The Buzz
English club bans sixes
Britwell Salome Cricket Club in Oxfordshire has been forced to ban the hitting of sixes after an angry neighbour threatened to take it to court
04-May-2014
Britwell Salome Cricket Club in Oxfordshire has been forced to ban the hitting of sixes after an angry neighbour threatened to take it to court. Diana Attenborough, 69, complained that it was dangerous if the cricket balls fell within the grounds of her home at the end of the club's grounds.
The club is now enforcing a "local rule" after consulting the Oxfordshire Cricket Association. The new rule means that if a player hits a six, no runs will be scored. The club, which survives on donations and fundraising events, has also had to spend over £4,000 on installing a 50ft high net. After using up all its savings, the club discovered that Attenborough had put her home up for sale.
"We play on average two games a week for five months a year and have been in the village for over 85 years, in all that time we have not had any complaints other than those from Diana," Nigel Joyner, the club chairman, told the Daily Mail. "It means we've had to use up all of our funds, money we had hoped to use to replace our tractor so we can cut our grass and build a new shed as the old one is falling down. We understand she is concerned and a ball has gone over and smashed a pane once before which we covered the cost for but it is odd that she has now put her house on sale."
"Cricket is a way for many people to keep fit and socialise, it's a shame how one person can ruin that for the others," said Ross Joyner, the club captain. "There seems to be a lot of health and safety cases being taken to the extreme across the board and it's a bit worrying if that continues in this way."
Full postDrama, dance and Sreesanth
One of Sreesanth's trademarks, both on and off the field, is theatricality. Now, with cricket off the agenda for him, he seems to have turned his attention more firmly to acting, dancing and song-writing
ESPNcricinfo staff
01-May-2014
One of Sreesanth's trademarks, both on and off the field, is theatricality. Now, with cricket off the agenda for him, he seems to have turned his attention more firmly to acting, dancing and song-writing. He is set to score music for Anbulla Azagae a Tamil-Telugu film his brother Dipu Shanthan is producing, as well as play a cameo role in it. He is also likely to take part in dance-based television show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, next season.
"Sree will be composing all songs in the movie, a love story laced with suspense and drama," Dipu Shanthan told Hindustan Times. "The main cast of the film hasn't been finalised yet, but it will have the best in the industry." Sreesanth, who was banned last year after being found guilty of being involved in the IPL spot-fixing scandal, has already produced and directed two music albums.
Full postEngland club side bowled out for 3
ESPNcricinfo staff
27-Apr-2014
#WeNeedit was the hashtag under which Wirral, a cricket club in north-west England, sent out pleas to cricketers Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff for a "few hours coaching" after they were bowled out for just three runs. Out of those three, only one run came off the bat, that too from the No. 11, as the first ten batsmen remarkably ended up earning ducks.
@BumbleCricket @FredBoycott @flintoff11 @MichaelVaughan @philtufnell Can anyone spare a few hours coaching... #weneedit #3allout
— Wirral Cricket Club (@Wirral_CC) April 26, 2014This scorecard from @wirral_cc has to be seen to be believed ... pic.twitter.com/vEmldtoJCG
— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) April 26, 2014Football fans sponsor Yorkshire batsman
A group of football fans have dipped into their pocket to sponsor a county cricketer for the 2014 season
ESPNcricinfo staff
26-Apr-2014
A group of football fans have dipped into their pockets to sponsor a county cricketer for the 2014 season.
A number of York City supporters, known as the Derwent Reds, are backing Yorkshire batsman Jack Leaning in his first season as a full professional having gone to school with him or having played alongside him at club level.
Fourteen of the friends have contributed with the rest coming from the landlady of their local pub the Derwent Arms, Sue King.
One of those involved, Andrew Hay, told The Press: "We thought it would be a nice gesture to sponsor Jack in his first capped season as we all know him."
Full postAn elephantine mess
ESPNcricinfo staff
24-Apr-2014
February 9, 2014, the day before the Mudgal Committee submits its report on the IPL mess to the Supreme Court. An elephant is donated to the Padmanabha Swamy temple in Kerala, one of India's holiest shrines. The donor's name was kept secret by the temple authorities - until a court-appointed amicus curiae sniffed around and found that the elephant violated temple laws. Only elephants brought into Kerala before 2007 can be considered as gifts; Thunuki, the elephant in question, was brought in earlier this year and its sale to the donor, who in turn offered it to the temple, was illegal. It was then that the donor's name was revealed: N Srinivasan, whose son-in-law and cricket team were both central figures in the Mudgal report. Incidentally, the amicus curiae, Gopal Subramaniam, is also the Mudgal committee's counsel in the IPL case.
Full postWedding crashers
Umar Akmal's troubles with the law followed him all the way to his wedding, when police found that his ceremony had breached the marriage law prevalent in Lahore
ESPNcricinfo staff
17-Apr-2014
Umar Akmal's troubles with the law pops up at all the wrong times. The latest infraction happened on the day of his wedding, when he was found to be in breach of a law in Lahore that stipulated that only one dish could be served at the function, which had to end at 10.pm. The restrictions were intended to discourage people from splurging on lavish weddings.
