It certainly is the best seat in the house, but sitting close to the boundary of a cricket field does not necessarily ensure you would have a good time watching the match. Cricket is like a religion in India. An unusual game, that goes on all day even through lunch and tea. Naturally then, covering this game in India is like covering it nowhere else in the world.

At least four hours before a match, photographers start out for the stadium, winding through noisy, mile-long lines. The lines of spectators are so long that one wonders if the last man actually gets to see the full match.

Security is often difficult. Parking passes are virtually impossible to get. So there’s little else a photographer can do, but walk along crowded dusty paths carrying heavy equipment. Certainly not a good thing for the faint-hearted!

It was no different at the India-Australia one-day match in Vadodara. The intense bag-checking by the police at several places made getting into the stadium an adventure sport by itself. Undeterred, spectators thronged the stadium well before the game. A glimpse of the players during pre-match practice was all it took to drive them into a tizzy. The cheering in the stadium is so loud that all laws on noise levels seem to be breached. Only the law of the willow prevails.

Photographers too go into a tizz when players appear, albeit for a different reason. When players practice in front of photographers, a straight or cover drive or a throw from a fielder sends us scurrying for cover too. Lenses get hit, laptops take a rap. Recently a photographer got hit on his head by a jet-paced-ball from an Australian cricketer. He  was lucky to come away with only minor injuries.

Such escapades happened at Nagpur too, but here, the photographers protested. Most Indian cricketers comply with photographer requests not to practice in front of them. But some young ones prefer to practice in front of the lenses. After several hits to man and machine, a confrontation ensued between players and shooters, and organizers intervened to prevent fisticuffs.

But it’s not always brotherhood and camaraderie among photographers. On smaller grounds, fights break out over a scarce resource - the right spot. Tempers usually subside when the first ball is bowled and lenses are trained on players. The game rolls on under the beating sun, giving us a taste of the warm nay hot country. Water becomes scarce at some venues, so does food. These are available in the press room,  often a winding walk or climb away, but photographers (especially us with news-agencies) usually don’t have the luxury of time to go there.

Not scarce though, are emotions running high. When the men-in-blue (Indian players) hit a shot, or a visiting player is dismissed, the stadium erupts as possibly the noisiest place in India. Turning a deaf ear to the noise, keeping one eye on the game, and the other on the laptop, is challenging. It’s like a circus, a modern-day gladiatorial game, involving sports-persons and photographers battling heat and thirst, dust and deadlines.

For hours players slug it out with bats and balls and we with our lenses and laptops. Finally the match ends, with a non-stop deafening roar from the crowd after an Indian victory or a deafening silence after the home-team’s defeat.

The departure of fans is no less chaotic than their arrival. Crowds are not enthusiastic to leave till the last player has left the stadium in the team bus, waving to them, that is if any were visible from behind the curtains. Now that’s extracting value for ticket-money!

After the crowds disperse, photographers leave too, clean-bowled by the time we reach our hotels or homes. All that’s left now is to dip into some curry, put our feet up and call it a day. Howzatt! for some curry and cricket?

Ricky Rubio is the one that got away from the NBA. The number five draft pick opted to spend another year or two in Spain rather than join the Minnesota Timberwolves and FC Barcelona are understandably elated to have got him.

Click the video above to see Rubio celebrate his 19th birthday by helping Barcelona demolish Fenerbahce in the Euroleague. We also take a look at Jenson Button’s homecoming after his Formula 1 world title victory, and why batsmen the world over should be glad a certain Usain Bolt opted for track and field over cricket.

Back next week, same time same place, for more.

Usain Bolt has long said that his first sporting love was cricket and earlier this year he caused a stir at Sabina Park in Jamaica when he turned up for the first test match against England. But, until Sunday, no-one knew if the fastest man in the world was any good with a bat or ball in his hand.

Bolt was invited to play in a charity tournament organised by West Indies opening batsman and fellow Jamaican Chris Gayle and according to some of the players I talked to had been talking a good game before putting his pads on.

The triple Olympic and world champion, was an opening batsman and opening bowler with his high school, before his father persuaded him to focus on track and field, but his lack of time at the crease was evident in his first few shots as he played and missed at former West Indies paceman Courtney Walsh.

But when Gayle, who has used his off-spin regularly at international level, came on, Bolt had the capacity crowd at the Kaiser Sports Ground on their feet as he took a stride down the track and smashed Gayle for a straight six.

The enthusiastic crowd were disappointed when Bolt got out shortly afterwards for 13 but they had no idea what was to come when the double world record holder got hold of the ball.

Coming in off a full run, Bolt gave Gayle a true West Indian welcome with a sharply rising bouncer that had another quickie from the past Curtly Ambrose, roaring with laughter.

