Tendulkar has sat with the world famous museum who took over 200 measurements © Madame Tussauds

Sachin Tendulkar will never be forgotten, not by a generation of Indians and certainly not by cricket. But if anyone wants to find out just how diminutive the “little master” really is, they can come face to face with him at Madame Tussauds who are to spend £150,000 ($USD 215,000) on creating his waxwork.

Tendulkar, famously modest and private in spite of his achievements, might have discovered the perfect solution in combating his insatiably adoring fans. Tussauds’ waxworks are world renowned for their lifelike realism, and Tendulkar becomes the third cricketer after Brian Lara and Shane Warne to be converted into a wax statue.

“We are delighted to confirm our next sporting superstar is going to be Sachin Tendulkar; his achievements on the cricket pitch are phenomenal and he is one of the biggest names in international sport,” said the museum on Friday.

Tendulkar has already had a seating with the museum, in London, where they took 200 precise measurements of his face and body, giving his fans further reason to wax lyrical over his genius. The wax figure is expected to take three months to complete.

In India, cricket and films are often the quickest way to arrive in life. Having watched the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, where a poverty-stricken teenager makes it big, Allan Border thinks it’s possible for underprivileged kids to improve their lives through cricket. In Mumbai, coaching children rescued through an anti-child labour campaign, Border said he’d like to see a “Slumdog cricketer” come through the ranks.

“We understand the kids we work with in Mumbai have had a very tough upbringing,” Border told the Daily News & Analysis. “So we want to bring some fun back into their lives and have some fun doing it as well.

"When you come as a cricketer you stay in five-star hotels and get looked after incredibly well and play at great stadiums. On those trips you don't see the real India but through these programmes you get to see the real India or a different side of India. It's different from where we come from.”

As a result, Border said he had a "great appreciation for the story line”. Here’s hoping real life emulates the reel life.

Nearly 16 years after his 'ball of the century' to Mike Gatting marked the start of his domination of England, Shane Warne unusually finds himself a little apprehensive going into an Ashes series.

He may not be sending down those ripping legbreaks anymore, but he has signed up to commentate for Sky this summer. With Australia looking at their shakiest in a long time, Warne isn’t looking forward to calling the game with the likes of Ian Botham and Nasser Hussain if England start to dominate. “Copping an earful from 'Beefy' if we’re under the pump out in the middle . . . I reckon I’d be counting down every second to the end of my stint on air,” he wrote in his column in the Times. What England fans would have given to have had Warne jittery ahead of an Ashes campaign during his playing days.

Less than 24 hours after it rained sixes during the first Twenty20 international in Christchurch, New Zealand unearthed their biggest hitter. And it wasn’t Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram or even Ross Taylor. The batsman who smashed the ball 98.27 metres during the inaugural State Big Hits competition at the Basin Reserve in Wellington was a club cricketer Jimad Khan from the Onslow Cricket Club. He beat off some serious competition: Ian Butler was second with a 94.77m hit while Oram came third with 91.89m. Have New Zealand found their David Warner?

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."

As a captain Sourav Ganguly was never shy of expressing himself. Now he claims to be fighting for the rights of others to express themselves – namely a group of 24 young female cheerleaders. Ganguly is the judge of ‘Knights and Angels’, a reality show that will whittle down the competition to six lucky ladies who will cheer the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

Asked if cheerleaders distracted players, Ganguly rejected the claim adamantly. When one of the journalists checked if his new role wouldn’t embarrass his daughter back home in Kolkata, Ganguly hit back, asking, “What is so bad with dancing?” Even if it isn’t a career choice, Ganguly said the girls were just doing something they liked and he even compared them to gymnasts. “Would you call gymnastics a bad sport then?”

Ganguly said the girls need to be knowledgeable on cricket and understand the match situations better so that they can pump up the energy levels of the crowd and support the team. He did much of that during his captaincy years, though without having to shake a leg.

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A somewhat innocuous story about Derbyshire hosting back-to-back Twenty20 matches was enlivened by the description of the hosts in the headline as “Derbyshite”. It is unclear whether this is editorial policy but clearly the chief sub shared his colleague's view.

	Allen Stanford with the first instalment of his spousal support © Getty Images

An attorney for Mrs Stanford told ABC News that the rescheduling had nothing to do with the recent revelations, but nevertheless, the timing is sure to raise one or two eyebrows. And, in the light of her husband's financial meltdown, she might wonder what will be left for her after the settlement is finally agreed.

