. Going under the hammer will be valuable memorabilia from the MCC, a selection of cricket bibliography comprising poems, score-books and cricket publications. The 100 available lots are estimated to be each worth between 500-40,000 pounds, with the MCC hoping to raise more than 300,000 pounds. The lots on offer are duplicates of the original collection and the proceeds will be used by the MCC to sustain and care for core antiquities and acquire more cricket-related trivia. The centrepiece of the sale will be a reproduction of a portrait of "The Young Cricketer - Portrait of Lewis Cage" by artist Katharine Lloyd, which has hung in the pavilion at Lord’s for the past 60 years. Other highlights include a complete set of Wisden’s almanack which has been in print since 1864.

It was a traditional Homecoming weekend for the college of Wooster in Ohio - well, almost. The only ritual missing was the football game, when the home side usually plays a college from the same region; with no football opponent available, it was time for bails, stumps, the red cherry and the willow – time to play some cricket. And set a record at the same time. Nine hundred and sixty seven fans watched Wooster’s college club take on a team of local expats, more than double the previous record of 400. “It's what makes us distinctive,” Wooster president Grant Cornwell said. “Not only does it illustrate the college's spirit, but it also shows that we have a sense of humour.” And the final result? Wooster College’s team captain Maaz Khan “delivered a dramatic game-winning hit with just one out remaining to give the college team an exciting 143-141 victory.”

An irate father has had a police complaint registered against him in Delhi after roughing up a selector over his son’s non-selection for an Under-19 side in the upcoming Cooch Behar Trophy. Tarang Gupta was left out of the squad, leading his father to push and slap selector Vinay Lamba according to the Indian Express, leading the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association vice-president, Chetan Chauhan, to call the police. This was not the first time Tarang's father has been involved in a spat. Similar complaints were registered against him during the selection of the Under-16 state team.

Deputy commissioner of police, Jaspal Singh, said that his department was looking into the matter. “Vinay Lamba had no physical injuries at the venue. He was asked to accompany for a medical examination but he refused. Anyway, the case has been registered and further inquiries are on,” Jaspal said.

A 15-year old Indian schoolboy has entered the record books with a marathon innings in an inter-academy tournament conducted by the Vidharba Cricket Association. Ali Zoren Khan’s unbeaten 461 helped Nagpur Cricket Academy to a mammoth 1025 for 5 in 120 overs against the Reshimbag Cricket Club. Ali, who finished the first day on 364, knew there was a record to be broken when he returned to the crease on the second morning. He faced 308 balls for his runs, hitting 64 fours and 12 sixes before the declaration came. "I could have scored 500,” Ali said later about his innings, “but we had a plan to bat till lunch as we needed enough time to bowl them out twice. So no regrets.”

It’s party time in Guyana. West Indies captain Chris Gayle turned 31 on September 21 and he plans to celebrate it, in style poolside at the Tower Hotel in Guyana over the weekend. It promises to be the ultimate Caribbean party – or, as the organisers call it, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” (Featuring Peter Ram & Black Rhyno). “I always wanted to do something different for my special day, plus my son is in Guyana and he always wanted me to come spend sometime with his family,” Gayle told the website GuyanaLive.com. The organisers say several West Indian cricketers are likely to attend the bash and Gayle is likely to be in entertainer mode - singing as well as deejaying. The cost of attending? A cool 5000 Guyanese dollars (US$24.31).

It’s been raining accolades for New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori. Earlier this month he won three of New Zealand Cricket's major awards for the 2009-10 season. And on Thursday night he was presented with an honorary Master of Science (Sport and Exercise Science) by Wintec in Hamilton.

Incidentally Vettori, the teenager, had planned to do a first-year course at Waikato University in health science, working towards a pharmacy degree. That was of course, before cricket took a complete hold over his life. "It's been a while since I've had to sit an exam so I'm very glad I haven't had to work too hard to get this,” he said.

Vettori joins Wintec's elite group of honoraries, which includes Sir Edmund Hillary, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, Colin Meads and the Topp Twins.

Every cloud does have a silver lining. Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir may currently be the bad boys of international Cricket but PETA, the US-based animal rights group, wants the cricketers - of "no-ball" infamy - to be part of a positive "fixing attempt". The group said it had written to Butt, Riaz, Asif and Aamir, asking them to feature in a TV and print campaign, aimed at showing that "no-balls", off-the field, can be a lifesaver and not a crime. "No-balls may be a bad thing in cricket, but for dogs and cats, no-balls are a lifesaver," said PETA, in a letter, a copy of which was sent to AFP. The letter goes on to say that "because of unchecked breeding and a lack of good homes, millions of dogs and cats all over the world languish in animal shelters or are euthanised every year and 'fixing' dogs and cats by having them spayed or neutered is the key to ending this suffering."

According to a Forbes survey, MS Dhoni, the India captain, took home $8 million in endorsements last year. It should come as little surprise then, that Dhoni has topped the chart for celebrity endorsements on TV during the first six months of 2010.

Not only has Dhoni - who recently signed a three-year endorsement deal worth approximately Rs 2.1 billion ($42 million), which is now the richest deal in Indian cricket history - left behind the likes of Shahrukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar in his wake, he is also ahead of many Bollywood actresses, like Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Kajol and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. According to the Adex survey of TAM Media Research, Dhoni endorsed brands for 24 companies on TV between January and June this year, while Khan and Tendulkar were seen promoting the products of 16 and 15 firms.

If you thought that Powerplays, Free-hits and the possibility of split innings in one-dayers were the height of cricketing innovation, think again. MCC is to trial a new form of cricket known as ‘5IVES’ next month, with MCC Universities playing MCC Young Cricketers in two 50-over games of 5IVES at Radlett Cricket Club on September 6 and 7.

The distinguishing feature of 5IVES is that both teams bat in multiple ‘innings splits’ - rather than the single innings split being trialed in Australia - where the not out batsmen at the end of an innings split resume batting at the start of their side’s next innings split. If that all sounds a bit confusing, it might be re-assuring to know that there are still 11 players in a side, the batting side is all out after losing 10 wickets, and the side with the most runs wins the game.

“What cricket needs is excitement and tension throughout the game, not just in the closing stages,” suggested Dick Wood, the South African inventor of 5IVES. “To achieve this you must be able to see who is winning now. 5IVES Cricket is the ultimate head-to-head limited-overs cricket contest. You can see who is winning the race, not a race against the clock. It brings the game alive creating the energy and atmosphere that sports fans crave, without compromising the integrity of the game.”

“After listening to Dick’s presentation to the MCC World Cricket Committee at Lord’s, we were keen to take the next step and see for ourselves how 5IVES operates,” explained John Stephenson, MCC’s head of cricket. “A key part of MCC’s remit is to provide research and development for the good of the game and, given our independence in world cricket, we are well placed to conduct such a trial. We look forward to seeing how 5IVES works in practice – it may succeed, it may not, but we won’t know until we’ve given it a go.”

It’s not just England’s batsmen that have trouble reading the ‘doosra’. A survey of a global network of linguists has concluded that ‘doosra’ – which means 'second' or 'other' in Urdu and refers to an offspinner’s variation that turns in the opposite direction to an orthodox delivery - is the single most untranslatable term in cricket. No less confusing to those who don't know their silly mid-off from their square leg, ‘googly’ came in second, followed by ‘mullygrubber’.

"Cricket is not just a sport but also a language in its own right,” said Jurga Zilinskiene, managing director of Today Translations's, the London-based language firm that carried out the survey. "Indeed, it is perhaps the world's most untranslatable language. Sometimes, the equivalent idea - like doosra or googly - simply does not exist in both cultures. I believe, for example, that cricket is now starting to catch on in France. Can you imagine? But don't worry. We at Today Translations are working on finding a good French translation for 'doosra'.”

Harold Pinter, the late English Nobel Prize-winning playwright, espoused the pleasures of cricket when he said: "I tend to believe that cricket is the greatest thing that God ever created on earth. Certainly greater than sex, although sex isn't too bad either. Anyway, you can either have sex before cricket or after cricket. The fundamental fact is that cricket must be there at the centre of things."

His feelings, no doubt shared and bemoaned in equal measure by cricket lovers and long-suffering partners around the world, have been backed up by studies of cricket's lexicon. "Cricket has generated a richer terminology than any other sport and - some would say - than any other human activity aside from sex,” added Zilinskiene.

The Butcher era is back. Only, this time it will unfold on the stage instead of on The Oval pitch. After years of entertaining fellow brethren at the Professional Cricketers' Association annual bash with a vibrant mix of rock and soul, Mark Butcher has come out with his first album called Sun House. The album has been written, played and released by, yes, Baz himself. According to the Independent, Butcher has lined up several gigs around London to promote his album.

Butcher has always had the makings of a singer. He wrote and sang a touching ballad You're Never Gone at the memorial service for his team-mate Ben Hollioake. He might even have been humming one of his songs to himself during 'that' Ashes innings of 173 at Headingley in 2001, as he made short work of the target of 315.

