All the world's cricketers walked into a bar. The LOLs, the chatter, and the occasional mini-brawls, they were endless. And the news cycle was never the same again! Welcome to ESPNcricinfo's Social Buzz, your go-to destination for all the bantz, the jousts, and little bit of eavesdropping from the social media playground and beyond.
October 20
Tottenham Hotspur aren't having a great time of it at the moment, and they had a famous visitor for their home game against Watford on Saturday. Andre Russell walked up the tunnel to a stadium cheering at its loudest to welcome him. Kuldeep Yadav, Russell's team-mate at Kolkata Knight Riders commented with "there's hardly anyone man" with a laughter emoji to go with it.
Kuldeep's right, where is that noise coming from? It's hard to imagine anyone walking out in Spurs colours to get that loud a cheer these days!
A WBBL proposal
Amanda Jade-Wellington, the Adelaide Strikers legspinner, finished on the winning side in her team's opening WBBL match of the season…but there was another memorable part of her day still come.
As the team gathered to celebrate victory, her boyfriend, Tayler, came onto the field and proposed.
She said yes.
So, this just happened!!!
— AdelaideStrikersWBBL (@StrikersWBBL) October 19, 2019
Congrats @amandajadew and Tayler! #BlueEnergy #WBBL05 pic.twitter.com/4UzTFtHz6E
October 19
How do you combine wishing your former captain the best of luck in his new job and take a dig at your enemies/frenemies? Ask Yuvraj Singh.
Greater the man greatest the journey! Frm IndianCaptain to @BCCI president.Think it will b a gr8 insight 4 a cricketer to be an administrator & make others understand admin frm a players point of view Wish u were d president while d yoyo was in demandgood luck dadi@SGanguly99
— yuvraj singh (@YUVSTRONG12) October 18, 2019
For those who aren't up with the goss, Yuvi failed a yo-yo test and was dropped from the Indian team.
October 18
It's too soon for England to make 2019 World Cup tie jokes, right?? Waiting to see what Jimmy Neesham has to say about this low blow.
Don't forget to tie them! (Sorry)#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/jArnlzqjBm
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 18, 2019
Ellyse Perry's husband gets teased about his more talented wife
Ah the "best in the family" sledge. Cricket fans might better know it as the Mark Waugh sledge. Joking about some of his former Leicester club team-mates, Australian rugby player Matt To'omua said Ben Youngs, the England scrum-half, wasn't even the best in his family, alluding to his rugby-playing brother Tom, a hooker for Leicester. Youngs responded with: "It's funny talking about second fiddle. He's married to Ellyse Perry, so he knows my pain."
Ben Youngs returns fire.....Toomua is married to Aussie cricket star Perry...
— Jonny Fordham (@SunJonnyFordham) October 18, 2019
"He's pretty happy with himself, he sent me the video. It's funny talking about second fiddle. He's married to Ellyse Perry, so he knows my pain!" #rwc2019
Jemimah Rodrigues' hilarious Twitter AMA
Jemimah Rodrigues is the inveterate joker of the Indian women's team, that much is known. So when she decided to do an AMA on Twitter today, it was guaranteed entertainment. She first took a dig at her brother.
Error 404 good qualities not found https://t.co/l5cbkkttbl
— Jemimah Rodrigues (@JemiRodrigues) October 18, 2019
Who trolled her right back.
Go get a life man Eli =_= https://t.co/U5mfJyjNLu
— Jemimah Rodrigues (@JemiRodrigues) October 18, 2019
And then she was gently sledged by team-mate Smriti Mandhana
@JemiRodrigues Why are you always so jobless??##AskJem
— Smriti Mandhana (@mandhana_smriti) October 18, 2019
Which earned Mandhana a clap back.
Both of us are at home, both of us are on twitter, looks like we both have no work https://t.co/aPr3jzv5LR
— Jemimah Rodrigues (@JemiRodrigues) October 18, 2019
We are so here for this banter.
The Sydney Sixers make everyone cry
The WBBL kicked off today, and the first game marked the debut of five teen stars in Ellyse Perry's Sydney Sixers. In an Instagram video shared by the Sixers, the newest members of the team, Maddy Darke, Emma Hughes and Alisha Bates, were handed their jerseys before the game by their own families, and now we've all got something in our eyes.
October 17
Will and Kate play cricket in Lahore
If a tour of the subcontinent doesn't include some cricket, is it a tour at all? The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent a part of day four of their Pakistan trip at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore playing cricket with kids as well as international players, including Sana Mir, Ayesha Zafar, Urooj Mumtaz, Waqar Younis, Hasan Ali, Azhar Ali and Shaheen Afridi.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, took part in a game of cricket today on their visit to Lahore - marks out of ten for their batting efforts?
