The Buzz
A tricky Twitter triangle
Jonathan Agnew is not yet a national institution of the same level as his old friend, Brian Johnston, but he’s certainly making steady progress and remains one of the most recognisable voices on British radio
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
Jonathan Agnew is not yet a national institution of the same level as his old friend, Brian Johnston, but he’s certainly making steady progress and remains one of the most recognisable voices on British radio. As Test Match Special’s frontman, he (doubtless helped by the tireless Shilpa Patel) manages to secure some high-profile guests for the lunch and tea intervals, and last week managed to invite Lily Allen to be interviewed on the Saturday of the final Ashes Test.
The interview, though, has sparked fierce debate on Twitter - which both Agnew and Allen both use fervently – after it was suggested by the Observer Sports Monthly’s Will Buckley that Agnew had “positioned himself firmly on the pervy side of things”.
Buckley’s innuendo-laden piece was more tongue-in-cheek than an all-out attack on Aggers, but Agnew used his new-found love of Twitter to vent his anger, whipping up his herd into a meringue of support.
Full postHigh on speed
He may own a Hummer (among other cars) and a Harley Davidson (among other bikes), but MS Dhoni, India’s captain, apparently enjoyed the “ride of his life” in a Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia at a car rally in Bangalore.
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
He may own a Hummer (among other cars) and a Harley Davidson (among other bikes), but MS Dhoni, India’s captain, apparently enjoyed the “ride of his life” in a Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia at a car rally in Bangalore.
Dhoni was invited as a guest on the final day of the K-1000 rally, and after the race was completed expressed his desire to drive one of the racing cars. A briefing about safety measures later, Dhoni, under a race helmet, was off for a ride as the co-driver of the K-1000 winner and veteran rallyist, Arjun Balu. A few slips, a few slides, and two laps of the 2.5 km track at speeds of over 100kmph ensued. The 5000 or so present there cheered throughout.
Though Dhoni didn’t speak to the media, Balu said, "He was like any first-timer inside a rally car. He was extremely excited and even requested me to do a second lap."
Full postAustralian cricket is dead. Again
It happens every Ashes
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
It happens every Ashes. Whoever loses is given the treatment by the press, but also by the advertisers, keen to ride the wave of publicity, and toss a few engaging ideas in their mind woks – or some such ad-lingo. With Australia losing the urn, Yahoo! decided to dig the knife in and give it a twist, with the now-traditional fake memoriam of Australian cricket.
The following appeared in yesterday’s Times and Daily Telegraph newspapers in the UK.
The original (below) first ran The Sporting Times all the way back in 1882. A mere 127 years later, the joke’s still going strong.
Full postMendes to bring Netherland to the big screen
The Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes is planning to bring Joseph O’Neill’s acclaimed Netherland to the big screen
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
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.
Full postLily drops in for lunch
While there is no shortage of what some would refer to as seasoned celebrity fans, cricket needs a few more young faces
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
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While there is no shortage of what some would refer to as seasoned celebrity fans, cricket needs a few more young faces. Step up singer Lily Allen. She travelled to the Netherlands for a concert on Friday and got a coach back overnight to be back for the third day’s play and a spot on Test Match Special where she was the Saturday lunchtime guest.
Among admitting she had a soft spot for Graham Onions, Allen revealed she got into cricket when Andrew Flintoff “had a pee” in the prime minister’s garden after the 2005 series. Her father – actor Keith Allen – is a cricket lover and used to play for pub sides.
So keen was she to keep up with the score in the Netherlands that, finding the tour bus had no long-wave reception, she used one of her tour band’s electricians to rig up a mobile phone to the speaker system and listen via the web.
Full postPay to be coached by Tendulkar
How much would you pay to be coached by Sachin Tendulkar for a day
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
How much would you pay to be coached by Sachin Tendulkar for a day? Hopefully quite a bit since it will all go to charity for underprivileged children. “I will spend time with the guy who auctions generously, I don't want kanjoos [miserly] people,” Tendulkar told Daily News & Analysis. But Tendulkar said bids would be measured by the passion with which people gave and not just the amount. The idea to organise the charity event, Tendulkar said, came after his daughter Sara decided to spend her last birthday organising a fair for underprivileged children in a Mumbai suburb. “She felt good and I was extremely proud of her,” Tendulkar said. “What goes on in-between those ears in that small head is what matters, and I know she's on the right track.” Time to dig in to your pockets to learn how to mess with Shane Warne’s mind.