Gayle got some revenge with a sweet six of his own but then came the moment that those present would have spent their evenings talking about — Bolt clean bowled Gayle, as you can see in the video above.

Bolt is never one to shy from a bit of theatre and escorted Gayle towards the pavilion, pointing out the way back.

So yes, Usain Bolt doesn’t just make running world record times look easy, he can turn up after years without playing and bowl out one of the world’s top cricketers.

And in an exclusive interview with Reuters, Bolt, who says he wants to get some time to chill out after his two record-breaking years, says he is looking forward to playing more…. soccer.

I wouldn’t bet against him being a pretty decent striker, would you?

Well, cricket’s Champions Trophy is over and we’ve learned some new things while some age-old truths remain, namely number 1 in my list.

1. Australia are the best one-day side
If ever there was any doubt, the Aussies reaffirmed their power by beating New Zealand in Monday’s final. Their key asset is strength in depth. This time it was Shane Watson who won the game with a century but it could so easily have been someone else with bat or ball. Tim Paine impressed.

New Zealand missed injured captain Daniel Vettori badly while other sides are too reliant on one or two players. Graeme Smith did his utmost for South Africa but the hosts went out early and crowds understandably suffered.

2. A shorter tournament format works better
After the long, long World Cup in the West Indies in 2007, administrators may finally have cottoned on to the fact that cricket fans want short, sharp tournaments. South Africa was a success because of two groups of four, two semis and a final.

3. Playing on just two grounds is a good idea, but careful with those pitches
Shuttling between Centurion and the Wanderers cut travel times and costs for players and fans alike but alternating all the wickets was tough and some skippers moaned about their quality. How much does it matter in one-day cricket?

4. England play better when not under pressure
Two shock wins for England at the start of the tournament when everyone expected them to lose. As soon as people started talking about a surprise triumph, they fell away.

5. West Indies dispute might never end
Cricket needs West Indies to be at least able to win one in five games but there seems to be little chance of that at the moment with the contract dispute still raging and top players not competing.

A resolution is needed soon to save part of cricket’s wonderful history.

Before I was based here in Italy, I reported on quite a lot of cricket including the 2004 Champions Trophy and the 2007 World Cup.

Being out here, where Italian friends often confuse cricket with hockey or golf, means I completely missed the start of this year’s Champions Trophy.

It passed me by mainly because it is a very incongruous tournament — a bit like soccer’s Confederations Cup. It has all the big teams but pales in comparison with the World Cup and after a few weeks you often can’t remember the winner. 

With the success of Twenty20, many in the blogosphere had questioned whether the 50-over Champions Trophy should be scrapped altogether. What’s the point in having a 50-over World Cup, a 50-over Champions Trophy and a T20 World Cup?

With cricket having only eight top international teams, there is little to distinguish the Champions Trophy amid a general overload of one-day cricket.

So far, however, the first half of the Champions Trophy in South Africa (after the competition was switched from Pakistan on security grounds) seems to have been a roaring success.

The best thing about it is the format. Very simple and not a Super Six, Super Eight or minnow in sight. Two groups of four which each team playing three matches before the semis and a final.

Although island-hopping in the West Indies in 2007 was fun (even on little propeller planes), the World Cup just lasted far too long with too many pointless matches — especially as we all knew Australia would win anyway.

If England (who amazingly have won their first two matches) or Australia make the Champions Trophy final they will have played less games than in their recent ODI series where the Aussies won 6-1.

Another great feature of the Champions Trophy is that they are using only two grounds — Centurion and the Wanderers in Johannesburg.

This limits the travelling and cost for fans and teams with the groundsmen the only people who need to get stressed having to prepare alternate pitches every other day.

The results have also been far from predictable with England flourishing, powerful hosts South Africa being knocked out and Pakistan beating India.

Perhaps the death of the Champions Trophy was greatly exaggerated.

PHOTO: England’s Owais Shah plays a shot during their surprise Champions Trophy win against South Africa at Centurion, Sept. 27, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

Andrew Flintoff’s decision to forego a contract with England and set himself up as an elite cricket freelancer has provoked a fair amount of grumbling in the media, with words like “mercenary” and “snub” being bandied about all over the place.

But whether you consider Flintoff’s decision ungrateful or not, consider for a moment whether it might not work out to England’s advantage.

As others have said, there’s nothing really new in Flintoff’s decision to go it alone. Other cricketers have made themselves available as players for hire in different parts of the world over a season.

The difference here is that Flintoff has made it clear that he is still available to play for his country at one-day international and Twenty20 level … and looking at the country’s recent results, how they need him.

According to recent media reports, the thought of having such a talented and marketable cricketer as Flintoff in their ranks has already drawn interest from teams in Australia and South Africa.