He was seen doing duty for BBC Radio during England's third Test against Pakistan in a well-pressed grey suit and silk tie that did not quite go along with his rock star avatar. Butcher, who turns 38 on August 23, seems to be well on his way to challenging Brett Lee as cricket's ultimate rock star. Watch out Binga.

An empirical analysis has found Don Bradman to be the greatest cricketer of all time. That isn’t news. The news is that the same analysis has Sachin Tendulkar outranked by compatriots in every parameter applied – and that Vinod Kambli figures at all. The analysis - The Bradman Class: An Exploration of Some Issues in the Evaluation of Batsmen for Test Matches, 1877-2006, written by economists Vani K Borooah, and John E Mangan - ranks 50 batsmen from all eras. Only five Indians have qualified in the top 50 on the basis of career averages, and Tendulkar, who is currently the highest run scorer in Tests, is not among the top-ranked Indian batsmen.

In terms of value of runs scored to the team, Virender Sehwag is India's top batsman ranked at No.6 , followed by Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar. On consistency of scoring, Dravid is ranked No.4 – no surprise there - followed by Tendulkar at No. 5. Sunil Gavaskar comes in at No. 11, Sehwag is at No. 12, and surprisingly, Kambli who played just 17 Tests for India, comes in at No. 13. In another ranking based on career contribution to the team score, Dravid and Gavaskar, who are both ranked No. 5, emerge as India's top batsmen. Then come Tendulkar and Sehwag, both at No. 6 with Kambli coming in at No. 8.

Norman Gordon, the former South African fast bowler and the world’s oldest living Test cricketer, celebrated his 99th birthday on Thursday. Gordon had been the second-oldest surviving Test player until Eric Tindill, who played rugby and cricket for New Zealand, died on August 1.

A cocktail party was held at the Houghton Golf Club – where Norman is an honorary member and spends many an afternoon – to celebrate his birthday. And among the many queuing to shake Houghton’s hand was Johann Ruper, South Africa’s richest man. "I should have asked him for a cheque, then,” Gordon told Independent Online, when he was informed who Ruper was.

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

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.

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.”

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.

In the midst of recession charities like Oxfam would welcome any scraps that come their way. But a local store in Hertford landed a lot more than scraps when editions of the first four Wisden Cricketers’ Almanacks, bound up in a box, were dropped off at the shop.

Left in a 99p pile the staff quickly realised what good fortune had come their way and re-bound the four books- from 1864 to 1867 - before passing them on to auctioneers Bonhams, where they were sold on Tuesday for £8520.

The 1864 edition, which sold back then for a shilling, fetched £3120, the highest of the four editions. Wisden has been published yearly since that first edition and a Bonhams spokesman told reporters: "We're very pleased that the books have sold well and raised a lot of money for such a worthy cause."

He holds the record for the most runs in Tests and ODIs and the record for the most centuries as well; he was the first batsman to score fifty international hundreds and recently became the first to score a double century in ODIs. No surprise then that Sachin Tendulkar is perhaps the most popular cricketer in the world. He’s been conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna – India’s highest sports award – the Padma Shri and the Padma Vibhushan by the Indian government. And the latest feather in Tendulkar’s cap could be an honorary post with the Indian Air Force.

“The IAF has proposed to honour Sachin Tendulkar by granting him the honorary rank of Group Captain. We have sent the proposal to the Defence Ministry and they are considering it,” an IAF official told PTI. Once the Ministry clears it, the file will go to the prime minister's office and then to the president, the supreme commander of India’s armed forces, for approval. In 2008 allrounder Kapil Dev received the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the Territorial Army.

The fear that corrupt cricketers could send coded messages to illegal bookmakers live on air means that the ICC will not allow broadcasters to strap microphones to players during one-day internationals, and could review their use in Twenty20 internationals as well, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Channel Nine, the Australian broadcaster, is trying to get the ICC to ease their stance, and argue that if players are allowed to be miked up in Twenty20s, then there is no reason they couldn’t be in ODIs.

''There is absolutely no difference as far as we're concerned, that is one thing we're going to investigate, we can't see any problems with it,'' said Brad McNamara, Nine’s executive producer of cricket. ''I think it is a little bit overprotective, we think they are being way oversensitive about it.”

''We allowed players to wear microphones in Twenty20s in the early days because it was a new form of the game and we wanted to give it every opportunity to succeed,'' said an ICC spokesman. ''There is a relaxation to players being miked in Twenty20s, but the board can review that decision if it wishes.''

Nuwan Kulasekara "throws" © AP

It’s enough to strike fear into the heart of any Sri Lankan fan: a photo labelling one of their bowlers as a thrower. The Associated Press photo coverage of the New Zealand-Sri Lanka games in Florida featured this image with the caption “Nuwan Kulasekara throws against New Zealand”.

It seems some of the intricacies of the game are still lost on some of the Americans who saw the strange sport for the first time over the weekend. The Miami Herald reported that the matches were being played by “perennial world powers New Zealand and Sri Lanka”, which the teams in question were no doubt pleased to read.

The paper’s columnist Greg Cote, noted – though how seriously we’re not sure, that over the past week “everywhere you went, all you heard people talking about was cricket. That's right. I was in my local West Indies market (looking for some fruit bread in order to make bebele) and I actually did hear two people discussing cricket, although I wasn't sure if they were referring to the sport or an ingredient.”

The village Sunday league at Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales witnessed an innings of rare belligerence when 18-year old Oliver Hardaker smashed his way to the small matter of 329 runs in a 40-overs a side contest. Hardaker struck 27 fours and 28 sixes in his run-marathon that lasted 144 balls. Upper Wharfedale was the bowling unit that suffered the brunt of his fury. Though his innings featured in an amateur game, Hardaker outdid the efforts of Alistair Brown who scored 268 at the first class level in 2002, and Sachin Tendulkar who recently made 200 in an ODI against South Africa.

Hardaker’s achievement came after a late night out the previous day, celebrating a friend’s birthday that nearly made him miss the game. He looted 34 runs in one of the overs, hitting five sixes and a four. “I just kept playing my shots and didn't think about my score. It was a bit weird when I got to 100 with 27 overs left and I thought I could get something big here,” he said later.

“It was quite a cold day which really helped because I wasn't sweating and getting too flustered so I could just stay calm and concentrate. It felt like I was playing a video game or something.” Indeed.

India’s most secretive celebrity has finally joined the Twitter brigade. Sachin Tendulkar, who guards his privacy as zealously as he guards his wicket, debuted on the microblogging network on Tuesday night and, within hours, had more than 30,000 followers. His tweets are unlikely to be as gregarious as Shane Warne’s or laconic as Chris Gayle’s, or even as revelatory as Phil Hughes’ have been, but they will be rare unprompted thoughts from a man whose every public utterance so far has been tightly controlled. His first tweet could set the tone – "Finally the original SRT is on twitter", it said, in a gentle swipe at all the imposters, before wishing the Indian team the best for the current World Twenty20.

There has been a bit of news – the stitches on his hand have been removed – and the revelation, via a twitpic, that he sleeps in an Adidas vest. Or that he sleeps, period, and has dinner with friends like the rest of us. It’s manna for his followers, who refer to him as God. Cue jokes – his Twitter handle should have had an “overscore” instead of an underscore – and the expectation that he would soon be Trendulkar. And a word of advice for Steve Jobs – he can start work on his next product, the iFollow.

Cricket has never been able to totally rid itself of matchfixing allegations – and now perhaps we know why. These deals are not being hatched only in shady bars or on the phone - the latest method, according to the Daily Mail involves the use of ‘honey traps’. The report, quoting sources close to the ICC, indicates that prostitutes are being used to lure cricketers into matchfixing. “They [the prostitutes] are used for making contact with players, whether through sexual favours or whatever, and once these guys are hooked, they make their move,” the report quoted a source as saying. “It's a honey trap.”

According to the report, the targets are usually young cricketers, who “may not even realise what is happening, but once they are in it they can't get out because they have done one wrong deed for which they can be blackmailed.” Once the players are educated about it, members of the ICC’s anti-corruption unit are deployed at the team hotels to keep an eye on things. “The players do realise they are being watched.”

Graeme Swann has “wished a freak accident with a blunt instrument” on the thieves who broke into his Nottingham house and, according to a report in The Sun, stole the keys to his Jaguar while he was away in Barbados preparing for the forthcoming ICC World Twenty20.

The incident, which occurred when Swann’s wife Sarah left their house in West Bridgford, continued a run of motoring mishaps for Swann. Earlier this month he was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving – an incident he said was caused when his cat, Max, got trapped underneath the floorboards at 3 o’clock in the morning.

Of the Jaguar theft, Swann wrote online: “I hope the chaps who broke into my house while I am away are involved in a freak accident with a blunt instrument very soon.” Nothing else was taken in the incident.

