Different balls, same competition

International cricketers hitting the golf course once they stop playing is nothing new but the likes of Ian Botham and Kapil Dev have taken this to another level by competing in the World Cup of Golfing Cricketers in Bangalore.

Thirty-two current and former international players with single-figure handicaps played in the inaugural event, which was, inevitably, won by Australians Dean Jones and Colin Miller.

The concept behind the event is to re-ignite some of that competitive passion all international sportsmen lose when they retire. The prospect of locking horns with old adversaries is a huge temptation. England's Martin Bicknell explains: "The idea of playing as a team against other cricketers got my attention and of course any excuse to play golf in another country is always hard to turn down."

Damp conditions did not deter a high-profile turnout with former stars such as Barry Richards, Waqar Younis and Zaheer Abbas competing and several hundred cricket fans and autograph hunters watching.

And there was the usual on-course banter with Dean Jones predicting a New Zealand win before a ball was struck: "It's about time New Zealand won something ..." Ian Bishop admitted it's the only sport he could score a century in while Kapil Dev drew inspiration from India's 1983 World Cup victory: "Although this is a different ball game, it still is a World Cup."

The chief sponsors, McDowell's Signature Whisky, is committed for three years and reckon this event will become popular in Asia. But Bicknell knows that the future of the event lies in attracting the names: "This time we had Botham, Kapil Dev, Dean Jones, Zaheer Abbas and Barry Richards to name a few. For the tournament to flourish it needs to keep attracting players of this calibre. They also need to be able to play to a reasonable level of golf."