Fitness permitting, he will be on the auction block for the Indian Premier League and as long as his knees hold up he could follow the sun, playing some games for England (he has his eye on returning for the tour of Bangladesh early next year) and more for cash-rich teams around the globe.

Is there anything wrong with what Flintoff is doing?

It’s hard to think of an equivalent in another sport. David Beckham came to Europe to play a few months at AC Milan after his season in MLS was over. That was specifically to keep Beckham in condition to play for England, but Flintoff might make the same argument, as he looks to carry on until the 2011 World Cup.

While there may be dangers, won’t playing in all these high-profile, high-pressure tournaments make him a more effective performer for his country? Might England even consider that they could do with more players taking the freelance route — getting as much experience at the business end of matches around the world? 

Wouldn’t that make them more effective performers when they pull on the England pyjamas?

PHOTO: Andrew Flintoff celebrates after dismissing Australia’s Peter Siddle during the second Ashes test at Lord’s, July 20, 2009. REUTERS/Kieran Doherty

It can be a dog’s life being a cricket captain: adored and cherished, chastised and deplored in equal measure. If Ponting was the crown prince of captains after the first test in Cardiff, he became the pauper at Lord’s and is now very much in the shadow of Strauss at the Oval.

The second day of the final and deciding Ashes test could not have gone much better for the England captain, with the home side bundling Australia out for 160 inside 53 overs and closing day two on 58 for 3, a second innings lead of 230 after England were bowled out for 332 earlier in the day.

Strauss showed his cool when Australia reached 73 without loss and cunning in choosing the right bowlers, at the right time, to turn the tide of the match.

With England’s first innings total looking under pressure just after the Lunch break, despite some good bowling, Strauss turned to the enigmatic Stuart Broad to break the opening partnership of Shane Watson and Michael Katich.

Within 6 balls the Notts youngster duly obliged and a very un-Australian collapse began. From 73 for no loss, the tourists lost 10 wickets for 87 runs.

Strauss stuck with Broad and two overs later the Australian captain was on his way back to the dressing room, closely followed by Mike Hussey for a duck to the same man.

Enter danger man Michael Clarke. Strauss allows the Australian to first drive through extra cover for four. Then the England captain slyly manoeuvres the field and places Jonathan Trott at short extra. Low and behold, the next delivery Clarke obliges and drives a Broad delivery straight into Trott’s cavernous hands.

Marcus North is the next Australian down the ramp and Strauss brings on off-spinner Graeme Swann. Strauss allows North one delivery without a second slip, then just before the second delivery he casually inserts a fielder in that slip position.

A delay and an ostentatious shuffling of the field takes North’s mind off the next delivery and he misses a straight ball and is given out lbw. Katich follows soon after, again to Swann, as pressure mounts with wickets falling and suddenly Australia went from looking menacing at the crease to staring a big defeat in the face.

The day finished in much the same manner for the England captain, unbeaten on 32, despite losing three colleagues, and walking off the Oval pitch with shoulders as broad and proud as the day is long.

A special mention for the glove work of wicket keeper Matt Prior, whose keeping has come on keeps and bounds since a dreadful tour of the West Indies, and he was rewarded with a stunning catch off Mitchell Johnson standing up to the stumps to the bowling of Swann.

Broad finished with 5 wickets for 37 runs of 12 overs and again credit to Strauss for sticking with his underfire gem, when many commentators were calling for him to be dropped. People have short memories.

But are England now in a position to win the Ashes?

PHOTO: Stuart Broad (C) of England celebrates with teammates Andrew Strauss (L) and Matthew Prior (R) after he gets the wicket of Michael Clarke of Australia during the fifth Ashes test cricket match against Australia at The Oval in London August 21, 2009. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Heard the one about the English batsmen who just couldn’t resist nibbling at balls way outside off stump? It is an all too common occurrence and is the main reason why England fell short of a good first innings total in the deciding Ashes test.

Of course, flashing away outside the off-stump isn’t just a disease to afflict English batsmen, although the problem does appear to be more acute on these shores than any where else.

It’s an epidemic that has spread with the invention and subsequent proliferation of one-day cricket, which encourages the batsman’s need to dominate and unsettle the opposition’s bowlers.

The difference in test cricket is that the bowler is not required by the laws to bowl such a tight line around the stumps and therefore has more weapons in his armoury.

Five of the eight dismals to fall on day one were through players playing loosely outside the off stump. Of the five two can be offered impunity.

Captain Andrew Strauss was undone by a ball which inexplicably held its line instead of swinging in to the left-hander.

And Alastair Cook was delivered a ball that was so close to off stump that had he left it he may well have been listening to the lugubrious sound of the death rattle milliseconds later.

In saying that, Cook’s technique will always leave him more susceptible to nicking one from the right-hander bowling across his bows. Whereas Andrew Straus plays with a straight bat down the line of off stump, Cook plays with an open face and pushes out rather than down the pitch and therefore is guiding the ball directly to the gluttonous slip cordon.