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 17, 2019
( via @TheRealPCB) pic.twitter.com/HEgZdnsyHF
Jimmy Neesham loses in another draw
New Zealand comic Tony Lyall was hosting a pub quiz a couple of days ago, with a bar tab up for grabs for the team that finished second to last. Turns out there was a familiar face among the losing teams. Here's what transpired, in Lyall's words.
I just hosted a pub quiz and there was a tie for last place. 2nd to last gets a bar tab. I went rogue and gave the team who got 3rd to last the bar tab, saying something like "sorry that's just how draws work" I looked up and @JimmyNeesh was in one of the teams that tied.
— Tony Lyall (@tony_lyall) October 15, 2019
Surely not, we hear you say, he must be mistaken. That couldn't possibly happen to Jimmy Neesham, not after everything that went down in July. Well, turns out life is endlessly cruel to Neesh, but at least he's laughing through it.
5 mid twenties athletes... Art and Literature was a bloodbath https://t.co/8VqpGCsDtg
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) October 16, 2019
Can South Africa pick Jonty Rhodes for the Ranchi Test?
South Africa aren't having a great tour of India, so when former fielding star Jonty Rhodes posted a photo of himself in SA colours for a photo shoot in Mumbai, some thought a squad change was in order. Harbhajan Singh jumped into Rhodes' Instagram comments with: "Can u play the last test in Ranchi SA need need some batting Jonty". Jonty replied: "they need much more than me!!!!"
True, at best, given his mad fielding skills, perhaps India would have scored a 100 fewer runs in Pune - which would have only reduced their margin of victory.
Jasprit Bumrah gets nostalgic
Throwback time: Jasprit Bumrah remembers his school days.
October 16
Shane Watson gets hacked thrice in one week
It's been a tough week for Shane Watson on social media as he's suffered a hat-trick of hacks to his Twitter and Instagram accounts. We won't go into the details of what was posted - it wasn't suitable for a family audience - but suffice to say Watson will want to review his passwords. After playing grade cricket in Sydney last weekend, he is now in India and, after resolving the latest hack, posted a selfie from beside a very nice waterfall. So it's not all bad.
Irfan Pathan to feature in a Tamil film with actor Vikram
Fast bowlers, even the nicest ones, have plenty of showman skills - what with all that huffing, puffing, glaring, appealing and then looking angsty when the appeal is turned down - so it isn't surprising to hear that former India quick Irfan Pathan will soon be making his debut on the silver screen. But Pathan says he was taken aback when Tamil movie director Ajay Gnanamuthu approached him to play a police officer in his next film, tentatively titled Vikram 58.
.@IrfanPathan is all set to make his acting debut in Tamil movie #ChiyaanVikram58. With Vikram in the lead and #ARRahman composing music, it didn't take much convincing to get #IrfanPathan on board, @ShayanAcharya finds out. https://t.co/oIruaFaa2q
— Sportstar (@sportstarweb) October 14, 2019
"My first question was, 'Why me?' He explained that the role suited me perfectly and that they were keen on casting me," Pathan told Sportstar.
"It's a Turkish character and, instead of scouting for someone from Bollywood, which is the usual practice here, I wanted a fresh face," Gnanamuthu told Deccan Chronicle. "I had watched Irfan Pathan's dubsmash videos and I was really impressed. So, I went and met him at his Baroda residence and stated my interest. However, he was initially shocked and asked if I was serious. He also said he didn't know anything about acting. I gave him confidence and after listening to the script, he was convinced. He also loved the role."
Incidentally, he's not the only cricketer making his big-screen debut. According to a tweet he shared a couple of days ago, Harbhajan Singh too should be coming to a theatre near you in a Tamil film called Dikkiloona, directed by Karthik Yogi. Watch out, bowlers, there's an acting bug doing the rounds.
October 15
Jimmy Neesham's Titantic reference about the World Cup final
Three months after the World Cup final was decided by boundary countback, the ICC has changed the Super Over regulations. Too late, ICC, our heart (and Jimmy Neesham's) will go on and on forever about that confusing Lord's evening.
A Titanic reference from @JimmyNeesh. What analogy can you think of?https://t.co/GraN2Pke1w pic.twitter.com/CsZBHbdQ2K
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 15, 2019
October 14
Adam Zampa explains the Junction Oval pitch
Remember that Sheffield Shield run-a-thon at the Junction Oval a few days ago? Victoria and South Australia batsmen rang up 1287 runs on a pitch that refused to deteriorate and offered up only 12 wickets. There was a lot of muttering and grumbling about how it wasn't a good look for the Shield. But perhaps no one summed it better than Adam Zampa. What was the pitch like? Swipe for answers.
Missed all the chatter last week? Catch up on it here.