Excellent nomenclature

Xavier Melbourne Marshall A Spanish saint, a legendary Bajan fast bowler and Australia's second largest city. How many more things do you need to cram into a name before you can call it great?

Sreesanth Some names are so resplendent, they don't need to lean arthritically on surnames for support. Especially not when they belong to hip-shaking, fist-pumping, jewellery-wearing, imbroglio-courting superstars. Weep your hearts out, Cher and Madonna.

WPUJC Vaas UWMBCA Welegedara may seem more imposing on paper, but spell the initials out and our Vaasy has upstart Chanaka beat by plenty.

Aiden Blizzard Have name, will hit. On his Twenty20 debut, no doubt conscious of the need to uphold the honour of his family, Mr Blizzard stormed to 89 off 38 balls.

Dwayne Bravo A name for commentators to have hours of pun-ridden fun with.

Colin McCool A name so cool, it actually has "cool" in it.

Yasir Arafat Just two letters away from being a kaffiyeh-wearing head of a Liberation Organisation.

Tiny Desai Indian bowler not nicknamed in the Australian vein - i.e., in fact, actually fairly small, at 5'4" - but, possessed of "rare ability and endless courage", as Wisden said.

Garfield St Aubrun Sobers St Aubrun, indeed. Uncork the champagne, lay out the petits fours and light your Gauloises.

Rusty Theron Not a Wild West gunslinger crossed with the old magician from the Mandrake comics, just a Saffer bowler with an undeniably rocking nickname, designed purely so commentators can make "No rust there" jokes when he displays athleticism in the field.

Xenophon Balaskas Never has a cricketer sounded more like a musical instrument falling down a flight of stairs submerged in water.

Napoleon Einstein In his spare time, this 20-year-old from Tamil Nadu mucks about with quantum physics, while wearing epaulettes and waving a musket about.

Sybrand Engelbrecht A goosestepping drill sergeant in jackboots? A bolt of lightning clad in Protea green? Merely a clean-cut South African youngster, who looks like he belongs in a boyband, swooping down on a helpless cricket ball in the 30-yard circle.

Michael Gwyll Bevan On first look, an unassuming, everyday sort of name. Then you see the little unpronounceable Welsh bit in the middle.

Len Pascoe An unassuming surname, you'd say, but what would you say if you knew it was changed from the Bond-villainesque "Durtanovich"? We know what we'd say: Oh Leonard, how could you!

Jackie Baroda Because his full name, Farzand-i-Khas-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia Maharaja Fatehsinghrao Prataprao Gaekwad, didn't quite trip off the tongue, the Maharaja of Baroda (and later Member of Parliament) was better known - among the polo-playing set, one assumes - by this charming-in-a-cravat-wearing-way, vaguely continental, monicker. Ooh la la.

Hendrik Human Dippenaar To think that he dumped the alliterative splendour of this for the lugubrious "Boeta". For shame.

Tip Snooke This stylish South African batsman jettisoned the considerably weedy name he was christened with - Sibley John - for this infinitely more raffish handle. Tipping a snook at authority (if not cocking it), as he did, one would think.

Edward Bastard Yes, really.

Dick Whitington One letter short of being a rags-to-riches folktale hero based on a real-life London mayor. Rather splendid, old boy, in a 14th-century kind of fashion.