Among the conditions of the divorce, according to the temporary orders filed on May 29, 2008, Robert (sic) Stanford must pay Susan Stanford $100,000 a month in spousal support. In addition, he will provide expenses and coverage for a 2004 model Mercedes G55, a 2008 Mercedes S63, and a 1998 Porsche Boxter.

The expenses for Susan's residence in Holly Springs are also meant to be covered, plus the costs of her condo in Kirby, Huntington, which is currently in the temporary possession of their daughter, Randi. She is also to be given access and use of her husband's corporate jets, yacht, the Friar Hills estate in Antigua, and all Stanford company tickets, including the Stanford suite at Toyota Center.

Never mind the SEC investigation, with those sorts of demands, it's little wonder that Stanford has gone into hiding.

You rarely find the Indian team in any state of anxiety these days, such has been their on-field form, but there was palpable tension when they boarded the bus at their hotel en route to the airport for the flight to New Zealand early on Thursday. It had nothing to do with the much-debated playing conditions nor with the seaming tracks; instead, it was a missing team-mate that broke through even Mahendra Singh Dhoni's zen-like calm. Everything seemed routine till team manager Niranjan Shah started the head count. There was then a hold-up and, as the players gazed towards the team hotel's entrance, the motley crew of fans and journalists sensed something - or someone - was missing.

The minutes dragged on and the smiles disappeared; finally, Gary Kirsten got out and asked the hotel staff to check on the missing man, now identified as Dinesh Karthik. Not in his room, Kirsten was told, to which he replied, "Then we will leave without him." He headed back to his seat and, seconds later, Karthik emerged and ran towards the bus with a sheepish grin. He boarded to the sound of slow-handclaps and choicest abuses. His team-mates obviously weren't going to waste such an opportunity and let him go scot free: as soon as he got on the bus the entire team, including Kirsten, greeted him with claps and later a few players had a select few words for his late arrival. Karthik's return to the Indian squad has started on a 'late' foot but at least he went one better than Bryce McGain - earlier this week the Australian legspinner missed an internal flight and travelled separately to South Africa late.

	A glorious summer at Lord's awaits you © Getty Images

Ashes tickets are likely to be rarer than hen's teeth this summer, but there is one way Britons (and probably Australians too) can watch the Ashes without parting with any notes: by becoming a ground steward at Lord's. Not only do you get the Ashes, but the ICC World Twenty20 too. Admittedly, the role does include the less than savoury prospect of coping with thousands of drunk English fans (and probably Australians too), but the upside is surely too sweet.

Lord's has already received 1200 formal applications, "more than the total we received for the entire season in 2008" which comes as no surprise. And they're open to more, too. "There are a variety of stewarding roles within the ground such as the media centre, members and friends enclosures, turnstile operators, scorecard sellers and of course, the famous pavilion.

"Despite the record number of applications we'd always welcome more."

Requirements are pleasantly slim: "Interested applicants must be physically fit and over the age of 18." Don't all rush at once (a phrase you will learn at the training day)

Perhaps the BCCI does have a heart - as if in sympathy for their team captain's fear of heights, the board has included bungee-jumping in the list of banned activities on their tour of New Zealand. Mahendra Singh Dhoni had been invited by Tourism Auckland to bungee jump off the Harbour Bridge as a way to “see the city in all its glory” but he can take refuge in legalese. "Our tour contract does not allow us to do bungee jumping,” Yuvraj Singh responded to a question from an incredulous Harsha Bhogle at a sponsors' event in Mumbai.

Or perhaps the BCCI has taken lessons from cricket history - trace your memory back to the Tiger Moth incident involving David Gower and John Morris and you’ll know why it’s better to stay firm on the ground. It’s no secret that New Zealand is a haven for adventure sports lovers and the temptation to flirt with the wild side is sometimes too hard to resist. During India’s 1998 tour of the country, commentator Charu Sharma bungee jumped in Queenstown and the cameras were there to cover it.

The war between the cola majors has found a new turf, the IPL. After Pepsi ended its ten-year association with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Coca Cola has swooped in to sign a two-year deal to associate its popular Sprite brand with the team. It is learnt that Coca Cola will be involved in sponsorship of merchandise and serve beverages at Knight Rider stadia.