He can learn a lot from his captain.

England’s plight is exacerbated by the profligacy when it comes to going on and scoring big hundreds, just one in the series so far, which brings us to Ian Bell.

He was England’s top scorer yesterday, yes, but he’s now had 32 innings batting at number three for England and has yet to register a century and that includes playing against teams of far less calibre than Australia. It is not good enough and exposes what many see as a mental weakness.

Say what you like about Ravi Bopara, but he scored two centuries in his first two innings in that position.

England’s bowlers will need to be on top of their game if they are to wrestle the initiative back their team’s way.

PHOTO: Andrew Flintoff of England misses the ball during the fifth Ashes test cricket match against Australia at The Oval in London August 20, 2009. REUTERS/Toby Melville

In the end the England selectors kept their calm, remaining cut off from the hyperbole that followed Australia’s demolition of the home side at Headingley, and made just the one change for the Oval, with Jonathan Trott chosen to replace Ravi Bopara in England’s fragile middle order.

Personally, I would have been happier to see Kent’s Rob Key getting a recall for his experience and proven grace under pressure, but given Trott was in the squad for the fourth test, it would have smacked of vacillation from the selectors not to stick with him. As it was, Ricky Ponting described Trott’s promotion as an act of desperation.

So, the South African born hitter gets his chance at number five and he must now show he can handle the burning intensity of making his England debut in a deciding Ashes test.

Trott’s inclusion means Ian Bell, who must surely be in the last chance saloon, is nudged back up to number three in the batting order, with Collingwood taking the number four sport.

I hope he proves me wrong but Bell had the best part of two years trying to conquer the number three position, against far inferior opposition, and has done nothing since his recall to suggest he has overcome his demons.

Flintoff should be fit to strengthen the batting and the bowling, leaving Strauss to choose between Steve Harmison and Graham Onions for the final bowling spot.

No such worries for Ponting whose bowling unit finally gelled at Headingley, while the batting has been a definition of defiance throughout.

His headache will be whether to stick with the same four bowlers that destroyed England in their last outing or recall one or both of Brett Lee and Nathan Hauritz. If I were Ponting, if fully fit, I’d pick Lee in place of Peter Siddle. Lee’s mastery of the late reverse swing is thing of beauty and surely too much for the captain to resist.

As ever at the Oval, whichever team wins the toss, even if it’s been raining for forty days and nights and Noah is sailing by in his Arc, you bat first, take advantage of rich batting conditions over the first two days and bowl last on a deteriorating pitch. Or so goes the theory.

It’s going to be a hell of a finale but which team do you think has what it takes to win the 2009 Ashes?

PHOTO: England’s Andrew Flintoff kicks a football during a training session before the fifth Ashes cricket test match against Australia at the Oval in London August 19, 2009. REUTERS/Philip Brown

Andrew Strauss had a bad start to his day when he and his team mates were evacuated from their hotel at 5 o’clock in the morning because of a fire alarm. Unfortunately, that was just the start of a black Friday for the England captain.After days of assessing the fitness of Andrew Flintoff, Strauss and coach Andy Flower finally decided that the inspirational all-rounder could not be risked in a five-day match and it was announced that he was ruled out of the fourth Ashes test.

Strauss took part in a game of soccer on the Headingley outfield and watched in horror as wicketkeeper Matt Prior collapsed with a back spasm before retiring gingerly to the dressing-room for treatment.

Fortunately, Prior made a rapid recovery and Strauss’s day then appeared to take a turn for the better when he won the toss and chose to bat. He strode out confidently with his opening partner Alastair Cook looking to build a huge first-innings total and take charge of the match.

But having survived a huge appeal for lbw off Ben Hilfenhaus’s first delivery of the game, Strauss looked out of sorts and he lasted just 17 balls and three runs before edging Peter Siddle to Marcus North at third slip.

A rare failure in the series and Strauss returned to the dressing-room hoping to watch his team mates take responsibility but he watched in disbelief as the Australian seamers took advantage of favourable conditions to leave England in tatters at 72-6 at lunch. Suddenly it looked a very good toss to lose as Ricky Ponting would almost certainly have batted first had he won it.

Strauss watched the start of the afternoon session from the balcony outside the dressing-room and things did not improve as Graeme Swann, Steve Harmison, James Anderson and Graham Onions joined the procession. Around nine and a half hours after emerging bleary-eyed into the Leeds dawn, Strauss’s nightmare was complete.

PHOTO: England’s Andrew Strauss leaves the field after being caught for 3 during the first day of the fourth Ashes cricket test match against Australia at Headingley, August 7, 2009. REUTERS/Philip Brown