Vaseline rubs it in

Few cricketing tweets could have caused as much reaction as Michael Vaughan’s Hot Spot-baiting poser during the Trent Bridge Test: “Has Vaseline on the outside edge saved the day for Laxman???” There was no end to the uproar it caused, even after Stuart Broad verified that there was no Vaseline on Laxman’s bat, and the makers of Hot Spot asserted their device can’t be so easily tricked.

Time for Vaseline itself to weigh in - or cash in - on the controversy, bringing out an amusing ad addressed to “Dear Mr Vaughan”. The ad - first appearing in print in Indian newspapers and now on some of ESPNcricinfo's home pages - depicts a decrepit cricket bat with a red ‘X’ across it; along the blade runs a long list of reasons Vaseline is used for in India – cracked heel, chapped lips and so forth. Vaughan’s reaction? “Love it...Can you send me a picture of the Advert please? Very amusing,” he tweeted, uncontroversially. Vaseline soothes again?