Super Kev, misquotes and Warne on a lorry

Quote misquote: At a media briefing after the opening ODI against West Indies, Greg Chappell, India's coach, said: "West Indies have not played too many close games recently, they've probably forgotten how to win". A journalist covering the series then goes to Brian Lara and asks: "Chappell just said that West Indies have forgotten to win ... what's your say?" A week later, having meted out a six-wicket hammering and sealed the series with one match to play, Lara says: "It was a sly remark ... it spurred us on." As they look back on three games where they played far below their best, the Indians might also look to one sound-bite, taken out of context. And they say words can't hurt you...

Going, going, gone: Exactly a hundred years ago, Albert Chevalier Taylor, the Newlyn School artist, was asked to paint a scene from a county game between Kent and Lancashire at Canterbury. Taylor chose the Lancashire and England batsman JT Tyldesley as his subject. Next month, the painting - which measures 45" by 90" - will go under the hammer at Sotheby's in London. Kent Cricket Club, which is offering it for sale, hope that the canvas will fetch at least £500,000. The most money ever shelled out for a cricket painting was £650,000 back in 1996, for Francis Cotes's The Young Cricketer. Your high-res digital capture of Sachin Tendulkar signing an autograph is unlikely to fetch anything like as much a 100 years from now.

Shane, Shane won't go away: Anyone who's ever seen certain spoilt Premiership footballers cruise around in their Humvees could tell you that sportsmen have eclectic tastes when it comes to a set of wheels. But Shane Warne on a lorry? It did happen, earlier in the week. Fortunately for the man who's had a bit of a rough ride lately, it was his statue being carted off to Piccadilly Circus to promote the Ashes, which are now a mere six months away. With the original inspiring Hampshire at the Rose Bowl, and a wax model at Madame Tussauds, not to mention saturation tabloid coverage, you'd think England had seen enough of Warne. Clearly not.

Super Kev - Mark II: Three decades ago, it was Kevin Keegan that was Super Kev, inspiring Liverpool to successive European triumphs before jetting off to Hamburg and two European Footballer of the Year awards. Now, another Super Kev basks in the limelight. Where Keegan used to have a silly bubble-perm, Pietersen preferred dead-skunk (un)cool, but even shorn of those disturbingly streaked locks, he's a force to reckon with. On an Edgbaston pitch where Sri Lanka managed all of 141, and where none of his teammates crossed 30, Pietersen walloped a magnificent 157-ball 142, following on from a trifling 158 at Lord's. In a hemisphere far away, those that let the prodigal son go were heard sobbing into their Castle...

The Afghans are coming: After pulverising an under-strength MCC side led by Mike Gatting in Mumbai a couple of months ago, Afghanistan's cricketers are preparing for their first English tour. The 18-day, seven-match trip will include games against the second XI sides of Essex, Glamorgan and Leicestershire. According to Taj Malik Alam, the coach, "This year is very important for our cricket. I think it will be a turning point and if we win all the matches then we can get the attention of the international cricket community." After the Mumbai game, watched by Robin Marlar, president of the MCC, two of the Afghan players were taken on board as part of the Young Cricketers scheme.

Quote-hanger: "I know every blade of grass here at the Queen's Park Oval. I always try my hardest to do something special." - The king prepares to take leave of his loyal subjects, as Brian Lara gears up for his final appearance at the Queen's Park Oval.