Game over for cricket? The European Unions’ decision to “outlaw before export” the chemical methyl bromide, because it is believed to damage the ozone layer, means that cricket could soon be facing a major shortage of bats. Each year around 100,000 raw blades made of willow, known as clefts are exported from England to India and Pakistan where they are turned into finished products. The clefts are treated with methyl bromide, which is an insecticide, before they are exported. Here lies the problem: the wood cannot leave England without a fumigation certificate and India and Pakistan do not accept any alternative treatment for the wood apart from methyl bromide.

This spells potential disaster for the 10-million-pounds-a-year industry. “Unless something is done we are going to run out of cricket bats,” Geoff Watling of Anglian Willow Services told the Daily Express. “The worldwide supply of Test standard and Twenty20 bats for the national and county sides could dry up within two years.”

He may not be the hero for Kings XI Punjab so far in the IPL, given his lacklustre performance with the bat, but off the field, Yuvraj Singh is all set to become a superhero. Yuvraj will be the voice of ‘Captain India’, the (super)hero in an animated film by the same name. His screen name may be a cruel twist on reality but the plot makes up for that: It revolves round a young cricketer who cannot afford a cricket bat, who then comes across a magic bat that changes his life. The film’s producers say the story will incorporate incidents from Yuvraj’s personal and professional life, including his famous six sixes in the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 World Cup. “I burst into laughter on hearing the idea,” Yuvraj told the Hindustan Times. “But I’m humbled to voice an animated character.” The film is slated to release during the 2011 World Cup.

It was a dream come true for 87-year old Saraswathi Vaidyanathan. Just a few days ago The Hindu carried a story about her passion for cricket and admiration for Sachin Tendulkar – from referring to him as a chota baccha (small boy) to painstakingly updating all his statistics, written down on scraps of paper. She’d never met him, though, and on Monday that wish was fulfilled in Chennai.

It was an emotional few moments at the team hotel - Tendulkar touched Vaidyanathan's feet and sought her blessings as she called him her “fourth grandson” and handed him a small idol of the Hindu god Ganesh. In return, he signed a bat with several other famous names on it. “I am lucky to meet you,” she said, but Tendulkar corrected her: “No, I am lucky to meet you.” Vaidyanthan then expressed her wish – to see him score 100 international centuries. Tendulkar, seven short of the landmark, smiled in agreement. Her parting words: “You are short in stature but very big in deeds.”

Adolf Hitler wanted to use cricket to train German troops according a new book about to be published by the BBC’s former World Affairs Editor, John Simpson.

However Hitler, who was taught the basics of the game, found the complex rules too much to comprehend and wanted to do away with the use of pads because they were “unmanly and un-German”.

Simpson’s claims are based on a report in the Daily Mirror in 1930 by Oliver Locker-Lampson, a British right-wing MP and Nazi sympathiser, who claimed Hitler thought cricket would be the ideal preparation for war.

In his book Simpson says that, after recover from injuries from being shot, he challenged the British to a “friendly” game but afterwards said the sport was “insufficiently violent”.

The result of the match was never recorded and neither was it possible to confirm claims that Hitler was dismissed for a golden duck.

From the creator of the ‘Dil-scoop’, here comes his latest creative offering. And this time the canvas has shifted from the cricket field to the big screen. Yes, after electrifying the cricket world with his audacious batting at the top of the order, Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan is now set to dazzle tinsel town.

Dilshan, who had started writing a film script almost two years ago, confirmed it was now ready. Speaking to the Times of India Dilshan said, “I am relieved now as I am done with the script.” And true to his unconventional batting style, Dilshan said he had worked on a “different” plot line. “It’s [the script] is very different from the conventional ones. I have added a twist to it by putting in love and loads of thrills and drama,” he said. Though it is set to be a Sri Lankan film, Dilshan plans to market the movie in India as well. The title and cast is yet to be decided, but don’t be surprised if the cast has an Indian connection. “I am thinking about the cast, though I want to have someone like Hrithik Roshan in it,” said Dilshan.

The Cricket Society and MCC Book of the Year Award shortlist has been announced, with biographies of Imran Khan and Harold Larwood and a historical perspective on South African cricket included in the five-book list.

Vic Marks, cricket correspondent for The Observer, chairs the panel of judges and said: “There is a strong international theme to this year’s list. All five books have their advocates among the judges and I anticipate frank and lively exchanges when we meet later this month to determine a winner.”

The competition, run by The Cricket Society since 1970 and in partnership with MCC since 2009, is for books nominated by members and not publishers and has become highly regarded by writers and publishers. Previous winners have included Mike Brearley, EW Swanton and David Frith.

The £3000 prize, will be presented at an awards evening in the Long Room at Lord’s on Monday 26 April to an expected sell-out audience of 200 people. Scyld Berry, editor of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, claimed the award three years ago and will be a keynote speaker at the event.

The shortlist:

• Of Didcot and the demon: The cricketing times of Alan Gibson; by Anthony Gibson, Fairfield books
• Harold Larwood; by Duncan Hamilton, Quercus Books
• Empire and cricket: The South African experience, 1884-1914; edited by Bruce Murray and Goolam Vahed, Unisa Press
• Golden boy: The bad old days of Australian cricket; by Christian Ryan, Allen and Unwin
• Imran Khan: The cricketer, the celebrity, the politician; by Christopher Sandford, HarperCollins

The other nine books on the longlist:

• The captains’ tales; by David Fulton, Mainstream Publishing
• Inside the box, my life with Test Match Special; by Peter Baxter, Quiller Publishing
• Cricket in the park; by Roger Packham, Methuen
• From Sophia to Swalec: A history of cricket in Cardiff; by Andrew Hignell, The History Press
• And God created cricket; by Simon Hughes, Doubleday
• Testing times: In pursuit of the Ashes; by Andrew Strauss, Hodder and Staughton
• John Shepherd, The loyal cavalier; by Paddy Briggs, ACS
• Cricket grounds from the air; by Zaki Cooper, Daniel Lightman and Ian Hay, Myriad Books
• From commons to Lord’s, Volume 1: 1700-1750; by Ian Maun, Roger Heavens

A vada-pav seller’s son, Gurudas Shenoy, finds himself on the cusp of realising his dream to become a cricketer. Between maintaining attendance at his engineering college and helping his father at the vada-pav shop – the family’s only source of income – Shenoy feared his dream of becoming a fast bowler would die an early death. But thanks to a nationwide pace bowling hunt, Shenoy is all set to train under Australian coach Rodney Marsh at the ICC’s Global Cricket Academy in Dubai. Shenoy, who took five wickets on his Kanga League debut, caught the eye of former India fast bowler Manoj Prabhakar at the talent hunt. “The best thing about his bowling is the nip that he gets off the wicket,” Prabhakar told the Indian Express. “He is quick and can generate 140-plus. If he is properly trained back home, he has a long future.”

Stanley Johnson spent a lifetime touring the world watching cricket, and after he died watching a match in New Zealand in December - his 230th overseas Test – he will be going on one final ashes tour, as his friends scatter his remains at his 12 favourite grounds around the world."Stan had no real home,” said Anthony Robinson, a friend. “He just travelled the world watching cricket."

Johnson, 72, left money for friends to visit grounds around the world with his ashes and their tour will include his home town of Accrington, Oswaldtwistle, Old Trafford, The Oval, Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Wankhede in Mumbai, Premadasa in Colombo, the Basin Reserve in Wellington, the Sydney Cricket Ground, St. George's Park in Port Elizabeth, Harare Sports Club and Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad. Johnson, a former accountant, also included money in his will for friends to have "a locally-brewed beer" while wearing Stan Johnson Ashes Tour T-shirts at each stage of the journey.

	Jonathan Trott's run-out during the Ashes decider at The Oval has bagged the photographer, Gareth Copley, a notable prize © PA Photos

“I knew the results would be announced today, so I looked on the internet, checked my emails and saw this,” a shocked Copley told the British Journal of Photography.

A regular member of the touring England press pack, Copley was named as the SJA British Sports Photographer of the Year back in 2007, but until today his real claim to fame was his jinx-like tendencies on overseas tours. Until their victory at Durban this winter, England had never won an away Test match when Copley had been sat on the boundary.

According to the SJA newsblog, the judges awarded prizes to 63 photographers from 23 countries, after spending two weeks reviewing a record 101,960 photographs by 5,847 photographers, from 128 different nations.

Copley added that he always enters the contest, which is only open to professional photographers, in order to receive the annual book that is sent to all participants. This time, he will also be receiving a prize of 10,000 euro and a camera, which will be presented at a ceremony in Amsterdam on May 2.

Legendary West Indies batsman Brian Lara has been robbed of cash, jewellery and several personal belongings – including more than 40 VVIP tickets for the Beyoncé concert to be held later this month at the Queen's Park Savannah – with a combined value of $1 million. The items were in a safe which was removed from Lara’s home. Lara also lost the honorary 'Order of Australia' which was bestowed on him by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Port-of-Spain last year.

Six people have since been arrested for the theft from his Lady Chancellor mansion, with police believing it to have been an inside job. “It has to be people who knew exactly where to go, and they knew what they were looking for...They timed him very well before making their move,” a police source was quoted as saying by the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian.

