Ten of the best

A press release circulated "on behalf of eBay India":

This once in a lifetime opportunity to face the ace cricketer Murali is available to all cricket fans and eBay users worldwide. Log onto eBay India (www.ebay.in/charity) to bid on the charity auction between December 4 and December 11, 2007. The highest bidder will face 10 deliveries from the master spinner on December 16, 2007 at the Seenigama Oval in Galle, Sri Lanka.

After his nine wickets in Kandy perhaps Murali can now claim all ten against the hapless, but no doubt happy, winning bidder. *A note to the highest bidder: Remember that Murali just loves a maiden over, so if you fail to register anything from your first six balls, just be prepared for the next four. **Note to ICC in Dubai: Like the ICC Super Series, this is non-Test status so should not be counted towards Murali's wicket haul.

What happens now?

Oh how I wanted the West Indies to chase down 303 against Sri Lanka.

I really did hope they would manage it; for the World Cup's sake and to lift the depressive tendencies my hotel reception girls apply when the Windies lose games.

So the days are ticking down to the Barbados Super 8 games. The Kensington Oval looks a picture and there should at least be a series of well-attended games here.

But there will be a couple of things missing. Notably, India v Pakistan. I've yet to post anything on the demise (a sad one in Pakistan's case) of these two teams.

So what are your views? Does it really take an Indian TV show, Cricket Star, to find the next talent in this vast country? Is Ian Chappell right when he says Sachin Tendulkar should retire? Personally, I thought India would go well in the Caribbean. They had played a year schedule whereby they were unlikely to be fatigued by the time of the World Cup and looked a settled side. But playing away from home obviously plays havoc with their talent in India's case.

Post your thoughts below and keep posted over the coming week as the Nutley paints a picture on how Barbados is preparing for the games.

Bat-mobile

I remember during the 2006 soccer World Cup how countries around the world were gearing up for the event in Germany.

India seemed to be all over the event such is their desire for the sport. And I remember one mad fan even spent weeks building a Jules Rimet Trophy out of sand.

It looks like a cricket fan has gone one better with his very own cricket bat-mobile.

You can watch his contraption here as well.

Indo-Aus series back on?

As revealed exclusively by this blog in October, it seems that the India-Australia ODI series in North America is getting closer.

Reports suggest that Cricket Australia has been approached by India and it is just a matter of negotiating revenues and dates.

Every so often these stories crop up: namely the big international teams set to play cricket in non-Test playing countries.

And having initially sourced the story, I personally think that the two boards should wait until next year to make their money. The proposed Floyd Bennett Stadium in New York would in no way be ready, while Australia still have a tour to Zimbabwe to think about in June, when the series would most likely take place. It'll still be a sell-out mind you.

Don't forget your toothbrush, Doctor

It's time to delve into the Nutley archive: for this Perth Test has drawn up two blogging memories from England's tour to India earlier this year.

As the Australian players trickled into their Perth hotel over the weekend, it brought back memories of an absolute pearler of a cricket anecdote that journalist Ted Corbett told me about earlier this year. It centres around Dean Jones and his epic double ton in Madras twenty years ago and, more importantly in the context, why you see Australians carry their washbags from the team bus when they check-in at hotels on the sub-continent. For more laughs, read Ted's March 6 entry.

The Fremantle Doctor, Perth's cooling sea breeze, should help the spinners get some afternoon drift for this third Test - it is at its best during the December and January months after all - while it should offer the bowlers some swing after lunch. If the 'Doctor' is as consistent as it has proven to be this week, then England's use of weather patterns would come into the equation for the second time this year. Check out the Wankhede high tide factor entry here.

Brisbane to Bollywood

Gentle introductions to tours are a thing of the past. Such is the ICC programme these days, England have been up against the likes of New South Wales before the first Test in Brisbane and several likely members of the Australian squad.

So, early psychological battles have started for the players and, according to Line and Length, witty exchanges have begun in the stands too.

With the ever-growing support for England in these warm-up games, the Fanatics have released their player songs for both squads. Download Six, Jugs and Rock 'n Roll here.

Keeping on the music theme, it looks as if Indian 'keeper Mahendra (Singh, ahem) Dhoni is keeping up his record for off-field appearances with a venture into Bollywood.

Dhoni, India's latest pin-up boy, is set to showcase his acting and dancing skills in singer Rani’s music video “Dil Ko Churaya Re”; no doubt his flexibility and athleticism through wicket-keeping will hold him in good stead amongst the Bollywood elite.

Trophy tales; prison humour

Australia duly won their first ICC Champions Trophy in five attempts, but there was a small price to pay after they had trounced the West Indies.

Clearly agitated at the longevity of the trophy presentation, Australian players reportedly pushed Indian cricket chief Sharad Pawar off the presentation stage so they could pose with the trophy and get out of the ground. (If it had really got out of hand, Ricky Ponting could have ended up like the photo above.)

