The Buzz
Non-stop cricket world record
Staff from Loughborough University have set a new world record for the longest continuous game of cricket
George Dobell
25-Feb-2013
Staff from Loughborough University have set a new world record for the longest continuous game of cricket. Two teams of 11 - and one substitute fielder per side - utilised floodlights to play through wind, rain and hailstorms to extend the previous record by around 45 hours and set a new mark of 150 hours and 20 minutes.
While the record remains unofficial for now, organisers have sent extensive data - including sworn statements by participants, umpires and onlookers and video - to Guinness World Records in anticipation of verification of their achievement. Among those making appearances as umpires were former England players Matthew Hoggard, Paul Nixon and Alex Tudor, former New Zealand player Iain O'Brien and Derbyshire's Wes Durston. Graham Lambert and Stephen Holt of rock band The Inspiral Carpets also visited.
The game was inspired in an attempt to raise money for the Harley Staples Cancer Trust. The charity was setup in 2009 by Katherine Staples in memory of her son Harley, who passed away in 2009 after a long battle with a rare form of Leukaemia; B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia Burkitt Type. It is hoped the game will have raised around £15,000. For more details visit www.charitygiving.co.uk/cricket.
"We played 25 matches in a cycle," one of the organisers, Chris Hughes, told ESPNcricinfo. "We had torrential rain and hailstones the size of golf balls but, in true British tradition, we kept calm and carried on. Nothing Mother Nature could conjure up was going to stop us from breaking the record and raising many thousands of pounds. And we're already talking about having a go at extending the record next year."
Full postShakib's window escape
On Bangladesh's third annual Social Business Day, which coincided with the birthday of Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, Shakib Al Hasan was invited to an event as one of four young achievers
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
On Bangladesh's third annual Social Business Day, which coincided with the birthday of Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, Shakib Al Hasan was invited to an event as one of four young achievers, along with mountaineers who had climbed Mount Everest. There was also the visiting astronaut Ron Goran, who gave a presentation of his work in space.
The moment Shakib's car pulled up, hundreds of students from nearby schools in Savar began to gather. The autograph hunters eventually got too close to the podium - some even got on it - so Shakib was put in a room behind the stage. The crowd then began to bang on the door, and Shakib was left with little choice but to climb out through the ground-floor window and into a waiting car to take him back to Dhaka.
Full postThe VVS Laxman Cricket Club, Bradford, England
Budding cricketers in England might have a host of clubs to support, but here's one that is making news more for its name than its record - 'VVS Laxman Cricket Club'
Carlyle Laurie
25-Feb-2013
Budding cricketers in England might have a host of clubs to support, but here's one that is making news more for its name than its record - 'VVS Laxman Cricket Club'. India batsman VVS Laxman's supporters named the club after him in Bradford, in northern England, as a "small way of showing our gratitude and affection towards a great friend," Manish Patel, Laxman's friend and club secretary, told the Indian Express.
"It was a little strange. He (Patel) was very adamant and I had no choice but to say yes," Laxman said. "Manish and his family are among my closest friends. I have known them since 1995 when I played in the Bradford League as a youngster. Obviously I was humbled by their gesture to name a club after me."
The club is playing in the 117-year-old Bradford Mutual Sunday School Cricket League this season and is in with a chance of making the semi-finals. Patel said senior members of the newly-formed club were unanimous on naming it after Laxman. "Laxman is an icon, probably the closest to being Mr Perfect," Patel said. "And not just on the field. He is a perfect example of how you should carry yourself. It is unimaginable how he's handled his fame. He is also like family to us."
Full postDhoni bats for Nepal cricket
The Indian team may have got a rare breather in a usually clogged international schedule, but MS Dhoni continues to be a busy man
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
The Indian team may have got a rare breather in a usually clogged international schedule, but MS Dhoni continues to be a busy man. Little more than a week after his visit to the border state of Jammu and Kashmir to meet members of the Indian army, he was off to Nepal to help raise the profile of cricket there. He is already the goodwill ambassador of the Indian army, and now he has been appointed the goodwill ambassador of Nepal cricket as well.
Nepal have long been one of the stronger non-Test Asian teams at the age-group level, and the Asian Cricket Council Twenty20 Cup last December again showed the game is a crowd-puller, though it lags behind football as the country's most popular sport.
"Cricket is very popular in the subcontinent but in Nepal it's an upcoming sport," Dhoni told reporters at Kathmandu's airport. "I am hoping Nepal will grow as a cricketing nation and we will see them in major tournaments."
Full postA smoking area for Shane?
There has been a lot of renaming at Hampshire's homeground
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
There has been a lot of renaming at Hampshire's homeground. The place itself is now the Ageas Bowl, not the Rose Bowl, and the new stands are adorned with famous Hampshire names. Shane Warne has one of the buildings named after him after his eight years with the county. Back in the Sky commentary box for this game he was asked: "Does it have a smoking area at the back?" To which he replied: "I'm sure all spectators will be well looked after."
