Very, very fast cricket

Weighted down with Olympic gold and silver, Jamaican sprinters Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake now appear to be searching about, like Alexander the Great in ancient times, for new worlds to conquer.

In sport, and elsewhere in life, excellence in one field does not guarantee or even promise competence in others. But plenty of people around the world would surely pay to see Bolt and Blake compete in another sport.

Now it may happen: the two have been invited to play Twenty20 cricket in Australia's Big Bash League, from December 7 to January 9. Bolt may end up with the Melbourne Stars, and Blake with the Sydney Sixers.

Jamaica loves cricket, and both men played the game in their youth and have followed it since. Bolt is modest: "I don't know how good I am. I will probably have to get a lot of practice in"; Blake is not: "I want to show you that I am better at cricket than running," he told journalists at the Olympics. "I am a really talented batsman. You guys need to see me in action."

Maybe. Few athletes can compete seriously in two or more sports, and there's no 22-yard-dash record to break. But this could be fun to watch.