WHAT Did You Say Stopped Play?

Book excerpt: Among the mysteries of cricket is the fact that, of all games, it acts as a magnet for amazing, eccentric, humorous and downright weird happenings. For the past quarter-century the Chronicle section of Wisden has been collecting news of cricket's strangest goings-on. This is just a selection... It's normal for rain to stop play in cricket. But that's not all: flying objects, passing dictators, animals of all kinds including a very improbable tiger – they have all had the same effect. But even when the game keeps going, cricket is a magnet for the weird and wonderful. For the past quarter-century the Chronicle section of Wisden has been collecting the most remarkable events in the game: the eccentric, the extraordinary and the excruciatingly funny. This is the cricket that reference books would normally ignore, from the village greens of England to the back alleys of Asia. This selection is about Tendulkar-worshippers and angry neighbours; about scoring a thousand and being all out for nought. There are politicians and protesters; celebs and streakers; judges and jobsworths ... and batsmen who really do murder the bowlers.