Gender tests and in-flight heroes

It couldn't have been a typical day in the life of the Surat District Cricket Association (SDCA) women's team. Some team members got so suspicious on the performance of Vibhuti Thakkar, a 15-year old, that they reported it to the officials and the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) who in turn ordered to have a genetic test on the player. The gynecologist who conducted the test confirmed that the player is, yes, genetically a male. This news was a bombshell for the parents, who were understandably shocked, and stated that they would seek a second opinion. On the bright side though, Vibhuti may not be barred from playing men's cricket, said a top GCA official.

Will he? Won't he? The guessing game on the likelihood of Dav Whatmore taking over as the next India coach went on and on, until some breaking news finally came out, courtesy the man himself. Apparently he received a call in his Chittagong hotel, and before waiting for the caller to speak, in an act of spontaneity, said "Hello Niranjan", thinking it was Niranjan Shah, the Indian board secretary. Realising the blunder, he played along and let it out that he was in talks with the Indian board after all. Clearly, no matter how low profile the visit by the Indian board officials was intended to be, nobody was prepared for this humorous gaffe.

Chris Adams's band of brothers in Sussex could well become household names outside England when their story of stupendous success becomes part of the in-flight entertainment of British Airways and Emirates starting June. The documentary Time for Heroes, a double DVD set produced by Sussex TV, charts their path to county championship success, accompanied with euphoric dressing-room scenes, match highlights and car journeys. The UK magazine, All Out Cricket called it "a cinematic masterpiece, no less." It certainly appears that way, on first glance of the DVD cover.

Brian Lara may have quit the game for good but that isn't going to stop cricket enthusiasts and players from occasionally saying, "Let's have a crack at Lara." Cricket gaming went a step further when Codemasters announced the forthcoming release of Brian Lara 2007 Pressure Play, set for later this summer. Designed specifically for PlayStation Portable (PSP) the version features the all-new Pressure Play Mission mode, giving the gamer mini challenges such as 'bowl a maiden over' or 'one ball left to win' scenarios. There's also the chance to rewrite history, such as hitting a six off the last ball to tie against Australia. This, we are blissfully presuming is the same delivery that rolled ever so smoothly along the MCG pitch in 1981. The game also features a full ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 mode which, hopefully, will be packaged better than the 51-match blitzkrieg that just concluded.

It was one man against the rest in a Hampshire league match when Owselbury's Mark McLeonards scalped all ten wickets against Penton. McLeonards, a 29-year old medium pacer, finished with stunning figures of 10 for 19 in 9.2 overs, bundling out Penton for just 54 in pursuit of 222. It was a pleasant twist of fortune when a disgruntled McLeonards, who went wicketless in his previous two games, told his girlfriend that if he repeated that against Penton he would call it quits for the rest of the season. After the game, he downed a 'few' pints of Guinness with the rest. Just a few? Ten would've been just appropriate.

In-fighting within the Sri Lankan board isn't unusual and this time it was two officials having a go at each other over the wisdom of the Abu Dhabi series against Pakistan. Ashantha de Mel, the chairman of selectors, thought that playing under 45-degree Celsius conditions in any part of the world is utter madness and blamed the board for a money-driven exercise. Duleep Mendis, the board's chief executive, said that the series was decided during the World Cup and that de Mel had been informed about it. But it was one retort by Mendis which could have silenced just about anyone. "Would Mr de Mel have expressed the same sentiments had we won the Abu Dhabi series?" he asked. Probably not.