Pepsi, who shifted its focus to younger consumers, had earlier dropped Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly (the KKR captain) as brand ambassadors. Shah Rukh’s contract which expired in 2008 was also not renewed, though he may now be signed up by Coca Cola. “I am now perhaps too old for Pepsi,’’ he told the Times of India

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is Pepsi’s new face but in a twist that could add fizz to the cola wars, Ishant Sharma, who will spearhead the KKR pace attack, features in Pepsi’s mini-campaigns. Did someone mention ambush marketing?

When in India, go to the movies. And when you get there, don’t watch one. Put on your face paint, throw on that snazzy jersey, and root for your favourite cricketers.

Perhaps borrowing from the USA where, in 2003, certain cinema chains telecast Boston Red Sox baseball games as the team surged toward the World Series, the IPL has decided to try something new and exciting.

Following an increase in requests from cinema owners in India, the IPL has decided to float tenders to sell these rights for the 2009 season. "We have decided to issue tenders for selling these rights for one year or so," said IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi. "We will decide on continuing this after seeing how it goes on."

Come to think of it, a Twenty20 game lasts about three hours, which is the average length of a Hindi feature. In India the concept of a ten-minute interval is still there, which is almost the equivalent of an innings break. And India loves movies and cricket. Who'd a thunk it?

Cinemas aren’t just about movies anymore. Seems like they are more like entertainment destinations.
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Mohammad Zahid and Aamer Nazir. When they appeared on the scene for Pakistan in the 1990s, it sent everyone scurrying to find out their antecedents. Not much was discovered about either of them, except that they impressed Wasim Akram despite not much first-class experience.

Now, like a bolt from the the blue, comes the spotting of a 7'2" fast bowler from Multan who has former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed excited. At 6'8", Joel Garner and Bruce Reid were the tallest fast bowlers to play international cricket, but Mohammad Irfan is reportedly something else.

"I spent the whole day thinking to myself that we might have something really special here," Aaqib told PakPassion.com. "At the moment he has no clue about what he's trying to do, but we can teach him that stuff at the [Pakistan] academy."

Irfan, 21, has apparently never even played a proper game of cricket. Aaqib wants Irfan to "pack his bags and come straight back" because he is keen to get cracking on improving Irfan's mental and physical fitness. It may take some serious work, too. For someone that tall, even landing a ball on a length could turn out to be a bouncer to the man down the other end of the pitch.

Zahid and Nazir faded away but this one, he could be something big. If Irfan plays international cricket, the headline writers could have a field day - "His Highness" ... "Mount Irfan" ... Much fun.

It seemed so spur of the moment. Adam Voges’ brilliant juggling catch on the long-on boundary to remove Brendon McCullum in the second-last over was the difference between victory and defeat for Australia. Had he stumbled over the boundary with the ball in hand, a six would have been called and New Zealand would almost certainly have won.

Instead, Voges lobbed the ball high back into play as he fell backwards, then tripped over the boundary as he crawled back onto the field to complete the take. He was part juggler, part tightrope walker and was cool enough to pull off the act in front of tens of thousands of spectators.

But circus-goers don’t see the hours of practice and neither had most of the Sydney fans seen Voges try a similar trick a fortnight ago in a state one-day game. On that occasion Queensland’s Nathan Reardon slammed the ball towards long-off and Voges took it cleanly while backing back, but again was going to fall over the boundary.

His Western Australia colleague Theo Doropoulos had also made good ground and was near the ball, so Voges lobbed it towards him and Doropoulos was credited with the catch. But like any good showman, Voges wasn’t about to be upstaged and turned the duet into a solo act at the SCG.

Playing at Lord's is the dream of many, but the privilege of a few. However, a new breakthrough could perhaps help you create the feel of "the home of cricket" in your own backyard. Or even splash it on yourself before your next club match.

Perfumers at Procter & Gamble have captured the essence of Lord's, according to the New Scientist. A technology called headspace analysis was used to take in the odours of freshly cut grass, cricket bats, laundered cricket kit and the players' changing room (minus the players, thankfully), and these will be used as the starting point for a fragrance. "Perfumers need inspiration, and this can come from people that surround them, places they've visited, or things that they love in the world," said Will Andrews of P&G.

