Players Profile: Ben Hollioake

Ben Hollioake died when his Porsche 924 left a freeway exit road, made slippery by light rain, and crashed into a brick wall. He had been driving home from the customary family dinner that preceded his and his brother Adam's return to Surrey for the English season, having spent much of the winter with England's one-day squad in Zimbabwe, India and New Zealand. Ben was just 24 years and 132 days old: no England Test cricketer had died so young.

The England captain, Nasser Hussain, flew from the Test series in New Zealand for his funeral, which was attended also by Surrey colleagues and Australian players, testimony to his immense popularity. "Ben was the most naturally gifted cricketer that I have ever played alongside," said Alec Stewart, who captained him for Surrey and England. Everyone recalled his easy-going approach to life and the friendships he fostered with his gentle nature and whimsical sense of humour; Adam, in his funeral address, described him as "a beautiful work of art, a classic sculpture". And in the game's collective memory, the picture of Ben Hollioake remained fixed on a spring afternoon in 1997 when, making his England debut at 19, this tall, loose-limbed allrounder set Lord's alight with 63 in 48 balls against Australia to take the Man of the Match award.

Players Profile: Raman Lamba

Raman Lamba was a flat-track bully, a journeyman who was a lion in his own den. He came into prominence in the 1986-87 one-day series against Australia, when a hundred and two fifties in six matches won him the Man of the Series award. Short on technique but long on bravado, Lamba was blessed with a superb eye and quickfire reflexes. He liked to give bowlers the charge, and had a flair for improvisation that made for great entertainment. His one-day form was patchy after that dream debut, and he looked pedestrian in his four Tests. He remained a prolific scorer in first-class cricket, with two triple-centuries and a Ranji Trophy average of 53. He had expressed a desire to play on for Delhi until the age of 45, but he was only 38 when he died after being hit on the head while fielding at forward short leg during a club match in Bangladesh.

What does 'chucking' in cricket mean?

Law 24, clause 3 defines a fair delivery with respect to the arm:
A ball is fairly delivered in respect of the arm if, once the bowler's arm has reached the level of the shoulder in the delivery swing, the elbow joint is not straightened partially or completely from that point until the ball has left the hand. This definition shall not debar a bowler from flexing or rotating the wrist in the delivery swing.

Records Held by Sachin Tendulkar

1. Highest Run scorer in the ODI
2. Most number of hundreds in the ODI 41
3. Most number of nineties in the ODI
4. Most number of man of the matches(56) in the ODI's
5. Most number of man of the series(14) in ODI's
6. Best average for man of the matches in ODI's
7 First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI
8. First Cricketer to pass 15000 run in the ODI
9. He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20 March 2007)
10. Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup
11. Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an average of 87.16
12. Most number of runs in the 2003 world cup 673 runs in 2003 Cricket World Cup, highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup
13. He was Player of the World Cup Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
14. Most number of Fifties in ODI'

Funny incidents on the cricket field cont.....

Neil McKenzie v Australia in Telstra Dome (ex Colonial Stadium) in the first ODI held there. Steve Waugh hit a cover drive off Shaun Pollack, McKenzie was at deep point and chased it, dived, normally he would of got there, except he plugged, he just stopped, and his pants fell down, and looked up with a sheepish look on his face. I wonder if he's been able to live that down in the South African dressing room?