The theft was discovered during the early hours of Wednesday morning by Lara. Astonishingly, it appears the safe was stolen while he was asleep in another room in the house. Lara told investigators that at around 8pm, he was watching television when he fell asleep. He said he got up at around 2am and discovered the safe missing from a bedroom. This is not the first time Lara has suffered at the hands of thieves at his home.

A group of cricketers in New Zealand took the Trans-Tasman rivalry to a new level, participating in the longest cricket game of all time. Even the timeless Test in 1939 failed to measure up to what a determined bunch from the Cornwall Cricket Club, along with a few extras from Greenlane and Ellerslie, achieved; they went past the record of 66 hours and 16 minutes, set by an Australian team, to raise funds for the Starship Foundation, a children’s health initiative. And they're not done yet, for they're aiming for 100 hours.

Twenty-four players took part in the monumental feat, breaking the record at 4.14am on Wednesday. The 100-hour mark will be reached on early Thursday. It’s not the first time Cornwall Cricket Club has undertaken this ardous task. They were the record-holders in 2008, playing for 55 hours, before their neighbours overtook them. “We’ve got unfinished business. The last time we did it for 55 hours and we could have kept on going. We’ve got a bit of an alliance going on. It’s us verses the Aussies,” Mike Butler, a participant from the club, was quoted as saying on New Zealand Cricket website. “It’s a real relief to have reached that 66 hour mark this morning."

How do the teams of 12 cope? They fight the heavens, dirty themselves in the rain, take turns to eat and sleep and use a special ball and light machines to battle it out. “The weather has been friendly to us except for Monday when the heavens opened and flooded the ground! But we were out there between overs trying to clear the water,” Butler said. “We also use a special ball so we can see it at night. We’ve got light machines to help us see at night. It’s no MCG but it does the job!”

All for a noble cause.

We have all become used to the hyperbole of most press releases, but Cricket Canada's interim president Ranjit Saini raised the bar to a new level with a message to the media surrounding the streaming of a Twenty20 match between Canada and Sri Lanka A.

"We at Cricket Canada are now getting ready to move forward and take the leap of faith and welcome the entire cricket world to land and help us grow. We have created a complete world in itself. Canada is a global community and each one of you will feel at home."

And from there Saini really warmed to his task.

"We are a humble and confident society. Innovation and determination are our natural traits. We are a noble nation and a perfect society. We made the first supersonic aircraft of the world, invented insulin and are leaders in robotics. A natural resource rich country that leads peace missions around the globe."

Even the season of giving has its limits. News that British taxpayers pay around ₤3 million every year to teach criminals in Jamaica to play cricket has generated a huge outcry in the home country. The money was meant for foreign prisoners in British jails to be repatriated to their home countries but, in a mix-up more bizarre than anything involving Geoffrey Boycott and an exasperated strike partner, the money has gone to a completely different cause.

Cue outrage. Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, made this succinct point to the Daily Express: “Thousands of schoolboys up and down the country would love to have cricket lessons.” And Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve: “It is astonishing that at a time of austerity, with spending on probation in this country being slashed, ministers will pay £3million for cricket lessons for prisoners overseas.”

The loophole – stemming from the absence of a bilateral prisoner-transfer agreement that led to the resources being differently allocated – has, however, benefited the Courtney Walsh Foundation’s Second Chance Project, a charity set up by the West Indian great – and backed by Wes Hall and Jimmy Adams - that teaches cricket to young offenders in Jamaican prisons. Will their charity work now be hit for six?

If Hazel Smith had started her cricketing career in a different era, she may well have made a mark with her on-field exploits. She was all of 15 when took to cricket in the 1930s, however family commitments nipped her career in the bud and she quit playing five years later. "I was married when I was 20 and in those days you never kept going with your own things, you stopped," she reminisced on her decision.

Relinquishing the whites however did not deter Ms. Smith, who went on to earn her bread in a different field and script her own recipe for success. For 35 years, she has fed boys at the Cameron Cricket Club near Melbourne with home-baked scones and sandwiches. Though scorers have not kept track of her progress, she is believed to have made around 27,000 sandwiches and 20,000 scones over the years. Her efforts were recognized during the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne where she was awarded with an International Cricket Council (ICC) Centenary Volunteer Medal, not in recognition of runs scored or wickets taken, but of scones and sandwiches baked.

	Andrew Flintoff's stocking fillers © Thisismission.com

Andrew Flintoff is finding myriad different ways to pass the time during his rehabilitation from knee surgery. This week, he has embarked on a new career as a clothing designer, after unveiling a new range of socks in time for the Christmas stocking market.

Flintoff has teamed up with the artist and illustrator, Duncan Cargill, to create what is described in a press release as a set of “unique and exclusive designs”, with “exciting illustrations and colour ways stylishly representing who they are and what they stand for”.

Flintoff’s offerings include a red sock with white trimmings, a navy blue sock with a red autographed “Freddie” monicker, and a garish green-and-yellowed striped variety, as modelled opposite. Quite what those say about his personality is anyone’s guess, but they are available for £9.99 a pop from MandMdirect.com, with all proceeds going to the Andrew Flintoff Foundation.

	A pile of bras gathers in the pavilion at New Road © WCCC

Worcestershire’s New Road withstood its first test of the winter last Tuesday, after the nearby River Severn burst its banks without penetrating the elevated entrance to the newly refurbished Graeme Hick pavilion. All of which was good news for the volunteers packed inside, who kept themselves busy on a damp evening ... by counting bras.

More than 2000 bras were donated and counted by volunteers from 2nd Skin Lingerie, who are raising money for the Worcestershire Breast Unit Campaign by attempting to create the world’s longest bra chain. The current record of 166,000 has been held by the town of Bundaberg in South-East Queensland since August 2009.

The garments are hooked together in sets of 20s to form a long chain, after which each bra is then tagged with a number and re-counted. Further counts and events are being planned for next year. After the final count all bras will be distributed to local women's refuges, homeless shelters and third world countries.

Karen Tomalin of 2nd Skin Lingerie said: "The evening was a great success with thousands of bras being donated but if we are going to break the world record and raise the much needed funds for the Worcestershire Breast Unit, we need even more. So, ladies, please keep those bras coming!"

	Strand by me: Shane Warne © Getty Images

Shane Warne looks to be heading towards another controversy, this time over his latest campaign for a hair replacement company. Advanced Hair Studio's advertisements have, down the years, focused on Warne and Graham Gooch's strand-by-strand replacement success, but the new ad implied that laser hair treatments produced the same results.

The advertisements have been banned by an advertising watchdog over their misleading content, Eurosport reported. It featured Warne with the line: ‘I stopped worrying about my hair when I heeded the Warne-ing signs [it should have been banned for that pun alone] and saw Advanced Hair Studio’, and was found contentious by the Advertising Standards Agency. Well bald, Shane!

	Missing: The Friends Provident Trophy © Getty Images

A group of financial advisors were given an unexpected surprise at a seminar in Leeds on Tuesday, when the centrepiece of a presentation by the cricket-sponsoring insurance company, Friends Provident, was accidentally switched in transit.

Delegates at the Tenet Group Annual Conference at the Queens Hotel in the city centre had been expecting to view the FP Trophy itself, which was won by Hampshire in last season’s final at Lord’s. Instead they were offered ... a strimmer.

“Apparently they were supposed to have the cricket trophy there, but the courier company brought the wrong box,” said Darren Harvey, one of the delegates at the event. “That means someone has the Friends Provident Trophy, and is probably trying to do his hedge with it!”

“That’s the first I’ve heard of that one,” a spokesman for FP told Cricinfo.

Twenty20 cricket has been accused of all sorts of crimes against civilised behaviour in its short but eventful existence, but now - in a bizarre development - a police chief in England has held the format up as the perfect role-model in the fight against anti-social behaviour.

“Twenty20 games are exciting and stimulating and that's what we want for our staff," said Julia Hodson, Nottinghamshire’s chief constable, at the launch of the force’s Policing for You with 20/20 Vision project.

Quite what all this has to do with fours, sixes and Powerplays remains to be explained. According to the Nottingham Evening Post, the project involves 70 Notts policemen being recruited to tackle serious volume crime and anti-social behaviour across the county.

The officers normally deal with such issues as firearms offences, public order, crowd control, suspect and illegal property searches and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology. They will now work alongside colleagues dealing with day-to-day violence, burglary, robbery and Duckworth/Lewis calculations.

Jack Hyams, the world’s most prolific club cricketer, will celebrate his impending 90th birthday with a pair of fixtures at the Clive Woodbridge Oval in Valencia, Spain, this weekend.

Hyams, who is Life President of the Barmy Army, enters his tenth decade on December 18, having amassed over 123,000 runs in all cricket, including 171 centuries. He has played ten matches so far this year for Billericay CC Veterans, while three years ago, he took part in five consecutive fixtures for Nomads CC on a tour of Spain, when the club was left short of players.

As a youth, Hyams was offered professional cricket and football terms but his father forbade him from taking that career path. Instead he waited until after the Second World War, when he played football for Bradford Park Avenue and took part in a memorable defeat of Arsenal in the FA Cup.