We're not sure when Lord's will be available in a bottle, but keep those nostrils open. Parfum de la Lord's?

	Michael Slater can’t remember the last time he picked up a bat © Getty Images

Sydney physiotherapists are in for a hectic evening. Mark Taylor and Michael Slater are among a long list of Australian sporting celebrities old and new to volunteer their services for a charity Twenty20 match at the SCG on February 22 to raise money for the victims of the Victorian bushfires.

Speaking at the launch of the event, Slater conceded he could not remember the last time he picked up a bat, while Taylor estimated he had played a solitary match in five years. But the former opening duo believes aching muscles are a small price to pay for the bushfire relief appeal, which has already raised millions for the injured and displaced.

"I'm not sure what kind of nick I'm in," Taylor admitted. "I haven't tried for a while." Taylor and Steve Waugh will captain sides that will be easily recognisable to Australian audiences.

Glenn McGrath, Moises Henriques, David Warner and Nathan Bracken will fine tune their Indian Premier League preparations in a match that will feature Australian rugby union internationals Lote Tuqiri and Phil Waugh, rugby league players Braith Anasta and Anthony Minichiello, surfers Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson and boxer Anthony Mundine. The match will be staged by the SCG Trust and Cricket NSW and will begin at 5pm.

By all accounts, Sir Viv Richards left the ground that bears his name angry and upset on a day that brought shame to his beloved island. "This shoots me straight through the heart," he said. "This is not shooting me in the foot. This is shooting me straight through the heart."

It should have been a memorable day for Richards and his former team-mates Andy Roberts and Michael Holding, as the three were meant to be presented with ICC Hall of Fame caps during the lunch interval, with a five-a-side match afterwards.

As it was, the day had ceased to have any sense of celebration long before then and embarrassed ICC officials, including chief executive Haroon Lorgat and media manager Jon Long, were forced to pack up their goodies and sneak them off to the Recreation Ground where they will all try again on Sunday.

Batsmen alert: He may look like he’s after your blood but he really isn’t and he may look beastly in his run-up but he’s really a beauty. And while cricket fans make up their mind whether they like Sreesanth or not, veggie lovers voted him the Sexiest Indian Vegetarian Alive, along with Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor, in PETA India’s annual online poll.

The website describes him thus: “as easy on the eyes as he is hard on his opponents. “A young and exuberant player who has got the moves on the pitch and on the dance floor, it's no wonder that 'The Prince of hat-tricks' has been crowned our king of veggie Valentinos!” With his new buffed-up look, it won’t be long before Sreesanth leads the Indian version of the Men of Cricket calendar.

After racing a plane, training with commandos, winning the Twenty20 World Cup and beating Australia in Australia, what can our bored hero do to spice up his life? How about jumping off a bridge? Should be easy now that Tourism Auckland has invited Mahendra Singh Dhoni to bungee jump off the Harbour Bridge as a way to “see the city in all its glory”.

Graeme Osborne, Tourism Auckland’s chief executive, said he wanted the Indian players to "experience the best of what Auckland has to offer” when they tour the city for a one-day game in March. But it’s a tall order since the Indian captain has confessed to being afraid of heights. Perhaps Virender Sehwag, his deputy, can step in instead.

Even Javed Miandad’s most enthusiastic supporters would struggle to pretend that diplomacy is one of his strengths. Nevertheless, the nation’s favourite pugilist will shortly be given the chance to practice his dialogue with a global superpower, when he heads to China as a cricket ambassador, at the behest of the Pakistan Sports Ministry.

The fall-out from Javed’s latest acrimonious split with the Pakistan Cricket Board has barely settled – he squared up to the board chairman, Ijaz Butt, at a senate hearing earlier this week, following his abrupt resignation as director-general in January, after only a month in the role. But none of that matters to the sports secretary, Ashraf Khan, who regards Javed as the perfect man to take cricket across the Karakorum Highway.

“It will be an exploratory tour for Miandad which runs between March 9 and 15," Khan told reporters. "China did very well in the last Olympics and you can't underestimate their talent in any sport. We do hope that Miandad will assist them in improving their cricketing skills."

Miandad’s appointment was rubber-stamped by the Pakistan president, Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the patron-in-chief of the PCB. "I have no doubt that they could excel in the field of cricket,” said Miandad, “like they did in other sports.”

