Number Crunching

42: Age of Shane Warne, whose Big Bash appearances were an overtly silly publicity stunt by a man better off in retirement.

40: Age of Brad Hogg, whose Big Bash appearances have earned him a place in the Australia T20 team.

Would You Believe It?

Too often these days new arrivals on the international scene announce themselves "ready for the challenge" and "prepared to back myself".

So hats off to two players this week who pronounced themselves frankly baffled at a call-up.

Justin Ontong can hardly believe that Justin Ontong is back in the South Africa fold:

'I was very surprised to get the call-up. Some of the guys mentioned to me that I was close to selection but I was still surprised.'

Meanwhile New Zealand newbie Sam Wells is really struggling for credibility after getting the selectors' nod:

'It took a while to convince my girlfriend that I was telling the truth.'

Modest Mice

Zaka Ashraf, PCB chief, is in no doubt who deserves the credit for the resurgent performances under Misbah-ul-Haq's shrewd leadership, underpinned by the batting style of Younis Khan and bowling genius of Sajeed Ajmal:

'The smooth functioning of the board is ultimately reflected in the performance of the team, and we are doing so well.'

It's himself, of course.

Meanwhile Shahid Afridi has his retirement plans all worked out:

'I want to retire when I feel I am at the peak of the career and have also contributed to Pakistan cricket as other legends of Pakistan cricket have done.'

Sense of Perspective, Part One

'The stock of Indian cricket is at its lowest since the match-fixing crisis of 2000.' - Ashok Malik, Hindustan Times.

Being world champions is worse than getting knocked out in the first round by Bangladesh?

Sri Lanka: The Next Generation

33: Age of Kumar Sangakkara when he stood down as Sri Lanka captain last year to make way for a younger man.

34: Age of Tillakaratne Dilshan, who then took over but resigned this week.

34: Age of Mahela Jayawardene, who has been appointed successor to Dilshan. He will be 35 in a couple of months.

A Slight Difference of Opinion

As Jamaica continue to struggle to get to grips with T20 cricket, the Gleaner highlights Marlon Samuels as typifying their inadequate batting: 'consistently puts his team under pressure by using up sometimes as many as five overs before he gets going.'

$360,000: Marlon Samuels' auction price at last week's Bangladesh Premier League auction, more than popular WI T20 exports Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, and behind only Shahid Afridi and Chris Gayle (who himself was too busy to play for Jamaica in their domestic tournament this year).

Sense of Perspective, Part Two

Daily Telegraph:, Thursday: 'Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board, has described pirate websites streaming live cricket as the "biggest danger" to the sport.'

It is awful to see bread taken from the table of the uber-rich global media behemoths who are strangling Test cricket to death.

But is it worse than betting-related corruption?

Finger, Pulse

The Guardian, Thursday: 'Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness was revealed this week as an unlikely cricket nut.'

Last March: Cricket365 Media Column notes McGuinness' growing profile as an unlikely cricket fan. Far from a revelation, this has been well-known for many years. But he is talking about more regularly since there is political capital in it, i.e. since (all-island) Ireland beat the Evil Brits at the World Cup.

The Guardian may also be surprised to hear that McGuinness was in the IRA.

Missed This At The Time

'He is officially 34, but in giving his real age away at a press conference after winning the World T20 in 2009, he is actually 36.' - Younis Khan is interviewed and outed as "doing a Dolly" by Osman Samiuddin in The National.

Misleading Headline of the Week

'George Bailey appointed Australia captain.' - Disappointingly it turns out not to be James Stewart's character in It's a Wonderful Life.

Though he would be an inspirational and selfless on-field leader. And he scored as many 50s as the Tasmanian in the BBL this year.

Worst Headline of the Week

'Spin king Swann: I'll stay as star turn' - The Sun on Graeme Swann's determination not to be usurped by the returning Monty Panesar.

Quotes from Swann in the piece: none whatsoever.

Pretty standard form for Sun Sport you might say, but a pretty poor showing when Swann is their star cricket columnist.

Rumour of the Week

'Fear and loathing eating away at the heart of the MCC, the game's most exclusive club.' - the Daily Telegraph follows the Private Eye in unveiling a full-blown row on the future of Lord's.

Who would you rather side with - Johnny Major and a leading QC, or Tim Rice and a former Barclays chief exec? #hobsonschoice

* Seen something that belongs on this page? Think Giles Clarke is a bigger threat to the game than online piracy? Cannot believe you have been called up to your national team and/or made captain of Sri Lanka? Email us at crciket@365.co.za.