	Lily Allen is thrilled to secure Glen Chapple's autograph © Getty Images

After a 2.6 million-selling debut album, her own talk show and nominations for Grammy, BRIT and MTV awards, Lily Allen has finally received the recognition she wants as Lancashire made her an honorary member of the club.

Allen was granted membership in recognition of her national and international promotion of cricket and was also presented with a Lancashire team shirt and bat signed by stars such as Freddie Flintoff and Sajid Mahmood.

The musician catapulted into the cricketing mainstream during the 2009 Ashes when her twitter updates about the series earned her a call-up to the TMS box. She delighted traditionalists around the world by declaring her preference for Test cricket over the shorter formats at a time when Test cricket needed all the support it could muster.

From such heady heights it will be important for Allen not to get carried away with her success in a messy excess of ECB 40 League fixtures next summer.

Just days after an Auckland woman cricketer broke a world record for catching 33 tennis balls within a minute, the Guinness Book of Records had another cricket entry when Neville Wadia became the oldest player to hit a century in minor cricket. Wadia, at 63 years and 305 days, scored 105 for Waghodiya Road against Vrajdham Vadli Pariwar team at Siabaug Ground in Vadodara on March 28 this year. Eight months later, his feat was recognised in the coveted book. He isn’t stopping there. Wadia wishes to continue playing and also offer free coaching to youngsters. No country for old men? Not for Neville Wadia.

Move over Jonty. Auckland's Katie Perkins has entered the Guinness Book of Records for catching an astonishing 33 tennis balls within a minute, fired at 100 kmph. For good measure, the record she broke by ten balls was held by an Aussie, Anthony Kelly. Appearing on the television show NZ Smashes Guinness World Records, Perkins said, “Everyone wasn’t expecting me to break it and I did it for a bit of a laugh. But as soon as I did it, I was in the zone.” And now she's in the NZ emerging players' team - with a side career as a 'catching coach' in the offing?

	Ian Botham will don his trekking boots again next April © Getty Images

At 53, and with an appetite for the good life, a 900-mile trek should be beyond Ian Botham. But instead he’s unveiled plans for a 13th charity walk to begin April next year.

'Beefy's Great Forget Me Not Walk' will mark the 25th anniversary of his first trek in aid of leukaemia research as he walks length of Britain from Scotland's John O'Groats to England's Land's End.

"My walk in 2010 will be extra special for me," Botham said. “I never forget why I put myself through the pain and blisters. I won't stop until we beat childhood leukaemia.” When Botham set out for his first walk in 1985 only 20 percent of children with leukaemia survived. “We're up to about 90 percent survival now and that's remarkable."

Botham heads to South Africa on Wednesday for his commentary duties and has cemented a reputation for uncompromising barrages. This same unrelenting attitude has helped him raise some £10 million pounds for leukaemia research and he has no intention of stopping there.

Andrew Strauss’s men aren’t the only England cricketers touring Africa this winter. Cricket Without Boundaries (CWB), a UK charity that aims to increase awareness about HIV/AIDS through teaching cricket, is sending two teams of volunteers out to Rwanda and Kenya.

CWB started in 2005 and works in partnership with the Cricket Associations in each country, the relevant British High Commissions and the ICC to ensure sustained development of cricket. They return having established successful projects in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Botswana over the last three years.

They just completed a two-week project in Botswana, where volunteers overcame the challenges of lost baggage; rain on the ‘mini-world cup’ tournament they organised; and the odd blown generator to teach a staggering 1311 kids the basics of cricket and train 57 coaches who receive ICC certificates.

With four of England’s top-six Test batsmen this winter likely to be African born, CWB are nurturing a crucial pool of talent for years to come.

	Members of the Chinese women's team in Mohali © AFP

Among the packed crowd watching India play Australia at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Monday was a group of highly excited young women getting their first taste of cricket in India. They were members of the Chinese national women’s cricket team, currently in India, training for the 2010 Asian Games where the sport will make its debut. Cricket is rarely shown on TV back in China but whatever they’d seen couldn’t have matched up to the noise and spectacle of a packed house. “We are used to watching rugby, badminton or gymnastics at home, but nothing is as big as cricket is here,” Zhou Haijie, an offpsinner, told The Indian Express. “Watching the game was very insightful,” Zhang Jing Jing said, “the Mexican waves in the stands were the most fun.” What hit them the most? The noise in the stadium after an Indian boundary. “It's so loud,” said offspinner Zhou Haijie. “I didn't know 35,000 people could make noise for a billion.”

While the ICC works hard to spread the game to all regions of the world, one aspiring cricket body is having a bit of trouble recruiting players from within its natural auspices. Samoan cricket authorities are keen to recruit kirikiti - an indigenous Pacific Island form of cricket - players for their club infrastructure but have found it tough to coax them, because islanders are worried their traditional sport is endangered.

Seb Kohlhase, the Samoa Cricket president, is reportedly in talks with leading kirikiti players who fear the game, which was introduced by missionaries in the 19th century, will be forced into extinction. "They are so used to kirikiti, so they treated us with apprehension as if we would stop them," he told Radio Australia. "I don't want it to stop.

“But we are sending people tomorrow to Savai'i to hold clinics. They will hold development squads for women and Under-19 players, so that finally their cricket and their talent will be recognised, not just for Upolu (the most populated island) but for the whole country."

Kirikiti, unique to Samoa, includes more players and has different rules than cricket, but the two share distinct similarities: they consist of batting and fielding teams who play on a pitch, the bowling is done from either end by different bowlers, and batsmen look to score off deliveries all around the playing space.

	© Getty Images

It’s a run-out waiting to happen. Usain Bolt has agreed to strap on the pads this Sunday and take part in a mini-tournament in Jamaica featuring Chris Gayle and a host of past and present West Indies players. Bolt’s love of cricket is well-known and it’ll be a brave batsman who takes him on in the field for a sneaky single.

"In terms of sport, cricket is my first love," Bolt said. "I grew up watching cricketers like Courtney Walsh take the West Indies to new heights - and I am a big admirer of Chris Gayle for his power batting and calm attitude; he is my favourite player right now. So, to have the chance to play with these guys is a dream come true for me."

The Pro 15/15 cricket tournament will feature current stars including Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Jerome Taylor, as well as legends of the past such as Walsh, Curtly Ambrose and Richie Richardson. You have to pity whoever has to run between the wickets with Bolt. He can cover 100 metres in 9.58 seconds so, ignoring for a moment his carrying pads and bat, a 22-yard pitch should take him approximately two seconds.

There are many uses for a cricket bat, as Daniel Brookes found out when he attempted to rob a house in the village of Alderley Edge in the English county of Cheshire. Thea Taylor, a mother of two, was woken from her sleep in the early hours of the morning by the sound of intruders and grabbed the nearest thing - a bat used in the Ashes and signed by members of the England squad. Wielding the bat like a lightsabre, Taylor chased the intruder out of her house. An alert passerby noted down the getaway vehicles license plates and the perpetrator was duly apprehended by the local authorities.

The bat belonged to Taylor's husband after he bid for it in a charity auction. "I can't remember how much we paid for it but it is definitely now my lucky bat and worth its weight in gold," said Taylor, whose batsmanship so impressed a recorder judge that she issued her a Crown Court Commendation for chasing Brookes out of the house.

Brookes' lawyer was left with little more to say than the choice made by the defendant, when confronted by a lady with a cricket bat, was to run, and not retaliate.

Burglars be forewarned - anyone entering Taylor's house without permission stands to become the subject of a hook shot to the head.

	Skunk then, Brylcreem now © Getty Images

"Those are pretty big shoes to fill, but I'm eager to bring my individual style and personality to the table,” Pietersen said on becoming the Brylcreem Boy a decade after Beckham first endorsed the product. Brylcreem’s marketing boffins said Pietersen had all the qualities required - great looks, easy charm, and a touch of flair. It’s a long way from the time in 2005 when a Brylcreem poll saw Pietersen’s hairstyle – he then sported a skunk-like blonde streak across the middle of his head - voted among the worst in showbiz.

Amid rumours that they are about to relocate their headquarters from Dubai to Nigeria, the International Cricket Council has been forced to issue a warning about hoax emailers, after a wave of spam messages, purporting to have originated from the board, flooded the internet.

“It has been brought to our attention that there are various emails in circulation claiming to be from representatives of the International Cricket Council,” read a statement on the ICC website. “The emails ask the recipient to forward his/her personal details so that they can receive a cash prize, which the individual is told he/she has won in an online draw supported by the ICC and in connection with the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 or ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

“Please be warned: this email is a scam,” continued the statement. “The ICC is not associated with these communications, which are fraudulent attempts to obtain personal information and possibly money. Therefore, we advise you to ignore and/or delete this email if you receive one.”

