The Buzz
Lara set for Twenty20 debut
There isn’t much that Brian Lara hasn’t done on a cricket field but taking part in a Twenty20 match is one of them
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
There isn’t much that Brian Lara hasn’t done on a cricket field but taking part in a Twenty20 match is one of them. He played 131 Tests and 299 ODIs but no Twenty20s – international or domestic. That will change next month when Lara leads a Trinidad & Tobago side against a West Indies XI in a charity Twenty20 match.
The West Indies XI will be led by Chris Gayle, who had opted out of the series against Bangladesh because of a dispute over player contracts with the West Indies board. The proceeds from the event will go to the Pearl and Bunty Lara Foundation, West Indies Players Association's Development Fund and other players' charities.
Full postA Ranji Trophy in Ireland
The Ranji Trophy has now found a new home in Ireland
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
The Ranji Trophy has now found a new home in Ireland. Maharaja Ranjitsinhji will be honoured as his name will be used in a match played between an Irish and an ‘Indian’ team in Dublin. The tournament is the brainchild of Anne Chambers, an Irish author who wrote a book on Ranji's 1924 visit to Ireland.
The match will be played at the 417-year old Trinity College in Dublin.
P.S Raghavan, who took up the task of making the tournament a grand event, said the series will be "a big event within the context of the growing ties between India and Ireland."
"It is in commemoration of Ranji's ability to cross-over racial boundaries that on the publication of my book - Ranji: Maharajah of Connemara - I made available a trophy of Irish silver to be played between an Irish XI and a team comprising Indian nationals living in Ireland," Chambers told IANS.
Full postGough gets Madoff-ed
Darren Gough has become the latest celebrity to be caught up in a £80m “Bernie Madoff-style” scam
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Darren Gough has become the latest celebrity to be caught up in a £80m “Bernie Madoff-style” scam. The former England bowler and Strictly Come Dancing winner and a member of his family have reportedly been swindled of nearly £1m in an alleged Ponzi fund run by fraudsters and aimed at top sportsmen and television stars.
Sources close to Gough said he was "devastated" after finding out his money had gone down the drain after the phony scheme collapsed, the Daily Mail reported. A member of Gough's family confirmed Gough and his brother-in-law, Paul Kratovil, were said to be among those hit by the alleged fraud. "I rang Paul after seeing reports of the scam. He and Darren have been caught up in it all," she said. "I don't know how they found out, but there are supposedly lots more people who do not realise they have been stung."
Police have twice arrested the suspected mastermind of the alleged fraud, Kautilya Nandan Pruthi, Financial consultants Kenneth Peacock and John Anderson, 43, both from Virginia Water, Surrey, have also been arrested.
Kevin Pietersen was asked to invest but refused, his spokesman confirmed.
Full postNo sharks at Lord's
Sussex will take on Hampshire in the Friends Provident Trophy final on July 25 but they will be without the support of their mascot, Sid the Shark, who will not be allowed into Lord’s in keeping with its traditional atmosphere.
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Sussex will take on Hampshire in the Friends Provident Trophy final on July 25 but they will be without the support of their mascot, Sid the Shark, who will not be allowed into Lord’s in keeping with its traditional atmosphere.
Sussex fans were not pleased with the decision and set up a petition protesting against the move. "It was quite a surprise to hear that Lord's would not let Sid in,” Dave Brooks, Sussex chief executive told Sky Sports. "He enjoys great support among all the Sussex fans at Hove, and it is clear they want to send a message to the authorities that this decision needs reversing."
Clare Skinner, the MCC's media manager, said "Lord's has a no fancy dress policy in place for all matches and this applies to anyone entering the ground, including mascots.”
Full postBy royal appointment
The Queen’s visit to Lord’s on the second day of the Ashes Test caused problems for the MCC when it was discovered the committee-room drinks cabinet did not include any Dubonnet, Her Majesty’s tipple of choice
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
|
Later on, after lunch, an aide quietly informed the Queen it was time to go to which she reportedly replied: “Oh, but I might miss an Australian wicket”. A committee member quietly pointed out she was Queen of England and Australia. The Queen laughed and said: “Yes, you do have a point”.
