Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall

Hans van den Broek The central character in Joseph ONeills acclaimed 2008 novel Netherland is Hans van den Broek, a Dutchman whose attempts to make a normal life for himself in New York after the 9/11 attacks include playing cricket for the Staten Island club (which does exist: Don Bradman played there on a tour in the 1930s). In a telling line in the book, one character remarks: Theres a limit to what Americans understand. The limit is cricket.Raffles AJ Raffles, the gentleman thief, was the best-known invention of EW Hornung, who was Arthur Conan Doyles brother-in-law (this might explain why Doyle himself largely steered clear of cricket). Raffles is a talented spin bowler, who plays a lot of country-house cricket, thereby opening up many opportunities for burglary.Wilson Perhaps the ultimate comic-book hero, William Wilson the Wonder Athlete featured in The Wizard for many years from 1943. Wilson, who was apparently born in 1795 but achieved long life by slowing his heart rate down, is first seen emerging from the crowd to run the first three-minute mile. In a later series of stories he captains England to Ashes success in Australia, not long after becoming the first man to climb Everest.Pradeep Mathew A more recent addition to crickets fictional heroes is Pradeep Mathew, a mystery spinner who sets a world record in his first Test match - only to have it struck from the record books as a non-event. Mathew features in the Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilakas first novel, Chinaman, which came out last year. It is narrated by one WG Karunasena, who is convinced that unlike life, sport matters, and has a son called Garfield (named after Sobers).Mike Jackson PG Wodehouse was a keen club cricketer who played occasionally at Lords, and his humorous fiction is peppered with cricket references: Jeeves, his most famous creation, is named after a Warwickshire player, while Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright, one of Bertie Woosters dissolute chums, is said to play a spot of county cricket. But Wodehouses main cricketing invention is Mike Jackson, who features in all the Psmith novels, initially as a fine batsman, starting with a match-saving innings against MCC. Murray Hedgcock edited a book called Wodehouse at the Wicket, including more of Wodehouses cricket dalliances, which was published in 1997.Spedegue Even though he was a first-class cricketer himself - his one wicket as a bowler was that of WG Grace - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle only wrote occasionally about the game. His most famous cricketing story was Spedegues Dropper, about an asthmatic schoolteacher who practised his underarm bowling by lobbing a ball underarm over a rope hitched to two tall trees. He was summoned from village cricket to an Ashes decider and - youve guessed it - won the match. Thomas Spedegue was carried shoulder-high from the field, but was told to retire immediately by his doctors.Warwick Todd The wonders of Photoshop allowed the fictional Australian cricketer Warwick Todd to be inserted into numerous photos in a series of bestselling spoof diaries a few years ago. Todd, complete with obligatory droopy moustache and an insatiable taste for ice-cold beer, is the creation of the Aussie comedy actor Tom Gleisner. The third book, Warwick Todd Goes the Tonk, is proudly advertised as being without a foreword by Richie Benaud.Flashman The fictional bully of Tom Browns Schooldays enjoyed a lengthy comeback in the detailed historical novels of George McDonald Fraser. In these gripping yarns Harry Flashman remains a coward and a cad - but also, especially in Flashmans Lady (1977), exhibits an aptitude for cricket: he takes a hat-trick at Lords for a team of Rugby old boys, and gets drawn into dealings with a shady bookmaker. Dave Podmore A fictional cricketer with a lap-dancer wife and a psychotic dog, Dave Podmore (Leicestershire and England) was the invention of Christopher Douglas, Andrew Nickolds and Nick Newman, and his hilarious adventures first appeared in theGuardian newspaper, before being turned into books and a radio series. Pods highest Test score was 4 (an edge through the slips against Sri Lanka), while probably his proudest moment was being appointed as Australias sledging coach before an Ashes series.Doctor Who Televisions most famous time traveller sported - in his fifth incarnation - a cricket sweater. Peter Davison, who played the Doctor at the time, claimed this was his idea, after the producers asked for an item of clothing that suggested action and eccentricity. In one episode the Doctor spoils a cricket match by coming on to bowl with great success, and in another the cricket ball he permanently carried in his voluminous coat pockets saves his life: in a zero-gravity situation he throws it against a spaceship and catches the rebound, and the impetus takes him safely back to the Tardis (dont try this at home).Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyles famously ascetic detective had little time for team sports such as cricket - but many people claim that his name derives from a combination of two Nottinghamshire players, Mordecai Sherwin and Frank Shacklock (c Sherwin b Shacklock was a fairly regular scorecard entry in the late 19th century). And Holmes even cleverer brother is generally held to be named after another cricketer, the Derbyshire fast bowler William Mycroft. 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Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. Sports Jerseys From China . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover.The jumps season kicks into top gear this weekend with The Open Meeting at Cheltenham as the battle continues to be crowned Stobart Champion Jump Jockey. It takes incredible drive, determination and commitment, both on and off the track, for a rider to reach the top and this video takes a look at what they have to go through.A great deal of a jockeys time is spent doing physical exercise - riding horses in the morning as part of their training regime and riding at the races as well as running or spending time at the gym. With racecourses spread across the country they also spend a lot of time travelling to and from the races and a jump jockey will typically drive up to 70,000 miles a year in search of winners.TThis is the equivalent to driving around the equator nearly three times every year.dddddddddddd. It also amounts to nearly 1,200 hours a year in the car, which is the equivalent to 50 days.In the saddle, a jockey will jump around 7,000 obstacles (hurdles and fences) during a season - stacked on top of one another, that is almost the height of Mount Everest, while on average, a jockey will fall one in every 17 rides.Click play to watch the video and see what it takes to become Stobart Champion Jump Jockey. Also See: Barters Hill set for chase debut Ascot aim for Almanzor Racing results Racecards ' ' '