Call it the rub of the 'green'. Indian captain MS Dhoni is the world’s highest-earning cricketer, according to the Top 10 list compiled by business magazine Forbes. With earnings to the tune of US$10 million, Dhoni is followed by Sachin Tendulkar in second place (US$8 million), while Yuvraj Singh (US$5.5 million) and Rahul Dravid are third and fourth respectively. The Indian representation is complete with Sourav Ganguly who shared the sixth place with Australian captain Ricky Ponting, with both raking in US$3.5 million.

“Paycheck figures include club and national team salaries and commercial endorsement income over the last 12 months,” Forbes said. “With its deep-pocketed owners and global appeal, nine of the 10 highest-paid cricket players call the Indian Premier League (IPL) home.

“Take MS Dhoni, who plays for the Chennai Super Kings and tops our list as cricket’s first $10 million-a-year man (that’s $5,426 for each run scored). His $8 million in endorsements, from the likes of Reebok, General Electric and Pepsi, is 45 per cent more than any other player.

“Among all Indian athletes and entertainers, Dhoni’s 17 corporate sponsors is second only to Bollywood star and co-owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan."

The IPL connection, in fact, has also helped boost Tendulkar's figures. “He’s one of five IPL players who have been bestowed ‘icon’ status, meaning he automatically receives a pay cheque 15% larger than his highest paid teammate," the magazine said. “Tendulkar’s $1.1 million salary from the Mumbai Indians helped push his total earnings to $8 million over the last 12 months."

England’s Andrew Flintoff comes in at fifth, with earnings of $4 million, ahead of Ponting and Ganguly, who are followed by Australia’s Brett Lee and England's Kevin Pietersen tied at eighth place with US$3 million each. Australian Michael Clarke rounds off the list at 10th with earnings of US$2.5 million.

The Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes is planning to bring Joseph O’Neill’s acclaimed Netherland to the big screen.

Netherland took O’Neill seven years to write, and he struggled to get it published, but once it was finally in print the reviews were gushing. Set in New York and based on the city’s thriving but seedy world of cricket, it portrays a poignant and at times disturbing view of post-9/11 America.

Mendes, a fervent cricket fan, has asked Christopher Hampton – whose screenplays include Atonement - to adapt O’Neill’s novel and plan to film it some time next year.

"It is a beautifully written book and I quail at the idea of adapting it," Hampton tole The Guardian. "This is a very difficult project, I know that. When Sam first asked me, I said it was too difficult and that I could not do it. But Sam was very persistent and quite eloquent too.

"I don't know why Sam wanted me to do it, but I do know he feels that he has to make it. He told me there really isn't anybody else who could make this film, since he is both a film director and an expat cricket-lover living in New York.”

Never again let it be said that the BCCI doesn’t have a heart. Even as the world unites to rail against its greed, arrogance and other deadly sins, the Indian board has sanctioned a grant worth Rs 25 crores ($5 million) for the All-India Football Federation (AIFF). India isn’t short of football fans – it’s an emerging market eyed by FIFA and the Premiership – but it does lack a national team worth cheering (India have qualified once for the World Cup – in 1950). Now they have the 2011 Asian Cup finals in Qatar to aim for, and plan to use the BCCI’s grant for their "Goal 2011" project, in which 25 top players will be taken off club duty for nine months to build the team.

It isn’t, though, an act of reckless charity. Indian cricket is headed (de facto, if not de jure) by Sharad Pawar, a minister in the federal government and a member of the Nationalist Congress Party from Maharashtra; Indian football is headed by Praful Patel, a minister in the federal government and a member of the Nationalist Congress Party from Maharashtra. So you could say there is sound reasoning for them to play ball.

The Sunday Times notes that the Ashes summer is being celebrated by tourism body VisitEngland unleashing a series of new perfumes on the world “to capture the essence of the country”. Among those is one called “Cricket Ball”. The marketing blurb does not mention if this odour de ball is of the brand-new-out-of the-paper version or the flogged-all-round-the-park-for-80-overs variety. Cricinfo’s reviewers will be down to Boots for samples as soon as the Lord’s Test ends.

As advertisements go, the one for the post of CEO of the Netherlands cricket board (KNBC) is hardly designed to whet the appetites of candidates. In fact, it all but screams out ‘don’t bother to apply’. The Dutch have had two CEOs in the last few months, with the most recent, Andre van Troost, barely having time to pick his office furniture before he quit.

The latest advert from the board, as flagged by Cricket Europe, starts with the gung-ho comment that it was “required by ICC regulations to advertise this position once again. Hence the following advertisement”. It’s downhill from there, but in case anyone was still interested, the description concludes: “Attention is drawn to the fact that there is already an established candidate.”

If there was an unlikelier place than Cardiff for Ashes mania to kick off this year, St Petersburg would be it. But that’s where a team of Australians has taken first blood against a side made up of English ex-pats.

The Crusaders, a Melbourne-based team consisting of players aged 16 to 60-plus, like to spread cricket to parts of the world where it normally wouldn’t be played. Outside the State Russian Museum certainly qualifies.

The match was played in the famous Mikhailovsky Garden and a small team of gardeners prepared a ‘pitch’ that could be generously described as an extremely green-top. The Australians won the day but just as entertaining was the way the St Petersburg locals struggled to comprehend what was going on.

"It's something new, something unusual for Russia," Elena Naydenko told ABC television. "It's for intellectuals I think, because of its rules. Only an intellectual can understand the rules.”

Jacob Oram delivered a wake-up call for cricket statisticians, claiming that the current system of compiling statistics in terms of averages and strike-rates for Twenty20 cricket was close to irrelevant. Instead, he suggested, measuring quality in cricket should be modeled around the system used in baseball, where 'intangibles' are quantified, enabling a better assessment of players.

"I'm a massive baseball fan and I look at the way they compile stats and that is the way cricket should go," Oram told the New Zealand Herald. "They have stats for everything but we don't seem to be able to look past average and strike-rate."

Baseball, on the other hand, follows more sophisticated tools of analysis, measuring movement, velocity, power and errors committed by fielders. Cricket records the number of catches taken, but that says little about a fielder's ability if not supplemented with the number of chances he's spilled.

Oram also questioned the use of averages to measure the ability of middle-order batsmen as it failed to take into the account the enormous impact they usually have in the outcomes of games."But maybe I'm just saying that because my numbers are never going to look that great batting where I do," Oram said. But he stressed he was not interested in 'padding up' his numbers with a few cheap not outs, taking another jibe at the loopholes in the game's most relied on indicator of quality.

What was probably the cricket world’s worst kept secret became public knowledge on Wednesday: Sourav Ganguly will join the ranks of former players-turned-commentators during the World Twenty20. Ganguly, among the most controversial, colourful and outspoken cricketers of his generation, will be part of ESPN-Star’s heavyweight panel for the tournament and will be doing commentary stints in the knockout stages. His new colleagues will include Nasser Hussain, a sparring partner from Ganguly’s glory days as India captain – on the same day that Ganguly twirled his shirt on the Lord’s Balcony, Hussain had pointed his bat, well, rather pointedly at the media – and Ian Chappell, a critic of Ganguly’s captaincy style but not of course to the extent his brother was. Ganguly can be both petulant and charming but the hope is that he speaks his mind, as has been his wont.

Given the amount of time birds spend lounging on the outfields of the world’s cricket grounds, it’s a surprise that more don’t get killed by flying balls or speedy fielders.

A few do prove too slow to take evasive action - one, a sparrow killed in flight at Lord’s in 1936, was stuffed and is on display in the museum there. Only last season a pigeon was culled by a Matt Nicholson late cut while dozing down at third man at The Oval.

But few have been as unlucky as the bird splattered while flying across the pitch at Headingley during last weekend’s Twenty20 Roses match. One moment it was contemplating the next statue to perch on, the next it was brought down by a deadly-accurate throw from Jacques Rudolph. Its final ignominy came when it was picked up by Rudolph and dumped on the boundary edge, awaiting collection by the cleaning staff, or the local fox.

The bird may be gone but not forgotten. Its last moments live on thanks to YouTube.

	© Getty Images

Before the inevitable jibes about the sun never shining in England, there’s a mini heatwave on at the moment (OK, it’s still chilly for most visitors but the British have low heat tolerance) and the forecasters are predicting a hot summer. And scientists have found that the right type of sunglasses could improve catching ability by up to 28%.

Most sunglasses worn by cricketers are too dark, so some clearly underutilised boffins decided after months of painstaking research carried out in bars next to cricket grounds the length and breadth of the land. As a result, players have been told how to optimise their vision by wearing the right coloured lenses for the conditions from a selection of yellow, red, gold, silver and orange.

Alarmingly, the researchers said that one of the people asked to test the sunglasses to assess the impact they made was … er … Monty Panesar. “We wanted to see what improvement they made to their performance and were put through their paces by fielding machines under a range of different lighting conditions,” said an aforementioned boffin.

It seems that the ECB is so taken with the research that it has even experimented with tinted contact lenses, but the idea was dropped after some players expressed unease.

For pre-game and mid-innings entertainment at the World Twenty20 how about some cricket pop? Songs like ‘Meeting Mr Miandad’, ‘Test Match Special’ and ‘Jiggery Pokery’ would be a refreshing change from Bollywood remixes and billboard hits from two years ago.

