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.
November 16
August 1: "I'm really excited to be joining Delhi Capitals under the new support staff, and looking forward to playing with my new team-mates"
November 15: "I'm really excited to be joining Rajasthan Royals under the new support staff, and looking forward to playing with my new team-mates"
If those lines sound familiar, from every other player trade in the history of sport, you are not mistaken. If you assume those are from two different players sticking to the same template, you wouldn't be mistaken.
Except...
Our newest member, Mayank Markande can't wait to join up with the #DC family
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) August 1, 2019
Here's what he had to say on being a part of #DelhiCapitals!#ThisIsNewDelhi pic.twitter.com/asyfTwpvND
It's the same player, Mayank Markande, who has been traded twice during the same off-season, repeating it twice, three months apart, through no fault of his own. It's the first time in IPL history a player has been passed on multiple times in a trading window.
Mumbai to Jaipur then, via a brief stopover in Delhi.
Help Brendan Taylor find his passport
November 15
Brendan Taylor and family haven't had a great year, personally. In May, the Zimbabwe cricketer's wife was mugged by four armed men just outside their house in Harare.
1) Just had an alarming situation outside my house, I was waiting for my wife's return in my driveway. I started hearing her screaming about 100m from my gate, she was getting mugged by 4 armed men. I ran outside and they sped away in red Honda Fit.
— Brendan Taylor (@BrendanTaylor86) May 14, 2019
And two days ago, Taylor himself was a victim of a smash and grab when his car was burgled at a local sports centre where he was training. The burglars made away with his phone and a pouch that had his passport. Luckily (or unluckily) Taylor isn't scheduled to play any international cricket in the near future, but he's made an appeal on social media for people to return his passport should they come across it somewhere. Help him out, will you, cricket fam?
Head off to training today to hear my car alarm going off, I rush back to find my window smashed in. Phone and pouch that had my passport in grew legs. If anyone in Harare comes across my passport that has been tossed somewhere I will personally reward them. Thanks pic.twitter.com/vnuVqaO0j0
— Brendan Taylor (@BrendanTaylor86) November 13, 2019
November 13
Ellyse Perry takes out ambulance with a six
In today's WBBL clash between the Sydney Sixers and Hobart Hurricanes, Ellyse Perry scorched an unbeaten 70, studded with four sixes. One of those sixes was lofted over the grandstand at Launceston and right into the windscreen of a St John ambulance. Here's what that six looked like.
What a way to finish as the captain sends it OUT OF THE GROUND!!#smashemsixers #WBBL05 pic.twitter.com/P3fLBv08p5
— Sydney Sixers WBBL (@SixersWBBL) November 13, 2019
And this what the ambulance looked like after.
Here's the result of that @EllysePerry
— Sydney Sixers WBBL (@SixersWBBL) November 13, 2019
Sorry, @stjohnambulance #smashemsixers #smashemwindows #WBBL05 pic.twitter.com/v8npMtr8FX
Who does an ambulance call when it needs an ambulance?
Katy Perry to perform at the Women's T20 World Cup final
There's now just a hundred days to go for the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup - last year's defending champions Australia will take on India in the opening match in Sydney on February 21. And the ICC is bringing the big guns to the final, "anticipated to be the biggest women's cricket match of all time". Arguably the biggest star roped in for a cricket event yet, pop star Katy Perry will perform at both the pre- and post-game show (presumably start with "Never Really Over" and end with "The One That Got Away"), which is aiming to set a new record for the highest attendance at a women's game - the current record is 90,185 at the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup final in Pasadena, California. Top athletes, pitched battles, a pop star… sounds like a teenage dream all right.
100 days to go!
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) November 12, 2019
There will be fireworks in more ways than one at the @ICC Women's #T20WorldCup Final, with global pop sensation @katyperry to perform LIVE
Details: https://t.co/lOtUzGOZlE
Tickets: https://t.co/k9dN2ot03n pic.twitter.com/IR3T3w04Oy
November 12
Rachael Haynes returns to playing after cat attack
Cricketers are hardly strangers to injury - plenty of them pick up ouchies on the field, and yet more are self-inflicted. Then there are those that defy cat-egorisation. Just ask the Sydney Thunder skipper Rachael Haynes, who had to sit out the last WBBL match after a foot infection. Turns out, Haynes had waded into a fight between her cat, Lily, and a stray, and had got a not-so-affectionate nip in the foot for it. Commentator (and now CA director) Mel Jones shared a tweet with a picture of Lily and the puncture wound, and the feline looks thoroughly unremorseful.
Star of @theblast_fox show 4? @RachaelHaynes cat Lily who has sidelined the skipper for a round in a cat standoff that went horribly wrong. Plus the insights of @JJonassen21 & Erin Burns on all things @WBBL. #WBBL05 pic.twitter.com/DwWajpUiMI
— Mel 'MJ' Jones (@meljones_33) November 10, 2019
Thankfully, Haynes seems to have recovered completely and will be back in today's match against the Perth Scorchers. Here's hoping she avoids any more cat-astrophes.
All-purpose sports memes
We're always here for people who see cricket everywhere and in everything.
When you've said "middle and leg" three times and the umpire still hasn't heard you...pic.twitter.com/RuH9ZIBzDg
— Gray-Nicolls (@graynics) November 11, 2019
November 11
Sachin Tendulkar is now spider-man
What has eight arms, spawns hundreds and spins a little? If you said Sachin Tendulkar, you'd be absolutely right, because the Little Master has just lent his name to a, er… little monster. According to the Times of India, Dhruv Prajapati, a junior researcher stumbled on two new species of spiders in the course of his PhD in spider taxonomy. When the time came for christening, he decided to name them after people who have inspired him, one of them being his favourite cricketer. So, world, meet marengo sachintendulkar. Does the Indian team need a new mascot?
Finally it is published after long waiting period!!
— Dhruv Prajapati (@Dhruv_spidy) November 10, 2019
Two new jumping spiders from India!
First one is Marengo sachintendulkar named after my favourite cricketer, Master Blaster @sachin_rt (The God of Cricket). pic.twitter.com/aIXBGe05qz
Ranveer Singh bats as Kapil Dev
There is no footage of Kapil Dev's iconic 175 at Tunbridge Wells during the 1983 World Cup because the BBC was on strike that day, but perhaps you can relive the magic of the innings on the big screen in the upcoming film 83, on India's unexpected World Cup victory. Actor Ranveer Singh, who plays Kapil in the movie, posted a photo of himself playing Kapil's famous shot. Does it come close to the OG?
Missed all the chatter last week? Catch up on it here.