Is this supposed to be some sort of omen?

More high-class Super 14 analysis; Who would you rather drink with?; Should NZ's provincial rugby competition go amateur; and Dicks and Athletes of the Week.

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Here's some more of those nutty ads for the Kolkata Knight Riders:

Beware any umpire who doesn't give the right call (surely that's intimidation!)

Or any smarmy bowler (surely that's ball-tampering!)

Or anyone who think they know how to dance, the Knight Riders will step up!

I would argue that the new Kolkata cricket franchise, the Knight Riders, aren't really certain about how cricket is played.

That is unless I've got it wrong (completely possible).

Having said that they seemed to have a good grasp of the game the other night:

Somebody got to pick his own profile photo

 http://content-nz.cricinfo.com/nzveng/content/current/player/19296.html

http://content-nz.cricinfo.com/nzveng/content/current/player/18655.html

 And somebody didn't

 http://content-nz.cricinfo.com/nzveng/content/current/player/20187.html

http://content-nz.cricinfo.com/nzveng/content/player/38108.html

Probably closer to the truth than some might admit...

And Brendon McCullum goes to the nice Indian gentleman from Kolkata for USD$700,000. 

This meant that McCullum was the Kiwi who attracted the most money at yesterday's Indian Premier League player auction. Here's a quick breakdown (all prices in US dollars)

• Brendon McCullum $700,000 Kolkata
• Jacob Oram $675,000 Chenai
• Daniel Vettori $625,000 Delhi
• Stephen Fleming $350,380 Delhi

Of course our boys were no where near the top bids (even with Dan and Jake being ranked top in their respective fields).

Chennai splashed out $US1.5 million  for Indian one-day captain Mahendra Dhoni while Hyderabad paid $US1.35m for Australia's Andrew Symonds

Shane Bond must be happy with his million dollar contract though, as Aussie fast bowler and Indian crowd favourite Brett Lee only managed $900,000.

I have to say that I love this idea. Each team has $5M to spend and have obviously set their targets beforehand. It's a great extension of the American sports draft system and one that would most likely work for rugby (like the Super 14). The players can't complain they aren't being paid what they're worth but at the same time it spreads the talent.

Of course the main question is: who would you bid the most for? and if someone else bid higher, would you chase them? Discuss in the comments

"Former Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming has ended speculation and confirmed he is retiring from the New Zealand team to play for the rebel Indian Cricket League."

Ah, no, that would be the IPL.  The good one.  The ICC sanctioned one.

Nice to see two sets of stats in the same story, too.

[Update: Damn editors.  They've fixed it.  Not the stats though]

So Shane Bond is no longer a Black cap. This draws to a very premature conclusion the career of probably our most famous fast bowler. Traditionalists will howl and moan and state that Sir Richard Hadlee is easily our most famous. But I say Nay!

Bond arrived when cricket had just started to go truly global. From his honest-John policeman’s background, to his 160kph Yorker, Bond was a cricket marketers dream. But Bond was more than just a one in four million express pace bowler and a guy with a name that was easy to make catch headlines. He was a highly intelligent bowler, using his slower ball with cunning and guile and picking the perfect moment to deliver an unplayable inswinging toe-crusher. He was fortunate enough to arrive in the twilight of one of NZ’s best bowlers, Chris Cairns, and he proved a willing and highly able student. We are not just losing a highly valuable on-field weapon; we are losing an excellent strategist and coaching resource.

He will be remembered most for his utter domination of Australia. His hattrick in a Chappell/Hadlee one day game recently, his owning of the Aussies in the 2003 World Cup are only a few of the many that spring to mind. I wish him luck, and send him off with my blessing. He realises that cricket’s a fickle game and one with a very limited time at the top level particularly for a fast bowler. He is setting himself and his young family up for life, good on him.

He was our most lethal weapon. He was the difference between winning and losing. He, sometimes on his own, allowed us to remain competitive at an international level. We owe him a serious debt of thanks for the past seven years.

Sadly, due to an inept NZ Cricket management team and an equally inept batting line-up Bond’s supreme talent was wasted as injuries took their toll.

We look now to the upcoming tour by the English, the first since 2003. This statement from Stuff.co.nz today should fill me with dread. "Without Bond, New Zealand's best pace bowling hopes will rest on the shoulders of Chris Martin, Kyle Mills and Iain O'Brien, and possibly Mark Gillespie and Michael Mason. But somehow, it doesn’t.

And it’s not because I think that by some miracle, the trio of Martin, Mills, and O’Brien will scare the three lions off the chests of the English. Sadly, despite their confidence, that’s about as likely as England winning the football world cup. I’m more interested to see how our batters perform. We have the bowlers to take 20 wickets. God knows, the English don’t have the batsmen to bat for 5 days on our green seaming paddocks. But the big question is, can we score runs? Can the new opening combination of Bell (Class) and Cumming (cool name, but sadly Ass) show the fortitude necessary to bat for longer than a session? Will Fleming (Class) lead from behind the scenes (we really need him too)? Will Styris (Class) translate his domestic form to international success? Are we a batsman light with Oram (Class but why not #7) at 6? Will the Bracewell experiment of playing NZ domestic crickets 25^th ­best batsman and third best wicketkeeper (Gareth Hopkins (ass)) as a specialist batsman gain any success? What of the international future of Ross Taylor (Class)? Why do we refuse to persevere with true talent? And what of Skippy (Class? Ass? I wish we had a chance to find out)?

Too many questions, only a few of which will be answered by the end of March. We sit and wait with mild anticipation. The weather’s too fine, the beer too tasty, the summer to good to worry about the results. Enjoy the combination of it all.