The Duke of Edinburgh, no stranger to gaffs, was also present wearing his MCC egg and bacon tie (he was president of the club in 1949 and 1975) but he managed to put his foot in his mouth when he asked Australia’s coach: “Are you the scorer?”
Full postThe sweet smell of summer
The Sunday Times notes that the Ashes summer is being celebrated by tourism body VisitEngland unleashing a series of new perfumes on the world “to capture the essence of the country”
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
The Sunday Times notes that the Ashes summer is being celebrated by tourism body VisitEngland unleashing a series of new perfumes on the world “to capture the essence of the country”. Among those is one called “Cricket Ball”. The marketing blurb does not mention if this odour de ball is of the brand-new-out-of the-paper version or the flogged-all-round-the-park-for-80-overs variety. Cricinfo’s reviewers will be down to Boots for samples as soon as the Lord’s Test ends.
Full postThe last man to see Grace bat
The widely-reported death of Henry Allingham – who at 113 was the world’s oldest man – sees the passing of the last man alive to have actually seen WG Grace bat
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
The widely-reported death of Henry Allingham – who at 113 was the world’s oldest man – sees the passing of the last man alive to have actually seen WG Grace bat. In 1903, aged seven, he went to The Oval to see Surrey play London County. "I saw WG Grace bat, you could always tell who he was by his long beard,” Allingham recalled in 2006 on his next visit to the ground, 103 years after he had last been there. “He scored quite a lot that day but I can't remember how many.”
There was a minute’s silence before the start of play on the third day of the Lord’s Test for Allingham, who was one of the last surviving World War One servicemen.
Full postAn offer you can refuse
As advertisements go, the one for the post of CEO of the Netherlands cricket board (KNBC) is hardly designed to whet the appetites of candidates
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
As advertisements go, the one for the post of CEO of the Netherlands cricket board (KNBC) is hardly designed to whet the appetites of candidates. In fact, it all but screams out ‘don’t bother to apply’. The Dutch have had two CEOs in the last few months, with the most recent, Andre van Troost, barely having time to pick his office furniture before he quit.
The latest advert from the board, as flagged by Cricket Europe, starts with the gung-ho comment that it was “required by ICC regulations to advertise this position once again. Hence the following advertisement”. It’s downhill from there, but in case anyone was still interested, the description concludes: “Attention is drawn to the fact that there is already an established candidate.”
Full postFlintoff to appear in pedalo video
It’s a sure-fire certainty that Andrew Flintoff is set to absolutely rake it in as he steps away from Test cricket to concentrate on one-dayers
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
It’s a sure-fire certainty that Andrew Flintoff is set to absolutely rake it in as he steps away from Test cricket to concentrate on one-dayers. He remains arguably England’s most marketable cricketer, one of those few cricketers whose name and face is familiar even to those not so enamoured with cricket.
His lowest, wettest moment as a cricketer – pedalo-gate in 2007 - is set to earn him and his charity a bucket load of cash, too, in a new advert for men’s deodorant. Flintoff will appear in a viral advert seen pedalling through rivers and canals after a bunch of Australians try to sabotage his transport in getting to an Ashes Test, by swapping his car with a pedalo.
The pedalo will be auctioned on eBay, the proceeds going to support Flintoff’s charity, the AF Foundation, and the video can be seen at The Guardian.
Full postWarne lines up for Poker Ashes
Fresh from his exploits at the recent World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, in which he progressed to the third round of the competition, Shane Warne is all set to show off his card tricks in the forthcoming “Poker Ashes”, the first round of which will
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
Fresh from his exploits at the recent World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, in which he progressed to the third round of the competition, Shane Warne is all set to show off his card tricks in the forthcoming “Poker Ashes”, the first round of which will be televised tonight on Sky Sports at 10.30pm.
Sponsored by 888.com, the format pits two teams of former Ashes cricketers against one another, with Warne captaining the Australians, and Darren Gough leading the line for England. “We’ve got home advantage and the best poker players in English cricket flying the flag,” said Gough. “It’s going to be a long flight home for Shane and co after a cricket/poker double this summer.”
Full postMost Read
Writers