Do I have a million for Mr Dhoni?

The bids have begun in the Indian Premier League auction, with vast sums of money exhanging hands while franchises scramble to outbid each other for the Dhonis, Symonds and Dravids of the world. But which poor soul has to make sense of this madness? Richard Madley, a lifelong Glamorgan supporter, and the main auctioneer.

Madley, an auctioneer with Dreweatts, the British firm, will handle today's sale of 79 cricketers to the eight franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the new Twenty20 competition that will start on April 18, and anticipation has become feverish.

“I've just been mobbed outside the hotel,” Madley said yesterday. “They say that cricket is a religion here, but it appears to be a bit more than that.”

Patrick Kidd has the full piece in today's Times