Wild things

If cricket were a wild animal, it would be a bear: sleepy, lazy, ponderous, prone to hibernating in the winter months, but also powerful, evocative, intelligent, and with a penchant for goofiness. (Clearly you can make this comparison with any animal if you put a few minutes of thought into it, but I'm going to assume you're too lazy to do that as a cricket fan - see what I did there?). Now that we've established the premise, let's get on with the business of looking at some photographs.

Members of the Maasai Cricket Warriors team pose (above) with Sudan, the last male rhino of his sub-species, the Northern white rhino, at the Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya to raise awareness about rhino poaching. Sudan, who is now 42, is kept under 24-hours-a-day protection, and his horn has been filed down to lower the risk of attacks from poachers.

How are Matthew Hoggard, Darren Gough, Marcus Trescothick and Alec Stewart able to stand seriously for a photo as these adorable critters roll around in the mud of the Nairobi game reserve? (And what do you call a photograph you take with an elephant? An elfie.)

Brian Lara snuggles with a python at the Australia Zoo, Beerwah, January 2005.

Does anyone else think this koala bear (with Phil Tufnell in Perth, 1994) is giving out major Yoda vibes? Not wise Yoda about to spout a quotable quote, but battle-ready Yoda, who can destroy an army of droids without his lightsaber (right after he finishes his meal).

Matthew Hoggard gets himself in a safe spot - or is he doing some light stretching? - while pointing out a snake that appeared on the boundary during an England tour game in Colombo, 2007.

Jason Gillespie lets a shark get close (but only to his non-bowling arm). Underwater World, Sunshine Coast, 2002.