It’s fair to say Peter McGlashan was a surprise call-up into New Zealand’s Twenty20 squad for Sunday’s game against Australia. But his parents didn’t need to make a last-minute dash to the travel agent to get on a flight to Sydney to watch their son play.

They were already going to be at the SCG that day to watch their daughter Sara. You see, Sara McGlashan is part of the New Zealand women’s side that will play a Twenty20 against Australia as a curtain-raiser to the men’s game. In fact she probably has a better chance of playing than Peter, whose fate rests with the fitness of the first-choice wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum.

"Mum and dad had planned to go to watch Sara and we've shouted my little sister to go over as her 21st present,” Peter said. “And I rang mum with the news and said could she track my passport down. She said 'why, are you coming to watch?' and I said 'I might actually be playing'."

One way or another it should be a familial affair for the New Zealanders. If McCullum’s sore shoulder doesn’t keep him out he’s every chance to play alongside his brother Nathan McCullum, who was called in as a Twenty20 specialist.

The once natural sun trap which provided shelter from New Zealand's notorious southerly winds to cricket fans on the grass bank at the eastern side of the Basin Reserve is in danger. The peaceful spot at 'The Basin', as Wellingtonians refer to it, may be disturbed by honking cars and exhaust fumes, if Wellington's administrators have their way.

Anyone with even a passing interest in cricket in New Zealand knows that the Basin Reserve, the gift of nature, is the best cricket ground in the country. But not so Wellington's pen-pushers, who have proposed to build a concrete flyover over the northern face of the ground, apparently to connect the second Mt Victoria tunnel that will lessen traffic jams that often occur at the one lane road in the course of the mountain.

Per the 1873 Deed of Trust which endows the ground to the people of the city, no thoroughfare was to be built across the ground. During the 1990s, it was discovered the actual boundary of the ground was one lane out on the road that encircles the ground. Since then, the venue's custodians have been tempted to solve the problems associated with increasing traffic usage in the city.

This could the most radical move yet, prompting the phrase "car-crash cricket".

	Tony Blair speaks to his loyal followers at the opening of the 1999 World Cup © Getty Images

He said that cricket helps develop skills such as managing statistics and working out sums under pressure, could boost children's grasp of science, and help their maths skills. It is also an aid to history when studying the Commonwealth.

“Cricket is part of our national identity," Balls said. "Not only does it have obvious health benefits for young people, it also develops them in other ways – co-ordination, balance, team work, tactics, and remaining calm under pressure.

“Cricket is one of the most popular school sports and I'm convinced it can have benefits across the curriculum too. Cricket is often called an art and a science. It's time for schools to demonstrate that.”

However, words are one thing, actions another. Last month, the amount of central funding to cricket from Sport England was cut by a third.

It could be the global financial crunch, or just plain ol' fashioned occupation of the higher ground but having come across multi-million dollar/rupee defamation cases, Shafqat Naghmi's decision to sue PCB chairman Ijaz Butt for damages worth one Pakistan rupee (approximately US$0.012581) is worth nothing. Naghmi, a former chief operating officer of the board, is taking Butt and other officials to court for levelling charges of financial mismanagement against him.

Turns out, it is neither morality or recession. “I will claim a public apology from them and one rupee in damages to show these people what I think they are worth,” Naghmi told the News, which is, in the world of Pakistan cricket, a pretty sharp insult. “This board does not deserve to remain in power. They don’t know what they are doing. The defamation suit is meant to expose them before the public,” Naghmi said.

Given the unusual nature of the case, Naghmi's one buck could well be a million dollars for memorabilia addicts.

With the possible exception of Lee Germon, most former cricket captains can slip on their suede moccasins and slump back into the garishly extravagant armchair of retirement, with little concern about their bank balance. Michael Vaughan, an Ashes-winning captain and a Yorkshireman to boot, is one such individual whose success ought to prevent him scouring the bargain bin for cheap-but-serviceable Primark underwear.

Or has it? In an interview with the Daily Telegraph Vaughan revealed that although he clearly raked it in as England captain, he is by no means extravagant with his money. “What’s been your best buy?” posed the interviewer. “The other day I bought a pair of shoes from Marks and Spencer for £1,” Vaughan said. “You can't beat that.”

