THE TONK
It ain't cricket ... Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene gets in some round-ball practice of another kind at Bellerive on Thursday. Photo: Getty Images
The FoxKopter has been grounded. One of the heavily spruiked new innovations to Fox Sports' Twenty20 Big Bash League coverage, the mini-helicopter camera (pictured below), was conspicuous by its absence in the opening week of the tournament and there are ongoing issues, with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority delaying its launch. It turns out CASA must approve the remote-controlled device - which has to be operated by a qualified unmanned aircraft pilot - to fly over a particular area, and has baulked at allowing it to zip around above the playing field. Channel Nine was permitted to fly its version - the Dragonfly - during the third Test against South Africa in Perth, but it wasn't allowed over the WACA Ground and instead captured scenic shots of the Swan River and the ground's surrounds. The Tonk hears the brains behind the broadcaster's camera, a Perth company called Coptercam, has requested to have it operating well away from the boundary in the BBL but there are problems with that proposal, too. CASA insists on a 30-metre distance between such aerial devices and the public but to be allowed to fly over the field the camera operators will need the ''informed consent'' in document form of anyone who could be on the ground - ie, players, umpires and ground staff. The mini drones weigh about 10 kilograms and are propelled by small spinning blades. Talks continue and Fox Sports and its head of programming, Gary Burns, had hoped they may come to an agreement in time for a take-off at Saturday's BBL clash between the Melbourne Stars and the Hobart Hurricanes at the MCG. That appears at very long odds now, although Fox Sports' decision to change camera companies last week is seen as more likely to get approval than the previous firm the broadcaster had engaged. Coptercam's chief pilot Hai Tran is a qualified plane pilot as well and his company has carried out extensive risk assessment flying tests that they hope can appease CASA. The other additions to the BBL coverage this summer - notably the helmet camera, and the lit-up stumps - have hit the ground running more successfully - but Fox Sports are keen to get their new baby in the air.
AGENTS PUT TO TEST
Cricket agents around the country went back to school - theoretically anyway - on Wednesday, sitting a three-hour exam to qualify for official accreditation to represent players. Australian managers have until now operated without formal regulations but in a progressive move that mirrors other leading sports here and around the world an accreditation scheme has been established by the Australian Cricketers' Association and Cricket Australia. ''We're trying to set minimum standards for agents that they have to comply with,'' ACA chief Paul Marsh said. ''It's commonplace in sport around the world and something we've been trying to do for a few years.'' Interestingly, the new rules will not prohibit player agents from betting on cricket unlike rugby league, which banned managers from wagering on its games - at all levels - after the Ryan Tandy scandal.
EXCESS BAGGAGE
The prize for the winner of this Test series, the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy, is one of the most thoughtfully designed in cricket, featuring casts of the great spin bowlers' hands, each holding a ball they once used to rip through opposition teams. The Jetstar staff at Melbourne airport, however, did not appear to share the same appreciation for Warne and Murali. The trophy was transported to Hobart on Thursday by Cricket Australia's senior public affairs man Philip Pope but not before he was told it tipped his baggage over the limit by two kilograms. A helpful clerk then asked whether pieces of the varnished wood structure could be taken off to lighten the load. Pope, who wasn't carrying a screwdriver with him in any case, told her that probably wouldn't be the best course of action.
RISKY RENOVATIONS
One of the venues for Australia's four-Test tour of India in February and March is in danger of losing hosting rights. Concerns that renovations on Kanpur's Green Park stadium are not up to scratch could lead to the Test, scheduled to be the third in the series starting on March 14, being moved. A Cricket Australia pre-tour delegation is in India inspecting venues this week. Australia's other Tests on the tour of India are in Delhi, Chandigarh and Chennai.
IT'S A LOCKOUT
Young guns Patrick Cummins and Mitchell Marsh have been hanging out in their spare time while the Penrith quick is in Perth to help promote the Scorchers. Their season-ending injuries weren't their only problem this week, either. Marsh tweeted: ''Have locked myself and @93Cummins out of my house.. Both spare keys inside. Tough times.''
SWITCHING SIDES
David Warner is not the only one to have swapped the Sydney Thunder for the Sixers. Wests Tigers captain Robbie Farah is being ribbed for switching allegiances from west to east to follow his friend Dan Smith, who also traded electric green for magenta. Farah was in the Sixers' celebrity ''Star Club'' for last Saturday's derby, donning a pink wig. The Sixers host Perth Scorchers in a rematch of last summer's final on Sunday.
MIXED DRINKS
There was drama at the Blind World Twenty20 tournament in India this week - and it had nothing to do with the cricket. Pakistan's captain, Zeeshan Abbasi, had to be rushed to hospital after mistakenly drinking cleaning fluid left behind on a table by a staff member at the team hotel in Bangalore. The visually impaired Abbasi had thought he was drinking water not phenyl. Thankfully, he was treated in hospital and passed fit.
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