Mind your head, Mahendra

Flintoff v Dhoni - see what the winning caption was, below © Getty Images

The sight of Andrew Flintoff mock-hitting Mahendra Dhoni was, we thought, the perfect cue to insight a torrent of witty emails from our loyal Cricinfo readers. We certainly got a torrent - hundreds per day in fact - but we hadn't foreseen our venerable visitors enjoying themselves so much. Clearly the photo lit your respective masochistic fires...

"Andrew Flintoff introduces Mahendra Dhoni to the ancient English game of croquet," quipped Chris Cowan from Cambridge. Croquet members in Cambridgeshire beware a man wielding a cricket bat if Chris' interpretation is anything to go by. Although we at Cricinfo love and breathe cricket, we respect and admire most other sports. Croquet, however, is now firmly off the list.

While Chris concerned us, Rajesh Srinivasan offered a positively eloquent and poetic alternative: "Thanks for the fumble. Did you get blinded by the sun after that tumble?" Thankfully he restrained from making any "rumble in the jungle" alliterative references, although we sheepishly confess that Cricinfo's editorial staff weren't quite as self-controlled.

Adai, who shamelessly failed to provide his surname, provided an entry which amused us as much as it disturbed us, demonstrating an imagination worthy of Pablo Picasso in his pomp. "Dhoni! Stop tickling me from behind, else I'll have to smash you." He wasn't the first or last to demonstrate such unreserved relish at the possibilities Flintoff's bat and Dhoni's head provided.

"Want to try that stumping again?" posed Walter Rodrigues, who was one of several to utter similar sentiments. Sarah Sweeting, on the other hand, took her eye off the ball with a most risqué offering: "Just which ball are you trying to catch!" As you mention in your email, Sarah, yes it was "a bit naughty" but we'll let you off.

Selvanambi gorged himself with a Stanley Kubrick-like vision of violence which was almost as poetic as Rajesh's, if in a more visual sense. "Hey Dhoni, keep your head still and foot pointing towards cover, I'm going to play a textbook cover drive".

While we enjoyed the mocking of Dhoni and his now-bruised skull, those who refrained from the obvious caught our attention. Which is why Tracey McCarrey's sarcastic offering tickled our fancy so much and richly deserved the Cricinfo seal of approval.