A thrifty Yorkshireman? Whatever next?

You won’t find many British punters willing to risk £50 on England beating West Indies following their calamitous collapse on Saturday. But clearly the debacle hasn’t affected clients’ confidence overseas, even one torn to shreds by war.

“We have taken just one £50 wager for England to beat the West Indies, from an internet client with a Baghdad address,” said a spokesman for the bookmakers William Hill. “I suppose compared with some of the problems affecting that part of the world, England's current cricketing plight is somewhat trivial.”

So there you have it. The only country in the world who has any confidence in England's cricket team is Iraq. Friends, at last.

When he retired from the game, many thought Sourav Ganguly’s next avatar would be as a TV commentator. He will be on TV this June but not as a commentator – he will be the host of a reality TV show called ‘Dadagiri’, according to a report in the Kolkata daily Anandabazar Patrika. The show’s name (loosely translated as bullying or bravado) is a pun on Ganguly’s nickname from his playing days; that’s one of the few “facts” known at this stage. “So far I know, I have to conduct a quiz show," the paper quoted Ganguly as saying, before adding that there would be other elements to it. It does cut a broad swathe, though; the “theme” is to restore Bengal’s glory, the sub-theme is to perform “dadagiri” in front of “Dada” (a third may be to spot the link between the two). There’s no singing or dancing but there will be chats (the perennial Bengali pastime of adda) with fellow celebrities - and, budget and ratings permitting, a trip to Lahore to interview Imran Khan. The report says the initial run will be 52 episodes; the commentary box can wait.

It sounds like a line from a Seinfeld episode. There’s been slippage. Those were the words of the delightfully named Rodney Cavalier, the chairman of the SCG Trust, in describing the recent conduct and appearance of that famous group of rascals, the SCG members.

The trust was so concerned that it sent its members a letter in the lead-up to Sunday’s ODI warning them that they risked fines, court appearances and suspension of their membership if they acted up. "At the most recent one-day match a fight broke out in the members' area,” Cavalier said in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"The trust takes the view that members should be setting a higher standard than the public. That's why they're entrusted with full-strength beer. They're also expected to set a higher standard of clothing and footwear. There's been slippage.”

His words were backed up by an 85-year-old member unhappy with the modern dress standards and lack of decorum from his younger colleagues. "In the old days you wouldn't get in without a jacket," he said.

Back then, the fights took place on the Hill, not in the Members. "My father said on the Hill you could see a wrestling match, a fight and some theatre,” he said. “Then some cricket would erupt.”

Ah, the good old days. Damn that slippage.

Attendances at Tests across the world are not so good that spectators can be treated poorly, and anyone watching the first three days of the first Test would have noticed banks of empty seats at Sabina Park.

It seems, however, that the administrators in the Caribbean learned nothing from the farce of the 2007 World Cup. The concept of pass-outs is well established. It enables people to pop in and out during the day … for an office worker, for example, to amble in at lunchtime and then come back at the end of the day. Unlike some triumphs of poor planning, Sabina Park is close to the heart of business area of the city as well, making the drop-in, drop-out option a popular one.

But that all changed for this match, and once anyone had stepped foot inside the ground they either stayed all day or paid to get in again. The reasons were not clear, although there was a feeling that this was a hangover from the ludicrous rules imposed during the World Cup.

The end result was more obvious. Spectators, increasingly at a premium in the Caribbean, were given yet another obstacle if they wanted to watch cricket.

Phillip Hughes’ hometown of Macksville cannot wait for him to make his Test debut in South Africa. The anticipation of him donning the baggy green will result in the town’s local pub being packed to capacity on February 26, the first day of the Johannesburg Test. “It will be chock-a-block,” the pub manager Ben Padtridge told the Sydney Morning Herald. “There is talk around town of having a Phillip Hughes Day, everyone is loving it.”

News of Hughes’ selection was announced on the staffroom loudspeaker at his school Macksville High. His mentor Neil D’Costa singled out Hughes’ discipline as his greatest strength. “When he needs to rest, he will rest. When he needs to stay away from people, he will,” D’Costa said. “He is the type of guy that likes to go for a walk by himself and likes to go and fish.”