"There were violations of marriage act and a case has been registered and four people were arrested," police official Rana Imtiaz said.
Akmal was not among those named in the report and had already left the premises by the time the authorities visited but he could still be in danger of reprimand. This after a very public encounter with a traffic policeman in February. Not the best way, perhaps, to impress your new father-in-law, especially when he is one Mr Abdul Qadir.
Full postTendulkar, Ganguly bag football franchises
Months after ending his 24-year international career, Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has made a foray into Indian football, winning the bid to own the Kochi-based franchise of the Indian Super League
ESPNcricinfo staff
13-Apr-2014
Months after ending his 24-year international career, Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has made a foray into Indian football, winning the bid to own the Kochi-based franchise of the Indian Super League. Tendulkar won the bid along with Prasad V Potluri of PVP Ventures.
Tendulkar wasn't the only high-profile Indian cricketer to bag a franchise. Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain and a football fan himself, won the bid to own the Kolkata franchise, along with a consortium including Spanish League giants Atletico Madrid and businessmen Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjeev Goenka and Utsav Parekh.
"I will always remain a sportsman at heart who is keen to positively impact the sporting fabric of the nation. The Indian Super League presents a great opportunity to develop a platform for the youngsters to learn and enhance their talent to develop into outstanding player," Tendulkar said in a statement. "Based on the various insights shared by the team, the opportunity of the Kochi club seemed like a compelling and challenging proposition. With the Kochi club, we will strive to 'score our goals' and play a part in developing the game of football across the country."
The Indian Super League, an eight-team event run by IMG-Reliance, is expected to begin its inaugural season this September and end in November. Reliance also owns Mumbai Indians, the most expensive IPL franchise.
Full postPakistan fan turns Dhoni fan for the day
MS Dhoni has always been a popular cricketer and he added another to the legion of his supporters when he gifted a Pakistan fan a complimentary pass to the World Twenty20 final
ESPNcricinfo staff
06-Apr-2014
MS Dhoni has always been a popular cricketer and he added another to the legion of his supporters when he gifted a Pakistan fan a complimentary pass to India's World Twenty20 final against Sri Lanka.
Mohammed Bashir, a Pakistan fan from Chicago, has been a familiar face at most Pakistan games and he was spotted by the Indian captain at India's training session on the eve of the final.
"Dhoni is familiar with my face as he has seen me before the Champions Trophy's Indo-Pak game in Birmingham. I told him that I don't have a ticket to watch the finals," Bashir told PTI. "Dhoni then called some Kaka [India's masseur Ramesh Mane] and told him to arrange for my ticket. Kaka promptly gave me a complimentary pass. I am completely moved by his gesture."
There was one more little gift in store for Bashir, courtesy Dhoni. "He asked about me and I told him that I am settled in Chicago," Bashir said. "[Then], since I was standing there for a long time, he told someone to give me fruits. I am a Pakistan fan but for today, I am a Dhoni fan."
Full postAn app by a cricketer, for cricketers
Mumbai pacer Saurabh Netravalkar has combined his academic qualifications as computer engineer with his knowledge of cricket to develop an app for players called CricDeCode
Rachna Shetty
01-Apr-2014
The list of engineers in Indian cricket is a long and illustrious one and while Mumbai pacer Saurabh Netravalkar is a rank newbie on that list, he has already combined his academic focus with his knowledge of the game to develop a cricket-based application.
Called CricDeCode, the application is designed to help cricketers analyse their game and can be used across platforms. The inspiration behind it was simple enough. "I didn't want the hours of engineering studies to go to waste," Netravalkar told Hindustan Times. "That's how I thought of developing the mobile app."
In the 2010 Under-19 World Cup, Netravalkar was the leading wicket-taker for India after which the fast bowler decided to split his focus on engineering and cricket. He graduated with a degree in computer science last year and also made his first-class and List A debuts for Mumbai earlier in this season.
Full postJersey and Guernsey players grounded
ESPNcricinfo staff
27-Mar-2014
Most cricketers will take it for granted that they can get from A to B for their matches, but for the players of Jersey and Guernsey it is not looking that simple this year.
The two Channel Islands have a healthy rivalry in all sports - including cricket - but the transport options between them have now become limited after the airlines which fly the short route, Blue Islands and Aurigny, agreed a codeshare deal which, in effect, means there are half the number of flights now available and the timings mean it will not be possible for the teams to make the trip to either island in a day.
The annual match between the champions of each island - Upton of Guernsey and Cobo of Jersey on April 26 - could be the first fixture to pay the price. Another option may have been the ferry, but the timetable for that has also been changed which leaves the players scuppered unless an agreement can be reached.
"This year the boat option's not available so it's purely flights and we can't get what we want," Mark Latter told BBC Radio Jersey. "Sport is a good proposition, there's a lot of people playing sport in the islands and I would guess there's a huge capacity taken up in the summer. As a long-term passenger proposition we think we're a very good investment."
Full post