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.

It must be a legspinner thing, but a year after a play about Shane Warne, Sussex have announced a one-man theatrical extravaganza about their 2003 County Championship success called Mushy Ate My Credit Card. No, we are none the wiser either.

Written and performed by Mark Brailsford, this “comical and dramatic new play” will be performed at The County Ground, Hove between October 21 and 31.

The publicity blurb continues: “Sam Smith’s love of watching cricket leads to an extraordinary personal journey as the legends of the 2003 team including Mushtaq Ahmed light the blue and white touch-paper of the most successful decade in Sussex’s history. Sam’s life, wife (and credit score) will never be the same again.”

If you enjoyed Rudi Koertzen’s voice booming around the Wanderers at the start of the IPL final asking spectators “Bullring are you ready? Gentlemen let’s play”, just wait till the Champions Twenty20 League starts in October. The umpires in the tournament played in India will be miked up to be heard by television audiences throughout the matches. So no more must you rely on lip-reading skills to hear who said “luck to you” to whom. However in a killjoy move the organisers have given umpires the option to switch off their mikes during the games. In case of an on-field confrontation, you may have to wait till players Twitter it or their publish tell-all autobiographies.

	Gotcha: Panesar will participate in the Queen's Baton Relay © Getty Images

Since the Games will be held in Delhi, the organising committee wanted to give the launch, on October 29, an Indian flavour. "We thought that someone from the UK was needed because the Queen, the head of the Commonwealth is British; we needed a link to India,” said Vic Sethi, Panesar’s former agent and committee member. “I think Monty was perfect because he is one of the first British Sikh sports stars to wear the turban and the full beard.”

What we’d like to know is how he’ll celebrate after passing the baton - an overexcited leap and a high five with Her Majesty?

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.”

Irfan Pathan may have receded to the fringes of Indian cricket but if he’s moping about missing out on the Champions Trophy, his mood has just got better: His brother Yusuf, who has made the trip to South Africa, gave him a Ford SUV for the Eid festival. A report in the Indian Express said their father gave Irfan the car keys on Monday morning, after the traditional prayers. Irfan’s star has dimmed since he first burst on the scene in 2004 but Yusuf has been publicly championing his brother’s cause. In July, shortly after the initial squad for the Champions Trophy was announced, Yusuf offered this sharp comment on Irfan’s exclusion: “Irfan's performance was always up to the mark. He has not been left out because of his performance. Everybody has seen what is happening.” Irfan, who will play in the Irani Cup next week, is slowly returning to centre-stage – maybe the SUV will make that a smoother journey!

Imagine not taking the call, when Sachin Tendulkar is on the other end of the line. Well, you could afford to do it, if you happened to be Arjun Tendulkar. Papa Tendulkar recently spoke about how he was troubled by his son's refusal to come on the phone when he went away on tour. "It was tough initially because my son didn't like it when I left home," Tendulkar told a TV channel. "For the first five-six years of his life, he wouldn't speak to me on the phone. That was difficult for me." Happily, young Arjun eventually appreciated just what his father was doing on tour - and what it meant to cricket at large. So much so that he's now started playing cricket too, which Tendulkar says was of his own choosing.

As if the jeers at Trent Bridge on Thursday weren't enough, further evidence of Andrew Strauss's slide from Test hero to one-day villain was evident in a WH Smith advertisement carried in the national newspapers. Strauss's recently-released book, Testing Times, has already had its recommended retail price slashed in half, less than a month after England reclaimed the Ashes at The Oval. So much for the afterglow.

Michael Vaughan has joined the Test Match Special and will make his first regular appearances during England’s tour of South Africa which starts in November. He has done the occasional summarising stint this summer, but will now be part of the main team.

Vaughan had been widely expected to move into broadcasting, but the television route taken by the likes of Nasser Hussain and Mike Atherton looked the likely route. However, he has opted for radio and will be one of the expert summarisers that TMS uses alongside their commentators.

According to Adam Mountford, the TMS producer, Vaughan has already shown a liking for the famous cakes that get delivered to the commentary box. One of the bonuses of not playing any more.