Not to be outdone, the Indian media went to town on the incident and it also prompted a quote from chief cricket selector Dilip Vengsarkar, who said: "You expect such behaviour from uneducated people. If they wanted to pose for photographs, they could have politely requested him.

Still on the ICC Trophy, click here for a highly entertaining Graeme Smith diary according to iafrica's Dan Nicholl. The entry for 19 October is the highlight:

"Ahmedabad is not my favourite place on earth, and we're here for a week. There's nothing to do, the food is awful, and Charl reckons that the hotel reminds him of when he was a prison warder. Everyone laughed at breakfast when he said that, except for Herschelle, who went very pale, and got up and left
without saying a word. He's been a bit quiet since he saw the police. Hope he's okay."

Col Sanders to the rescue

Chris Gayle may be hitting form with the bat, but it is metaphors with the ball which could make for healthy (or unhealthy) reading over the coming Champions Trophy games.

If you thought waking up after an all-nighter on the sofa with a KFC family-sized bucket beside you was bad enough, spare a thought for Gayle, the spinner, if he turns in some 'finger lickin'' performances.

News reaches Nutley that KFC, the world's largest chain of chicken restaurants, have stepped in to replace Digicel as the team's sponsor thanks to the ICC's strict marketing rules during the tournament.

The US company, who also sponsor a Caribbean tournament, have gone on promotional overdrive as well. 50 lucky Indian winners will be given the chance to dine with Brian Lara et al. No doubt Lara will be regaling his quotes from earlier this week: "Very early in life, we tell our fathers that we want to play cricket for the West Indies, and the next thing we want is a box of KFC chicken."

Team-sized mega buckets at the ready.

Bindi for good luck

Good fortune plays a part in every cricketers' career. However, I will be relieved once this County Championship season finishes on Sunday.

In March I was out covering England's tour to India while Middlesex were in Mumbai for their pre-season tour. Skipper Ben Hutton and I took some time out to sample the hectic delights of the capital and ended up at Colaba market.

I decided to get on tape Ben haggling for DVDs and as this was happening a bloke came up and started putting a bindi on him for good luck. I asked him how many runs Ben would get this season and he replied 150, which we quickly made him turn into 1,500.

He was subsequently out with shingles for the majority of the season and only thanks to a recent ton against Yorkshire on my wedding day (you know it!) has his season tally progressed past the 400-run mark.

Hospitality and houseboats

Went to Kerala in India for our honeymoon - two weeks of bliss interspersed with serious eating and constant questions of whether we would like more.

The Keralans pride themselves on their food and general warmth and we have never eaten so much in 14 days. In the end we had to skip lunches, mainly after spending five days on the resort island pictured.

Bangaram forms one of the handful of Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea. No one I know had ever heard of it before we went and this was confirmed by the only guest on the island when we arrived. Englishman Jamie had spent five days on his own before we turned up. He wrote about his experiences here and called it 1 island, 1 guest, 37 staff. Lucky b&$3^&*, it's a dream headline...

Kerala also prides itself on two other truths: the backwaters on a houseboat are one truely memorable experience and the fact it has someone from its state playing for India - Sri Sreesanth is a lively bowler and a former national breakdancing champion.

The tale of two Dulka's

A few years ago a house went on sale in Dulka Road, in South London, close to where I am living.

The owner of number 10, Tom Gueterbock, had his change of address cards adorned with an image of the Little Master Sachin Tendulkar thanks to the familiar sounding name of his house number and street name.

Once he was settled it became something of a running joke for his mates to say: "We're going round Sachin's for dinner". Gueterbock even phoned up Wisden to gain some PR when it came to selling the house and subsequently there was massive interest from Indian ex-pats living in London.

This cute little story is contrasted with recent misgivings in the world of cricket blogs. Will Luke, a staffer with Cricinfo, has had to change the name of his blog from 'The Corridor of Uncertainty' to plain old 'The Corridor (a cricket blog)' after the owner of the trademarked former title, Andy Clark, got his lawyers onto him.

Top 10 Indian moments

1. The fact it takes Farokh Engineer - who scored his first and last centuries at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) - one hour for the drinks he's ordered to arrive. He must have hinted to the waiter ten times, and when they finally do arrive, Freddie Flintoff moans, saying the glasses are dirty. The table erupts.

2. The "Kevin Pietersen Should Read This Award" for the best road safety sign in Nagpur, which reads: "Patience is heavenly, haste is deadly"

3. Being on the verge of the runs during an interview with Nasser Hussain in Chandigarh.

4. The Bombay jewellery vendor who upped his original offer when I lowered mine.

5. The British professional gambler who bet for three days on Betfair without being caught in the Press Box in Mohali. (Will keep you posted on his 30 March court appearance)

6. Monty Panesar's attempted catch at mid-on during England's heroic last day in Bombay.

7. Celeb corner: Jordan and Peter Andre spotted at the CCI during the Sport Relief cricket match, Stephen Fry at the final Test, and several hundred possible Bollywood actors with slick back hair.

