Scotched

A lack of posts this week from the Nutley, to go with the lack of cricket being played. I've been in Glasgow where the India and Pakistan one-off charity game was due to be played.

All that was managed were handshakes with Prince Charlie from both teams before the rain came down and the match cancelled. A shame for the Clydesdale Cricket Club, who had worked tirelessly for three months to get the game on. If it had been played the following day it would have been played in near sunshine.

Anyway, listen to the podcast of the event as I try and make 10 minutes of audio from a game that never happened.

Afghan makes NW8

Afghan cricketer Hamid Hassan, who spent time last summer with the MCC Young Cricketers, has been selected to play at Lord's for the first time tomorrow. He has been named in an MCC team to play a 50-overs game against a Europe XI.

Hamid was first spotted by the MCC when he represented his country in the inaugural MCC v Afghanistan match in Bombay in March last year. The MCC, captained by Mike Gatting were soundly beaten by 179 runs.

The Nutley was present that day in Bombay. I don't think I have seen a ball being sprayed around the ground quite as much as that game: into the pavilion, onto Marine Drive, straight down the ground into a disused building site and, too finish all four sides off, onto a railway track. If memory serves me right, Gatt was out first ball, too.

Cricket's popularity in Afghanistan gained impetus after many of the refugees, who had fled the country in the early 1980s after the Soviet invasion, began to return from Pakistan, where they witnessed the game and started to play. In the last decade the membership of the Afghanistan Cricket Federation has grown from 500 to 12,000 members, according to Prospect magazine.

What's in a name

"My name is Younus Khan. I tell people that everywhere, but they don’t listen."

So said Pakistani batsman Younus, or to most people Younis, before he confirmed to Yorkshire by text message that this was how he would like to be written. Presumably this was ammended before the Tykes printed their squad shirts for the season, so ending a minor 'King of Spain' saga.

And the club may yet have to print more shirts for the club shop. A few who were present at the Rose Bowl last week for the Hampshire v Yorkshire game believe Younus's knock was the best they had seen.

Sexiest cricketers

What better way than to reward users with a recent Barbados Daily Nation poll of "The Sexiest men in cricket". Click to enlarge each one (and Chris Gayle's muscles) as well as a close-up of Lasitha Malinga's hair. The Sri Lanka paceman has also courted debated back home with his looks and locks, with many fans unimpressed. One fan even suggested that he is "not a decent-looking gentleman". Read more here. And surprising there's no mention of either Shahid Afridi or Sachin Tendulkar for all those millions of female cricket fans out there.