	Sachin Tendulkar: The elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about © AFP

Sachin Tendulkar doesn’t get criticised much, and almost never in India. So when Sanjay Manjrekar called him “the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about” in February 2008, after a string of poor performances in ODIs, people took notice - and not a few hurled back brickbats on their idol's behalf. Manjrekar, though, remained unfazed and on Thursday he reiterated - not once, but twice - that he stood by that opinion in that context. Asked first at a press meet whether he would revise that opinion, Manjrekar didn't budge. "I stand by the comment I made at that phase. He is a great player but he is also a human being. I have seen him from close since he was 14 and I could see he was afraid of failure and getting out." He added, though, that that seemed to have disappeared and he was playing with more freedom." For good measure, he repeated the sentiment in a TV interview the same evening - before presumably being smuggled out the back door to avoid irate Tendulkar fans.

Andrew Flintoff’s new life as a freelance cricketer could begin with a maiden stint in the commentary box during the Champions League Twenty20 tournament that gets underway in India on October 8, when Somerset and Sussex will be representing England’s interests.

Flintoff’s flat Preston vowels are arguably the least exciting aspect of an otherwise charismatic cricketer, but that is of no consequence to ESS, who own the global rights to the tournament and have made an approach, dependant on how it will impact upon his rehabilitation from knee surgery.

Should his knee stand up to the cramped confines of the gantry, Flintoff’s presence would be a coup for British Eurosport, who have won the right to broadcast the competition, in what will be the first free-to-air cricket on British television for four years. “We are delighted to bring world class cricket to British Eurosport with this brand new and eagerly awaited event,” David Kerr, the company’s director, told the Daily Telegraph.

	© Getty Images

No, it's not a new Australian reality TV show where contestants compete to drink the most beers and grow the most impressive facial hair while stranded on a tropical island (although that idea has some merit). Australia's federal communications minister Stephen Conroy caused the Senate to erupt into laughter by accidentally referring to Tasmania's Bruny Island as "Boony Island".

"Senator Bushby for example has complained that Telstra should not be allowed to remove pay phones from Boony island ... Bruny island, there's a typo here," Senator Conroy said. AAP reported that "it took some time for the Senate to calm down after Senator Conroy's inadvertent tribute to Boon".

The idea of renaming the island off the coast of Hobart after Boon, one of the most popular Tasmanian figures, would no doubt have plenty of fans. There's probably a Facebook campaign being launched as we speak. You can guarantee that most Australians would be more familiar with Boon than the man after which the island was named - the eighteenth-century French explorer Bruni d'Entrecasteaux.

Sourav Ganguly is the Prince of Kolkata but he could be looking elsewhere for a way to become the Badshah of the BCCI. A report in Hindustan Times suggests that Ganguly is looking at the eastern state of Tripura as a means of getting nominated to the national cricket board, the first necessary step to being elected BCCI president. The rotating presidency comes to the East Zone – to which Tripura and Bengal are both affiliated – in 2014, and Ganguly needs to put in some time on the national board before that. He already holds a post with the Cricket Association of Bengal – as chairman of its development committee – but is unlikely to get a nomination from the relatively high-profile state. And, as the report mentions, Tripura is on better terms with the current BCCI establishment than is Jagmohan Dalmiya, the confrontationist, controversial Bengal chief.

Meanwhile, the Tripura Cricket Association (TCA) has reacted strongly to the speculation. "There is not even a fraction of truth in this...it's purely baseless and without any logic," TCA secretary Arindam Ganguly told PTI. "I will represent our association in the BCCI AGM. I don't understand why everybody is speculating about Sourav."

Ganguly the captain never set much store by parochialism – looks like he’s in the same groove as an administrator. Which leaves just one question – whatever will Kolkata do without its Prince?

What a difference a year can make. Last year, the Deccan Chargers finished at the bottom of the barrel at the IPL and were the league’s laughing stock; this year, the players are laughing all the way to the bank. For fashioning the mother-of-all-turnarounds and winning IPL Season 2, the team also took home an incentive bonus of just over $83,000 – and that’s on top of the $1.2 million prize money and the big, pre-recession salaries. And there’s more to come – franchise chairman V Shankar has promised the players stock options in the company when it goes public. He was delivering on a pre-tournament promise that hinged on the Chargers climbing from bottom to top. The Chargers, Shankar said, would wait for the valuation of the two new teams to be included in the IPL from 2011 before going public. The recession is likely to be done by then, so the wait will surely be worthwhile.