8. The classic Murgh Makhani - my choice of curry in India.

9. Mike Atherton getting mobbed at the Gateway of India - especially the fan who came out with: "Hello sirs, I just have to tell you that I have an unbelievable, 24/7 crazy diet for cricket."

10. The professional road-side bat-makers in Nagpur who scrape a living without local government assistance.

The Wankhede chapter

An announcement was made over the scorer's microphone in the Press Box yesterday - by our very own Nobok Legend Farokh Engineer.

It came shortly after tea and began: "Hi I'm Farokh Engineer. Some of you may remember me...." although he didn't launch in to how he nearly scored a ton before lunch.

He was upset with sections of the Indian crowd and was embarrassed as a Bombayite. Farokh was having a drink with Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard the previous night and the pair were upset at the abuse the England captain was given on the field. Of the printable banners on view one read "Hoggie is a Doggie".

Booing Sachin Tendulkar and now barraging the England captain? What will happen if the Little Master gets a pair and Freddie does a lap of honour?

***

The Wankhede may look an imposing ground for the players in the middle, but on further inspection things are slightly different.

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) built the Wankhede to take over from the Brabourne as Bombay's primary Test venue in 1975. It holds 50,000, floodlights were installed in 1996, but that's about the size of it.

If you can imagine a sloping glassed squash court then that's what the Press Box resembles. Dried paint which has dripped from hurried workmen is evident on the windows, while around the ground the seats have the same - only there's more dust.

Police security employed by the MCA has also been attendance and the treatment forced MCC president Robin Marlar to walk out in disgust at lunch on the first day; none was laid on anyway.

***

At the close of play press conference, even Indian journalists were amazed at the treatment handed out to the media. Half of the reporters were stopped from hearing what Andrew Strauss had to say, and a fight ensued, involving some British media.

Shastri's Audi moment

They say the best things come to those that wait.

So confident was Malcolm Marshall of success against India in the 1983 World Cup Final, he ordered a spanking new BMW as a gift to himself before Kapil Dev duly lifted the trophy.

Two years later, Ravi Shastri didn't even have to phone the car dealer. India's legendary all-rounder won an Audi 100 for his 'Champion of Champions' man of the series effort in Australia in 1985. Today marks the 21st anniversary and his prize still takes pride and joy in his front drive.

Shastri had a slow start to the tournament, which also featured Pakistan, but soon found his gear as he finished with 182 runs and 8 wickets as India beat Pakistan in the final.

After learning of his prize, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi waived the heavy duty on the Audi's import and Shastri took full advantage.

"Initially I was over possessive about it," said Shastri a few years ago. "I was always watching her with eagle eyes just to make sure no one touched her."

Odd man out

Well, the drama which unfolded prior to the Nagpur Test when injuries, captaincy changes, general newsworthy items and British journalists became headline news have thankfully subsided in Chandigarh; two England net sessions have passed without problems.

So, diary can now concentrate on the real issue at hand as reported from yesterday - Indian wrestling and the story of a legend in the sport who became unrecognised in his own country.

Khashaba Jhadhav became India's first individual medalist in the Olympics when he won bronze at the Helsinki Games in 1952; a great feat considering Jhadhav's family had to beg for village contributions to send him to Europe after he failed at the 1948 London Games. He probably would have won gold too in Helsinki if the matting had been to his liking, but India couldn't hide its euphoria when news reached Bombay.

On his return there was a 151 bullock cart procession to a famous temple, which by foot would have usually taken 15 minutes, but on this occasion took a full day such were the scenes. The only plight in Jhadhav's return was his resentment towards Indian officials who travelled to Helsinki, who according to the medalist were only interested in shopping and casinos.

The Indian media was still in its prime during the early 1950s and Jhadhav's Bantamweight efforts were soon a distant memory; a spectacular change from today's attitudes as national media feeds on Bombay social gossip while no daily sports page would be complete without its frenzy of politically-based cricket stories.

So Jhadhav went back to his village and in no time was living in near obscurity. He took up a job in the police force three years later where he remained without promotion until 1982. Six months before his retirement, thanks to colleagues, he was appointed an assistant commissioner of police. He died two years later in a motorcycle accident.

A few years ago, his son finally got the recognition his father deserved after years of neglect and funding from the Indian government. Perhaps this is why it took until 1996 for India to win its second Olympic medal when Leander Paes won bronze in the singles tennis at Atlanta.

Rod Gilmour in Chandigarh