Tindill also umpired in Tests and was a Wellington and New Zealand selector. For the past four years, he has been the world's oldest surviving Test player and the second-oldest Test player ever, after Francis McKinnon, who played one game for England in 1879 and lived to be 98 years 324 days.

A left-hand opening batsman and wicketkeeper, Tindill toured England with Curly Page's team in 1937. On the way home he had the distinction of catching Don Bradman off Jack Cowie's bowling – the only time Bradman played against a New Zealand side. The match, between New Zealand and South Australia, was played in Adelaide to help cover debts incurred in England. Cowie and Tindill were delighted with their prized wicket, but others reckoned they cost New Zealand Cricket a fortune. Bradman was dismissed for 11 in the opening over on a Saturday morning and thousands of spectators, queuing for entry, simply turned around and left.

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Yuvraj pretended it was an ODI

The secret of Yuvraj Singh’s success in India’s record chase in the first Test in Chennai could be that he ‘pretended’ it was a one-day game

Nishi Narayanan

25-Feb-2013

The secret of Yuvraj Singh’s success in India’s record chase in the first Test in Chennai could be that he ‘pretended’ it was a one-day game. Gary Kirsten, India’s coach, has said Yuvraj was advised by the team management “to pretend he was playing a one day innings”.

Yuvraj scored an unbeaten 85 and added a match-winning 163 with Sachin Tendulkar on his return to the Test side after eight months, following a phenomenal run in the ODIs against England. "Yuvraj has felt the heat but you need just one innings to turn it around. We told him to pretend he was playing a one day innings, and to play positively," Kirsten told television channel Neo Cricket.

"England were on top but we still felt that we could win. Then it was up to England to make a plan. We went into the fifth day saying that we could do it. The players were nervous but when you have Tendulkar at the crease, playing as he did, the nervousness seems to disappear.”

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Mohali won't be using floodlights

The Punjab Cricket Association has confirmed that floodlights will not be turned on at the PCA Stadium in Mohali in case bad light threatens to disrupt the second Test between India and England

Jamie Alter

25-Feb-2013

The Punjab Cricket Association has confirmed that floodlights will not be turned on at the PCA Stadium in Mohali in case bad light threatens to disrupt the second Test between India and England. The forecast in Mohali for the first three days of the Test is overcast and cloudy, with fog and bad light already a common feature at this time of the year in northern India.

MP Pandove, the PCA secretary, said that like in the recent ODI between India and England in Kanpur, the lights would not be used because of a prior agreement. "We sent a proposal to the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Board of Control for Cricket in India for the use of floodlights in case of bad light," Pandove told PTI. "But both the teams have agreed to natural playing conditions."

Pandove said a proposal to start play 30 minutes earlier had also been rejected. "In winter months daylight fades quite quickly here. We had asked for the scheduled start of play to be advanced, but the teams have preferred to stick to the original time."

IS Bindra, the PCA president, was wary of the Test being limited. "Instead of having five days of cricket with 450 overs, we are going to short-change the public by about 75 overs," he said "And if there is rain — there is a 10% chance of rain on two of the days — the game is going to be further curtailed."

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England retain blind Ashes series

England's blind team have retained the Ashes, taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series with one match to play

Martin Williamson

25-Feb-2013

England's blind team have retained the Ashes, taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series with one match to play. Nineteen-year-old Luke Sugg scored his maiden England hundred to seal an historic win, finishing on 112 not out, after the second ODI was lost to rain. The Ashes series for blind cricketers began in 2004 with a 3-2 win for England on home soil, and this is the first series to be played in Australia.

However, members of the Australian team claim they have been disadvantaged by a blind English allrounder who sees too well. The Australian Blind Cricket Council is expected to lodge a complaint about Nathan Foy with the World Blind Cricket Council.

Two Australian blind cricketers told the Australian they were gagged from commenting public. The players reportedly said the team was angry that Australian authorities had refused to lodge a protest against Foy. Because he is classified B1, the most serious of three gradings of visual impairment in blind cricket, Foy's score was doubled to 200, giving England a total of 324 and a 54-run win over Australia, reported the Australian.

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Sweatshirts not jerseys

John Reid, the former New Zealand captain, has criticised the team’s new-look jerseys which have a single black band on the neck, arms and waist instead of the traditional three stripes

Nishi Narayanan

25-Feb-2013

John Reid, the former New Zealand captain, has criticised the team’s new-look jerseys which have a single black band on the neck, arms and waist instead of the traditional three stripes. "They look more like sweatshirts that you can buy in the shops," Reid was quoted as saying in the Press, a Christchurch daily.