Neil Hannon, songwriter for the band Divine Comedy, and Thomas Walsh, from Pugwash, have collaborated on a concept album called The Duckworth Lewis Method which they call “possibly the least necessary album of recent years”.

Jiggery Pokery, a song inspired by Shane Warne’s first ball of the Ashes, could probably be played just after the national anthems at the start of this year’s England-Australia series. And you can sing along as well:

Jiggery pokery, trickery chokery, how did he open me up
Robbery! Muggery! Aussie skull-duggery! Out for a buggering duck.
What a delivery I might as well have been Holding a child's balloon
Jiggery pokery who is this nobody Making me look a buffoon?"

There were two overs to go in Derbyshire’s innings during their Twenty20 Cup match against Durham. Stuart Law was batting on 32 and the need for acceleration prompted him to change his weapon. He switched the conventional bat he’d been using for the Mongoose – a bat with a short blade, long handle, 20% more power and 15% more speed – which is supposedly tailor-made for shredding bowlers.

“You need to get used to it,” Law said, cautioning those who may have been rushing to improve their strike-rates. “The greater bat-speed means you’re more inclined to go through early with the stroke — which is a good thing in a way.” In the end Law scored only ten runs with the Mongoose but six of those came via a monstrous hit over midwicket. Are ball manufacturers already working on the Cobra to level the playing field?

Javed Miandad recently alleged that IPL games, often decided off the last ball this season, were being fixed. Now you can find out of yourself, if you’re an ace mathematician that is.

Professor David Forrest, a renowned gambling researcher, believes it is possible to calculate whether or not match result has been influenced by cheating players and corrupt officials. He and his colleagues came up with a complex formula, which takes into account how many years of competition an athlete has left, the probability of their being caught, their current wealth and the potential damage to their reputation. "An industry estimate is that on a weekend of Premier League football, half a billion dollars is wagered, most of that from Asia,” Forrest was quoted as saying in the Manchester Evening News. “Even more money is spent on cricket, with a billion dollars of bets each day on a Test match."

The likelihood of a match being “fixed” is higher in matches where teams have nothing to play for, Forrest said. All the more reason then, to closely examine the trend of dead rubbers yielding favourable results for weaker team.

It promises to be as revolutionary in cricket as graphite rackets and titanium clubs were in tennis and golf. That’s the Mongoose bat, designed for Twenty20 batsmen – long handle, short blade, 20 per cent more power, 15 per cent more speed and a silicon chip that can predict the swing of the ball. Okay, we made the last one up but you get the drift – this bat can apparently do almost anything and, best of all, it’s legal, having received the MCC’s seal of approval. The bat will make its first-class debut next week in the Twenty20 Cup as Derbyshire’s Stuart Law takes on the Durham attack. The manufacturers aren’t afraid of hyping it up; it is the “single most radical change to cricket equipment since 1771”, a “game-changing weapon” ensuring that “run accumulation has been replaced by all-out attack”. Or, as Law put it, a “weapon of mass destruction”. Maybe it does have that silicon chip after all.

We’ve heard of streakers, insects and mysterious vandals either holding up play or preventing it entirely, but a pitch invasion by a single person having a substantial effect on the result of a game? That’s a new one. But it happened, and Scotland were left rather annoyed after a loss to Warwickshire during a Friends Provident Trophy match in Edinburgh. Chasing 242, Scotland were 131 for 3 when a baffling intruder – later identified only as “Ginger” by a bunch of traveling friends from the English Midlands – ran in and nicked a bail from in front of everyone. Said invader then proceeded to get away Scot free (no pun intended), dodging the minimal security and jumping over a boundary wall with the loot. The actions of the “idiot” as Scotland captain Gavin Hamilton dubbed him, led to a five-minute hold-up that was quickly followed by Neil McCallum's dismissal as Scotland lost their sixth game in a row. "We were doing so well when the guy ran on and took a bit of the momentum we had achieved away,” said McCallum. “It was frustrating.” Talk about getting away on bail.

India’s general elections were a vindication not only for the Congress party but for one of its debutant candidates. And soon after his win was announced Mohammad Azharuddin celebrated his return to the headlines as a leader once again. “I was overwhelmed,” he told The Telegraph after being elected from the Moradabad constituency. “Till recently I didn’t expect to be in politics... Now, I’m in the Lok Sabha... That’s why I got overwhelmed and, in a way, felt I finally got to play my 100th Test.” He was referring, of course, to his exile from cricket after 99 Tests on being implicated in the match-fixing case. While he couldn’t draw a direct comparison between this achievement and his feats on the cricket field, he said it was it could be on a par with his “No.1 achievement” in the game - a hundred in each of his first three Tests (at home against England, in 1984-85). Azhar’s gradual return from the cold began in 2006 and his second innings has got off to a positive start.

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC's chief executive, wants to add some glamour to the tired old Champions Trophy, unquestionably the least loved of the three major global events, when the tournament returns in South Africa later this year.


"We want to remodel the Champions Trophy and distinguish it slightly from what it was before, and make it a bit more attractive for the players and the spectators," Lorgat told reporters at Lord's. "We would like to do that up in the form of a Cricket Masters.

"Maybe we need to think about that's where you get the green jacket, so that it's the one event that will distinguish itself from the other." It was, as Lorgat admitted, an off-the-cuff idea, but seeing as three of the competing nations - Australia, South Africa and Pakistan - already sport green jackets, such a plan would be the perfect way to disguise the competition even further.

The rural community remodeled as the fictional village Champaner in the 2001 Academy Award-nominated Hindi film Lagaan is set to actually host a cricket tournament. No, this won’t be a real-life battle against high taxes between peasants in a barren village and their oppressive British rulers. Instead, in keeping with times, it’s going to be called the Kutch Premier League, planned along the lines of the IPL, and will feature eight local teams vying for the tag of Twenty20 champs in an arid corner of Gujarat.

Rajnal, 50 kilometers from Champaner's inspiration Kunaria, will play host to teams with names like Wagad Royal Challengers and Kutch Gladiators, owned by former Indian Test offspinner Rajesh Chauhan. The other teams are owned by local businessmen, who paid Rs 50,000 (US$ 1,017) for each. Running the show is the Ratnal Sport Club, which auctioned the teams. There are even 24 icon players out of a pool of 150 auctioned on May 1. Raking in the top amount was allrounder Nirav Pandya, for whom Bhuj Black Hills paid Rs 20,000 (US$ 407).

Each game will be a day fixture and telecast on local cable television, though hopefully without DLF maximums and Citi moments of success. Local steel company Nilkanth Steel owns the title sponsorship. Add a dash of glamour in the form of popular Gujarati actress Hemali Shejpal, and this is one proper shindig.

The winner will pocket Rs 1.5 lakh (US$ 3,050) in cash and a trip to Canbis County Cricket Club in Kenya, which has a large Gujarati population.Doing a rustic take on Lalit Modi, event planner Trikam Ahir said the tournament’s intention was to provide a platform for local players as well as “good entertainment for locals” during the summer vacation. The times they are a-changin’.

Dilawar Hussain, of Blackburn, is an angry man. And £475 short. Hussain, who plays for Gujarat and Niles cricket clubs, ordered a kit from Lahore and arranged for it to be shipped to the UK via DHL.

But before reaching him, eight bats and a few pairs of pads were ruined by officials searching for explosives. Each bat and pad arrived with holes drilled in them. Worse, no one has owned up to the damage. "It is unbelievable. What were they thinking? They're ruined,” said club captain Dilawar Hussain.

True to form, the governments of both Pakistan and the UK are engaged in a battle of passing the buck. Last heard, British customs said it would have provided paperwork if it did the check.

Cricket clubs are used to not being able to honour fixtures because of the weather or player shortages, but Roborough Cricket Club in Devon have a more long-term issue after a group of so-called travellers set up camp on the outfield earlier this week and let their children loose on the square.

“They've been riding across the wicket,” said club treasurer Mike Gaylard. “We're going to inspect it on Monday morning and carry out any necessary repairs. We're hoping we'll be able to play in the afternoon. They just think they've got a God given right to be there.”

“We're just passing through; it's our way of life,” one of the travellers countered. “It's the only way you know when you've been brought up with it.”

The police washed their hands of the situation and the local council, who own the ground, said that they could “only move as fast as the law allows”.

Just how far the ECB is prepared to bend over to earn an extra buck - and it would probably win many limbo competitions – might be gauged by its reaction to ESPN-Star’s reported multi-million dollar bid for rights to cover the planned new domestic Twenty20 tournament, due to launch in 2010.

The Daily Telegraph claims that it is a condition of ESPN-Star's bid that every team taking part in any televised match must contain an Indian player. This will leave the ECB between a rock and a hard place. In the past it has tended to follow the dollar and risk public opprobrium, as evidenced by its decision to take live English cricket completely off terrestrial TV and place it in the hands of BSkyB.