The title might fit a countdown show for the latest pop songs but it concerns New Zealand Cricket's latest venture: a search for the batsman who can hit the ball farthest. The competition began on February 2, with the top batsmen from domestic cricket going head to head at Eden Park. A rather surprising winner was former New Zealand fast bowler Ian Butler, whose biggest hit measured 95.98 metres. A not-so-surprising outcome was Billy Bowden developing a special signal for shots over 70m. The competition runs for three weeks - regional public finals held during selected State Twenty20 matches will whittle down backyard batsmen and one representative from each region will be selected for the final - before concluding in Wellington, where six members of the public will go up against Butler and a player from New Zealand's limited-overs squad. Will IPL scouts be watching?

Wednesday was Sri Lanka’s Independence Day and the teams were invited to a Presidential function. Coming as it did a day after the series was decided, and the hosts had been routed, you’d have expected some awkward moments between the sides. Not a whit; the only distinction was in attire - the Indians dressed casually in team T-shirts and jeans, the Sri Lankans in formals - as they mingled fairly freely. The ice-breaker seems to have been the IPL, which has blurred national boundaries (and language barriers).

Before they left, Muttiah Muralitharan was chatting in the hotel lobby with Yusuf Pathan and L Balaji; Murali's Chennai Super Kings had lost to Pathan's Rajasthan Royals in last year's final. "We would have won if your catch had not been dropped off my bowling," Murali said. Yusuf laughed, and retorted, "Yeah, [Suresh] Raina dropped
me, didn’t he?"

"Why don't you try to hit me here in this series?" Murali taunted. Yusuf’s reply was a no-brainer - "I hit you in that final!" Yusuf hit Murali for three sixes, picking 24 runs from 12 Murali deliveries, in an innings of 56 that swung the game. "No turn in that pitch," said Murali, and the three laughed before leaving the hotel. The president was waiting.

Despite saying that he would reveal all about his future plans in January, Texas billionaire, former cricket-lover and renowned self-publicist Allen Stanford has been very quiet of late.

Rumours have continued to circulate that he was about to completely pull out of Caribbean cricket following his decision to disband his self-styled legends and close his cricket office in Antigua. There was also talk that the global recession might have dented his financial empire.

Prospects of him continuing to bankroll West Indies cricket were further undermined this week when 200 employees of the Stanford Development Company in Antigua were laid off, leaving the island's prime minister distinctly unimpressed.

A spokesman for the company said they "had to reassess the market in Antigua especially in light of the global economic downturn". Where pouring tens of millions into the region's cricket fits in with that remains to be seen.

Surprisingly, the island's newspaper, the Antigua Sun, owned by a Stanford company, didn't think the redundancies were worth flagging on its website.

	Haroon Lorgat and David Morgan check out the mace that has lived in Melbourne for the best part of eight years © Getty Images

The Australian public is losing confidence in their Test team and it seems that the ICC doesn’t have much faith either. The president David Morgan and the chief executive Haroon Lorgat were in Melbourne on Wednesday to confiscate the Test Championship mace.

But hang on. Aren’t Australia still the No. 1 team in the world? Only a series victory to South Africa in South Africa next month would give them the top spot.

When asked if it was a little presumptuous to remove the mace so early, Morgan said it needed to be in South Africa just in case. “I think it has to be at the destination where it could possibly change hands,” Morgan said.

The silver and gold-plated mace was designed to resemble a cricket stump topped by a big orb. The stump end has potential as a poking device and the globe could be an effective clubbing weapon as well, and as the men inspected the mace, Lorgat decided maybe he could use it at the ICC’s headquarters in Dubai.

“It could be a tool to get some things done around the office,” Lorgat said. There are probably some cricket fans around the world who would be happy with that ...

	Allan Border was seeing double at his awards night © Getty Images

People with unusual names know how frustrating it is to have them mispronounced. There’s no excuse when you mangle it yourself and in any case, “Allan” should be pretty straightforward.

But when Allan Border was on stage to present the medal that bears his name, he stumbled embarrassingly on the part of the announcement that should have come naturally. Somehow his own name came out sounding like “Addle” or “Annal”.

When the ripple of polite laughter died down he corrected himself and announced that there was a tie between Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke. The following day, Border explained the cause of his confusion.

“I looked down at the card and I saw the two names there,” Border said. “It caught me by surprise.”

	Simon and Georgie Katich at the Allan Border Medal © Getty Images

The pre-count favourite Mitchell Johnson missed out on the Allan Border Medal in Melbourne on Monday and he even failed to win a title that should have been his in a canter.