"I don't mind the jersey being redesigned and modified taking into account new fabric, but the fern leaf and three stripes should never be forsaken.” Reid said the jerseys were not the sort that could be treasured for a lifetime.

"It's all for the sake of marketing and I don't care if Adidas has any problem with the three stripes. They don't make jerseys and we were wearing them long beforehand." Reid also said he didn’t like the use of Black Caps in referring to the New Zealand team. "It is New Zealand against West Indies, not the Black Caps, as they often put on the scoreboard these days."

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BBC reporter stuck in the loo

There have been thousands of police and hundreds of commandos swarming all over Chennai during this Test, and India must have spent a fortune on security in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist strikes

Will Luke

25-Feb-2013

There have been thousands of police and hundreds of commandos swarming all over Chennai during this Test, and India must have spent a fortune on security in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist strikes. But one journalist was rather grateful for all the snipers and army personnel while she was trying to spend a penny: the BBC's intrepid and unfailingly cheerful reporter, Alison Mitchell, managed to lock herself in the ladies' lavatory according to Peter Hayter's enjoyable piece at the Mail on Sunday.

All this protection is certainly worth the hassle if it can save a damsel in distress.

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Cricket hero meets chess master

Viswanathan Anand, who recently retained the World Chess Championship after beating Russia's Vladimir Kramnik, was felicitated by Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his achievement in Chennai

George Binoy

25-Feb-2013

Viswanathan Anand, who recently retained the World Chess Championship after beating Russia's Vladimir Kramnik, was felicitated by Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his achievement in Chennai. "Every sport needs an icon, and I cannot think of a better person than Anand in Chess," Dhoni said. "If youngsters have a role model like him, there is no reason for them not to succeed."

Dhoni lauded Anand's feat as a great occasion for India and said he was "honoured to share the dais" with him. However, Dhoni claimed he was no pushover in chess either. "I'll beat him (Anand) at chess if he plays left-handed," he quipped.

Anand wished the Indian team success in the Chennai Test. "Good luck for the next four days, though I hope it gets over in three."

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London mayor backs cricket for 2012 Olympics

Boris Johnson, the left-field London mayor, has backed cricket's inclusion in the 2012 Olympics that will be hosted by the city ..

Nishi Narayanan

25-Feb-2013

Boris Johnson, the left-field London mayor, has backed cricket's inclusion in the 2012 Olympics that will be hosted by the city ... even though it's an impossible campaign. "It is high time we install in the Olympics Twenty20 cricket," Johnson said at a business lunch in London.

Last month the London Assembly passed a unanimous motion to lobby international cricket authorities and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to include the sport. "Let's face it, if they want to draw in south Asian audiences to watch the Olympics, they have to have cricket," Murad Qureshi, the London Assembly member who moved the motion, said. "India is one of the biggest markets out there, we have to make it relevant to people."

Previous host nations had been able to introduce a national sport as a "demonstration" event in the Games, but the IOC changed the rule for Beijing 2008, allowing China to showcase a traditional discipline as part of a "cultural Olympiad". Cricket, which last made a five-ringed appearance in 1900 in Paris, cannot be an official sport until at least 2020, with the finalisation of events for those Games occurring in 2013.

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Lost in transit

South Africa don't have much time to tune up ahead of their Test series against Australia and had to make a late change to their practice schedule the day after arriving in Perth.

Andrew McGlashan

25-Feb-2013

South Africa don't have much time to tune up ahead of their Test series against Australia and had to make a late change to their practice schedule the day after arriving in Perth.

Their kit hadn't landed with them from Johannesburg, so they had to switch to take the afternoon slot at the WACA while bats, pads and helmets made their way across the Indian Ocean.

"A message from media liaison officer Michael Owen-Smith arrived just a day after the South Africans landed in Australia, to say they had to change their practice plans today due to “unforeseen circumstances”, reported Business Day. "Closer examination of that suitably inscrutable phrase revealed that the South African team’s luggage had been delayed back in Johannesburg."

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Name your price, Kevin

England's decision to resume their tour of India has given the image of the players a huge boost

Andrew McGlashan

25-Feb-2013

England's decision to resume their tour of India has given the image of the players a huge boost. While they have insisted the prospect of IPL deals was nowhere near their minds as discussions took place, there is no doubt that they are a more attractive buy.

"The gesture of going back to play in India will be very appreciated by cricket fans in India," Vijay Mallya, the owner of the Bangalore Royal Challengers told the Daily Telegraph. "It is a positive statement that everyday life in India can survive terrorist attacks. There will be a lot of people cheering for the England team and showing their appreciation over the next couple of weeks."