	Pakistan players play football during training © AFP

Younis had invited Pakistan’s football coach, George Kottan, to a cricket camp ahead of the Champions Trophy and said Kottan was impressed with the quality of football at the camp - four or five cricketers were, he said, excellent football players. “I believe that football is a true global sport. Almost every kid plays it no matter where he lives,” Younis said. He also wants his son to take up squash - where Pakistan has a more celebrated history - and not cricket as a career. "We have won so many laurels in squash in the past and it's a pity that we are no more the champions,” Younis told Geo TV. “I would ask my countrymen to encourage their children to take up games like squash, hockey and football. As for myself, I would love to see my son become a world squash champion.”

This is one Test that Mahendra Singh Dhoni hasn't yet mastered. When his college in Ranchi, St. Xavier's College, released the results of its B.Com examination, Dhoni's name had a "failed" against it. This despite him marking himself 'absent' in July this year, and the Controller of Examination declaring that Dhoni's result would be shown as 'absent' because the cricketer missed both his semesters. So what was it that had literally stumped Dhoni? A clerical error, as clarified by college principal Nicholas Tete. "It was a simple clerical error," Tete said. "The list has been removed immediately. When he did not take the examination how can he fail?" A question that Dhoni would have perhaps asked himself, had the error not been noticed.

The West Indies squad arrived in Johannesburg on Monday morning for the Champions Trophy. Half a world away, those left behind were serving up a reminder – as if any was needed – of just why the mess in the Caribbean needs to be sorted out ASAP. While Floyd Reifer was leading his boys off the plane, his predecessor Chris Gayle was blasting out a typical innings – 75 off 59 balls – for a CARICOM Superstars XI against Guyana. The match, attended by Bharrat Jagdeo, the Guyana president and head of CARICOM who recently had charged the WICB with undermining the talks, was part of the President's Premier League Twenty20 series. It also featured other stars out in the cold: Ramnaresh Sarwan, Xavier Marshall, Kieron Pollard, Daren Ganga and Darren Bravo. So Ricky Ponting, who’s said he doesn’t want to face a second-string West Indies side later this year, knows where to find the real thing.

Cricket sponsorship took a step forward with the unveiling of the world’s first digital trophy in Colombo on Monday. Actually, make that a half-step; while the visuals were fine, including the much-hyped LCD screen in the middle of the trophy, the audio wasn’t. First, the soundtrack to the PR film failed to work and then the suits got into action with a detailed briefing more suitable to an ad client presentation than an audience including top international cricketers. We were promised “an enriching consumer experience, through technology and innovative design”. No wonder the likes of Vettori and Sangakkara looked bored (Dhoni, the third captain in this tournament, wasn’t even there, adding to the incongruency of the occasion). Not a good day, then, for the uneasy, if increasingly symbiotic, relationship between cricket and technology - but the on-field action, beginning Tuesday, promises much more.

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.

Stuart Broad’s rapid rise from England bowler to national celebrity continues unabated with a polished appearance on the BBC’s Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. Broad gave as good as he got with the uberslick Ross, and took part in a mini cricket challenge with Ricky Gervais, Jamie Oliver and Mika.

During the course of the interview, Broad let slip that he slightly overdid it during the post-match celebrations which followed the Oval Test, admitting: "I woke up the next day still in my whites."

It’s ‘cuts’ and ‘good shots’ of a different kind for former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar. His stint with the ICL presumably at a dead end, the former Bangladesh captain has reinvented himself in a new avatar - as an actor. Specifically, as a policeman in a Bengali-language telefilm, ‘Password’, to be screened as part of the Eid celebrations.

“Earlier I used to think acting was easy, but it’s mighty difficult,” he told BD News24.com. “You have to concentrate hard, even more than facing up to Shane Warne. I’m delighted. I have played cricket for most of my life, but I wouldn’t mind another shot at facing at the cameras.”

The stage was set ever since Khaled Mashud made his theatre debut last Eid, and though Bashar’s shoot was just for a day, the director has not ruled out another day of roleplaying. Action replay you said?

While thousands of England fans will fly across the world to support their team during the 2010-11 Ashes, one enthusiast is taking a longer route. Oliver Broom plans to cycle to Australia and he hopes to raise £100,000 for charity and teach or play cricket in 30 countries.

His trip will begin outside Lord’s on October 10 and he will spend time in France, Germany, Slovenia and Turkey. The rest of the journey will take Broom through Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. He will finally reach Darwin in Australia by boat before pedaling his way to Brisbane.

"I’ve known Oli since our school days [Radley College] and can vouch for his sanity. I look forward to seeing him on his bike in Brisbane,” England captain Andrew Strauss told the Telegraph. For Broom’s sake, hopefully England will do better than the 5-0 whitewash they received in 2006-07.