Richie Benaud meant so much to so many people, and despite his extreme modesty you know he accepted the good humour of it all. And unlike many of his contemporary ex-player-turned-commentators, you could never accuse him of being a curmudgeon.

Cricket Australia decided that the way to capitalise on the old Big Bash Trophy's progress was to shift to a model that copied elements of both the Indian Premier League and soccer's A-League when neither was necessary.

Shortly after midday on a Perth Monday afternoon, Ricky Ponting's Test career of 16 years and 362 days came to an end with this delivery from Robin Peterson:

For a third of a century, Australia’s Channel Nine has been, to use its long-running advertising slogan, Still The One for telecasting international cricket. This maybe soon to come to an end. Next March, following the end of the 2012-13 domestic Australian season, the current contract to televise Cricket Australia’s home fixtures in Australia will expire. The Nine Network, holders of those rights continuously since 1979, are currently in a battle to avoid entering administration.