Channel Nine polled the women at the awards night to find the sexiest player featured in the Men of Cricket charity calendar.

The winner was, rather surprisingly, Simon Katich. Unlike Johnson and Shane Watson, who show off their waxed and oiled chests, Katich goes for the natural look, with a hairy chest. Even his wife Georgie couldn’t believe that her man had won the vote.

“I’m shocked to be honest,” she said. “I didn’t know there was a lot of love for the fur.”

On the night, Katich also had a decent supply of facial stubble, as he often does on the field. Then he offered up a little too much information.

“As the boys in the dressing room know, it’s not just limited to my chest or my face.”

The awards keep coming thick and fast for the current Indian captain. On the day India swept to an ODI series win in Sri Lanka, it was announced that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's alma mater St Xavier's College, Ranchi, will present him with its first 'Youth Icon' award during the institute's three-day carnival.

"This will be the first-ever award being conferred to any student in the college's 49-year-old history to encourage all the students to show their prowess," college dean Jayant Sinha told PTI. "We are trying to contact Dhoni's family to receive the award on his behalf." Dhoni, who had enrolled himself in the college last year to complete his degree course in office management, won't be able to receive the award personally since he is currently in Sri Lanka.

	Shane Warne at the 2009 Australian Open in Melbourne © Getty Images

Two years after his retirement from Test cricket and Shane Warne's celebrity shows no signs of abating. In fact, he still rivals A-list celebrities the world over. The former Australian legspinner, amid growing speculation of another reunion with ex-wife Simone, has asked the police to get rid of that famous celebrity parasite: the paparazzi photographer.

The Herald Sun reported that Warne has lodged a complaint against Jamie Fawcett, a famous celeb snapper who's been involved in a harassment row with Nicole Kidman previously. Warne was apparently angered by photos taken of his three children - Brooke, Jackson and Summer - during a recent family day out on the beach. The photos subsequently appeared in a women's magazine.

Warne confronted the photographer recently as well. "He did say to me at one stage that he'd rung the police and knew all about me," Fawcett said. "But I'm very careful about how I follow celebrities these days. Whilst I and my colleagues do a lot of work in relation to Shane Warne, we keep it all very low-key. In fact, I could almost say that on 95% of occasions he actually wouldn't know we were there.

"I don't badger celebs." Of course not. Warne is just an ordinary leggie.

Middlesex’s decision to ditch their existing nickname – the Crusaders – in favour of a more paletable Panthers has not gone down well in certain quarters, mainly because Vinny Codrington, Middlesex’s CEO, let slip that one of the reasons was that a he had had objections from a handful of Muslim and Jewish people to the Crusaders connotation. The political-correctness-gone-mad lobby were out in force, and the county were forced into a rushed statement which hinted that they had been caught on the hop.

No explanation was given as to why Panthers had been chosen. Usually the nickname had some link to the county, however tenuous, but few Middlesex residents can recall ever seeing panthers roaming the streets of Edgware. It is possible that some marketing wag has decided that the pink kit sported by the county in one-day matches ties in with the Pink Panther films and will appeal to sponsors.

And another name change might be on the cards if Codrington is bombarded with complaints that associating a graceful and powerful big cat with an underperforming county side amounts to animal cruelty.

Tasmanian No 11 Tim Macdonald isn’t going to be on his team-mate Brett Geeves’ Christmas list this year. For the second time in this season’s Sheffield Shield, Macdonald has managed to leave Geeves stranded on 99, tantalizingly short of his maiden first-class century.

The first offence was against Victoria in November last year and Geeves vented on his blog on the Tasmanian Cricket Association’s website. “Can I start this blog by apologising for Tim MacDonald’s woeful display of playing short pitch bowling?” Geeves wrote. “Yes I’m angry. 99 no and the number eleven gloves a short ball from a guy who is into his 50th over of the match. Clinton McKay won't mind me saying he wasn't bowling his quickest. Sore groins, ankles barking at him saying, "Why don't we ever get any tucan pie?" Duck the ball Tim!!”

The second occasion was during the ongoing contest against New South Wales: Macdonald left Geeves left high and dry on 99 off only 113 balls. He hadn’t updated his blog yet when last checked …