But if it does accede to ESPN-Star's demands, then it raises the prospects of all future bids being accompanied by similar demands. Where does that end? Could we see BSkyB have a place on England’s panel of selectors, or picking overseas players for counties?

It’s not been a good year or two for Bermudan cricket, with poor on-field performances and lurid off-field tales dogging the side. Hopes that the only way was up after the recent failure to qualify for the 2011 World Cup were dashed with news that fast bowler George O’Brien had been charged with using a Taser stun-gun against what local papers described as a “love rival”.

O’Brien pleased not guilty when he appeared in court, his lawyer claiming the incident was related to “matters of the heart”. The magistrate was duly unimpressed and expressed concern that O’Brien actually owned a Taser in the first place. He will stand trial in August.

O’Brien has a chequered record. In 2005 he was handed a two-year suspended ban after reportedly punching an opponent during Bermuda's Cup Match, the biggest game of the year. In 2006 he was dropped from the national side after he missed a number of training sessions and failed to impress at the ones he did attend. That led to him being excluded from the 2007 World Cup squad, and days after being left out he broke his leg playing football.

	© The White House

George Bush tried – and failed – to swat a tennis ball with a cricket bat on a trip to Pakistan in the dog days of his presidency, but the meeting between Brian Lara and President Barack Obama in Trinidad was an altogether more successful affair.

Obama took time out from attending the Fifth Summit of the Americas to meet with Trinidad’s most famous cricketer. While his sport of choice is basketball, Obama was given a brief batting lesson by Lara, although attempts to teach him to drive were slightly less successful that his lesson in playing the forward defensive.

Obama greeted Lara by saying that he “always wanted to meet the Michael Jordan of cricket”. Lara repaid the compliment by presenting the president with a signed bat.

“It was beautiful,” gushed hotel manager Ali Khan. “You could see the expression on [Obama’s] face and his daughter’s. He was truly emotional and touched as were all of us.”

Cricket is likely to make the pages of OK and Hello is the coming weeks after the revelation that Chelsy Davy, former partner of Prince Harry, has been “spending time” with South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith.

As often happens, Davy seems to be strikingly similar to Smith’s previous high-profile girlfriend, the model Minki van der Westhuizen. "Chelsy is so like Minki and they have the same friends in South Africa. Chelsy and Graeme have been to the Bang Bang club together twice and she has had Graeme over at her apartment. They are extremely close," reported the Daily Mail. "Chelsy is still very fond of Harry but she can't go on waiting for ever.”

Should anyone be concerned about the heir to the crown, he too is said to have moved on and is being linked to “glamourous TV presenter Caroline Flack”, so the paper says.

Mistaking the letter ‘H’ painted in the corner of a cricket field an unlucky pilot landed a helicopter smack in the middle of a domestic cricket game in India. The players, at first looking on in bewilderment as the chopper swooped down, quickly scurried for cover.

The match was a Ranji one-day between Punjab and Services at the Indira Stadium in Una, Himachal Pradesh. According to the Hindustan Times, a fire near the ground added to the uncertainty of the pilot, who mistook it for smoke signals, and also confused the letter ‘H’ for a landing pad. The ‘H’ stood, in reality, for the name of the home team, Himachal Pradesh.

The impulsive appearance of the helicopter, owned by a private airline, halted play for 26 minutes. "It landed suddenly. No one knew what was happening," the Punjab team manager told the paper. "There was chaos. Everyone ran for cover."

With the tour to Pakistan called off, most of the Indian team had a month’s break from international cricket and they used the precious time to pursue some personal interests. Sachin Tendulkar looked for real estate in the north Indian hill station of Mussoorie and Mahendra Singh Dhoni trained with the National Security Guards.

Always the intellectual, Rahul Dravid decided to lend his voice to a talking book on cricket for children, Cricketmatics, which will be brought out by the Karadi Tales company, a Chennai-based group which publishes books on Indian heritage. Dravid said he was keen to involve himself in such a project because his three-year-old son, Samit, wanted his parents to read stories to him. And so, as quick as he is to hop across and keep the ball away from his off stump, loving papa opted to offer junior a fun way of learning. The son is father to the man.

It remains to be seen if Dravid explains how to tuck bat behind pad to avoid the lbw.

	An unusual sight at London's Trafalgar Square © PA Photos

Two teams from England are planning to play the world’s highest game of Twenty20 on a plateau halfway up Mount Everest. Expedition leader Richard Kirtley dreamed up the idea two years ago during a trip to the region. He saw the Gorak Shep plateau, which is 5165 metres above sea level, and instantly thought it resembled The Oval.

“I wasn't confident that I'd find enough people nuts enough to try it, but in the end I got over 100 applications,” he said. “I'm proud of the tradition of British eccentricity. The most important thing for me was that it wasn't just going to be a bunch of blokes going up there for a bit of a knock-around.”

The internet can do wonders in helping to promote a place to the world, but it also has a down side – just ask Hastings, the south coast town in England.

A cricket team cancelled their tour after finding a guide online that pinpointed Hastings local drug hotspots under a map entitled: ‘Map to show hotspots for discarded injecting paraphenlia' (sic).

Fleckney Village Cricket Club, in Leicestershire, instead opted for a five-day tour of the West Country after studying the map, but local officials said it didn’t paint a true picture.

Hastings MP Michael Foster told the Argus: "I will contact the cricket club and invite them to Hastings and I'm sure they will be impressed when they get here."

And Kevin Boorman, head of marketing at Hastings Borough Council, added: "It doesn't help tourism."

	No language issues here © Getty Images

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is surely not of the ilk to be flustered easily, nor the kind to shy away from a challenge, and the India captain seems to have found an ingenious way to handle a few language issues.

"In countries like Australia or England, people speak English in such an accent that it is very hard to understand. So, at parties when locals come to us and start talking, even if we are not getting anything, we say yeah,” Dhoni joked during a show on NDTV. "Or if I have a drink in hand, I excuse myself by saying, 'I'll just get a drink' but never show up in front of that person again.”

The expectations were also high when he was signed for US$1.5 million by the Chennai Super Kings. "I played for Chennai but didn't know any Tamil [what most people would speak in Chennai]. But people there thought that since I was part of the team, I had learnt it. So I just picked up a few words and for the one-and-a-half months I played there, I relied on those to break the language barrier.”

Glenn McGrath's playing engagements are becoming increasingly rare, but the honours don't seem to trail far behind the former Australian fast bowler. In 2008, 18 months after he finished his Test career, McGrath was awarded life membership of Cricket New South Wales. And he now finds himself a finalist for this year's Australian of the Year, a "huge honour" according to the legend himself, for his fund raising efforts for the McGrath foundation.

Since retiring from Tests at the end of the 2006-07 Ashes, McGrath has bravely promoted his late wife Jane's cancer awareness campaign since her death in June, while raising their two children. "To be acknowledged in this way, it's something very special," McGrath told reporters ahead of the announcement. "I'm sure there's a lot of other people out there who probably deserve it more than me."

The McGrath Foundation is a charity that raises awareness of breast cancer and lobby to fund specialist breast care nurses. Publicity for the foundation was boosted earlier this year during the third Test between Australia and South Africa in Sydney when the ground was bathed in a sea of pink.

"The foundation's growing, the support we've had from everyone in Australia is great, so that's growing by the day so my involvement will become a lot more there," said McGrath.

However late it is, and however many post-match beers you might have had, it might be best to avoid popping into the Mandarin House in Knighton, Wales where the owner showed his love for the game by using a rat-gnawed cricket bat to stir a pan of curry. That, and the presence of rats in the kitchen itself, led to owner Chun-Hung Cheun being fined £2000 by Brecon magistrates.

What does an allrounder do after he retires? Tries for a career in golf. It was something Kapil Dev thought about and Shaun Pollock, who stood down last year after a decorated career, is considering the move by entering some amateur tournaments in South Africa.

“Having been a professional sportsman for all those years, you have those competitive juices in you and they are not going to vanish overnight, so you need an outlet,” Pollock told the Courier-Mail. “I have always enjoyed my golf and I think that’s where I can put all my competitive energy at the moment.”

Pollock’s handicap is now down to one and he is no longer held back by long tours affecting his form and focus. However, he will also spend some time over the next month playing beach cricket in Australia.

As if there weren’t enough statisticians in the world, someone, somewhere, has calculated that when China played Maldives in the Asian Cricket Council Challenge this week the population differential was around 3300. Still awake? Ok, China’s population is roughly 1.30 billion and the Maldives 386,000, so China is 3368 times as populous.

Within minutes the anoraks had come flooding out of the cupboards in bedsits across the world. The net result was the 2007 World Cup match between India (1.15 billion) and Bermuda (66,000) was identified as producing an even greater disparity, around 17,420.

Baring any major improvements, this record seems to set to stay unless Cayman Islands (52,000, with more registered businesses than people) storm into a World Cup. The Falkland Islands, an Affiliate member of the ICC, has only 3000 inhabitants of the non-penguin variety and is a good long-term bet.

And for the record books, outpopulated or not, Maldives cracked 376 for 7 from their 50 overs before China were dismissed for 61.