Full postThe win, the dance
A team of eunuchs has beaten a team of professional cricketers in what is believed to be the first match involving a side completely made up of eunuchs
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
A team of eunuchs has beaten a team of professional cricketers in what is believed to be the first match involving a side completely made up of eunuchs. They are social outcasts in Pakistan, where the match took place, but recent changes in the law implemented by Iftikhar Chaudhry, the country’s chief justice, have given them more rights.
“I want to dedicate our victory to him,” Sanam Khan, captain of the eunuchs' team, told the BBC. “It is only due to him that things are changing for eunuchs in Pakistan.”
The match at Sukkur, a city in Sindh, attracted a decent crowd and it is reported the eunuchs did an impromptu dance on the pitch after securing the win.
Full postEngland's squad is rubbish ... official
Despite a near-total media blackout in the dark days since England's humiliation at Headingley, the ECB were left dumbfounded this week when their 14-man squad for Thursday's Ashes decider was revealed in the press, with absolute certainty, a full
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
Despite a near-total media blackout in the dark days since England's humiliation at Headingley, the ECB were left dumbfounded this week when their 14-man squad for Thursday's Ashes decider was revealed in the press, with absolute certainty, a full two days before the official announcement was made at 9.30am on Sunday.
No Ravi Bopara, no Mark Ramprakash, not even a Robert Key. Instead Jonathan Trott was inked in for a Test debut, and Monty Panesar recalled as a potential second spinner. The accuracy with which these details were reported was uncanny, and briefly led the six men involved in the five-hour selection meeting at Trent Bridge to suspect foul play. Had the room been bugged? Had somebody been hiding behind the curtains, or under the table?
Embarrassingly, the truth appears to have been more prosaic. At the end of the deliberations, a piece of paper with the squad jotted down on it was reportedly scrunched into a ball, tossed into a waste-paper bin ... and duly pounced upon by the journalists down the corridor who had gathered to watch Warwickshire's County Championship clash with Nottinghamshire.
Full postA new high for former Indian players
The 'Top of Europe' five-over match between India and an All-Star team from England at the highest accessible point in Europe – in Interlaken, Switzerland - resulted in the former prevailing by four runs
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
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The 'Top of Europe' five-over match between India and an All-Star team from England at the highest accessible point in Europe – in Interlaken, Switzerland - resulted in the former prevailing by four runs. Former Indian captain Kapil Dev, who led the winning side, led from the front with 26, as they piled on 108 in five overs. There were also significant contributions from Sandeep Patil (25) and Ajay Jadeja (26).
During the chase, the England team were propped up by Radford, who scored 25, along with ICC match referee Chris Broad and Collis King, both of whom managed 26. It was left to the pair of skipper Alvin Kallicharran and John Emburey to get 38 off the last over.
A six off every ball was not impossible since the ball was disappearing regularly to the glacier 50 yards away from the centre. Jadeja then bowled a no-ball and the asking rate came down to five per ball and six off the last. Kallicharran aimed for the straight field but was beaten by the bounce and mishit behind the 'keeper for just a single.
Full postWho Dhoni?
MS Dhoni may be on more television ads than Sachin Tendulkar these days but it hasn’t quite made him the most recognised face in the country
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
MS Dhoni may be on more television ads than Sachin Tendulkar these days but it hasn’t quite made him the most recognised face in the country. Film director Ram Gopal Varma, known for his Indian mafia and horror movies, failed to recognise Dhoni when the Indian captain walked up to greet him at Bangalore airport. Though Varma denies reports that he mistook Dhoni for a wannabe actor and asked him to drop off his photographs at his office, he did confirm he did not know who it was. “Yes, it’s true,” Varma was quoted as saying in the Times of India. “I’m hopelessly ignorant about cricket. Only after he left, the people with me told me that he’s Dhoni. I'd like to apologise to him the next time I meet him.”
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