Full postCricket at the Olympics opening ceremony
Cricket may not be an Olympic sport as of now, but it is set to feature at the London Olympics next month
Carlyle Laurie
25-Feb-2013
Cricket may not be an Olympic sport as of now, but it is set to feature at the London Olympics next month. How?
Well, Oscar winning filmmaker Danny Boyle, the director of the opening ceremony set for July 27, unveiled a set portraying the opening scene from the ceremony, which included a game of cricket in progress. The director said the Olympics would open in an English meadow with cricket being played at one side of the stadium, and livestock, meadows, rivers and landmarks like the Glastonbury Tor on the other.
Boyle said that the opening scene of the 27 million pound ceremony would be called 'green and pleasant' and that ten thousand volunteers will participate in the show. "The best way to tell that story is through working with real people," Boyle said. "I've been astounded by the selfless dedication of the volunteers, they are the pure embodiment of the Olympic spirit and represent the best of who we are as a nation."
Full postFlintoff takes to judging sports reality show
Former England allrounder Andrew Flintoff was last seen globetrotting and eating wallaby for the Discovery channel's Freddie Flintoff Goes Wild. Now, he's set to feature as a celebrity judge
Carlyle Laurie
25-Feb-2013
Former England allrounder Andrew Flintoff was last seen globetrotting and eating wallaby for the Discovery channel's Freddie Flintoff Goes Wild. Now, he's set to feature as a celebrity judge on the sports-focussed talent show, Let's Get Gold, which will air on ITV1.
Flintoff will feature alongside footballer Rio Ferdinand, singer Una Healy and actress Martine McCutcheon on the judging panel. The programme will air just ahead of the Olympics, and will give amateur and professional sportspersons a chance to showcase their abilities. Performances are expected to include a variety of sports, and individuals with the most creativity and sporting prowess would stand to win £100,000.
Flintoff said he was looking forward to the challenge. "I'm sure the judging panel will all be looking for something different," Flintoff told the Daily Telegraph. "I can't wait to see what the teams have to show us."
Full postA Tendulkar fan from Russia
An unlikely cricket fan, Russian chess grandmaster Peter Svidler, has used the 'Tendulkar' sobriquet to play online chess on a server popular among 200,000 members including Garry Kasparov
Devashish Fuloria
25-Feb-2013
An unlikely cricket fan, Russian chess grandmaster Peter Svidler, has used the 'Tendulkar' sobriquet to play online chess on a server popular among 200,000 members including Garry Kasparov. Svidler, who is an Andrew Strauss and Sachin Tendulkar fan, was initiated into cricket during the 1999 World Cup match between India and Pakistan.
"I chose 'Tendulkar' because I meant it as some innocent fun. The intention was to create an illusion, sort of a practical joke on the Western reaction and speculation of people who would assume that somebody who plays chess well and uses an Indian sportsperson's handle must be [Vishwanathan] Anand," Svidler told The Sunday Express.
"On the ICC [Internet Chess Club], people would ask, 'Are you Anand?'. I would say no and they never believed it." Apparently, the original Anand is not much of a cricket fan.
Full postMalinga the mascot
With his distinctive hairstyles and sling-shot bowling action Lasith Malinga is one of the most marketable cricketers in Sri Lanka
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
With his distinctive hairstyles and sling-shot bowling action Lasith Malinga is one of the most marketable cricketers in Sri Lanka. Add to that his success in the Twenty20 format - he's third in the all-time list of T20 wicket-takers and has just come off a successful IPL season - and it's a no-brainer that the ICC has made him the event ambassador for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka this September. "Lasith is a special player and one of the most recognisable cricketers in the world. Whenever he runs in to bowl with his distinctive action there is a thrill in the game," it said.
Malinga's rise to stardom from a fishing village has made him a role model for several young cricketers - more so in a cricketing culture that, like the Twenty20 format, embraces unorthodoxy. As the face of the tournament, he'll be a popular choice - just don't ask the batsmen!
Full postMcMillan ducks Ryder's boxing challenge
We won't be seeing Jesse Ryder and Craig McMillan face-off in the boxing ring - McMillan has declined Ryder's offer to fight him in a charity boxing match next month
Carlyle Laurie
25-Feb-2013
We won't be seeing Jesse Ryder and Craig McMillan face-off in the boxing ring - McMillan has declined Ryder's offer to fight him in a charity boxing match next month.
Ryder's offer had a bit to do with McMillan's criticism of his innings in a Twenty20 match between New Zealand and South Africa in February: Ryder had slowed down to reach his half-century, and New Zealand lost by three runs.
"I have no desire to box, thanks. It is being billed [as a means] to settle a grudge and I don't want to be a part of it," McMillan told Fairfax NZ News. "Jesse has done some boxing-related fitness stuff in the gym for the past six months and I have not done anything like that.
"I'm away commentating in Malaysia for two weeks during the lead-up and wouldn't have the time to do the work required. It would be a set-up. I hope he can get things sorted because everyone would like Ryder at his best in the team."
Full post