The four greatest mysteries in international cricket

Ah yes, cricket. That most benign of all sports. That keen contest of calm. The very embodiment of tranquil athleticism. The high-water mark of serene sportsmanship. A game for gentlemen and elegant ladies. A contest that pauses for tea.

And yet, unbeknownst to all but a small, secret, ancient brotherhood - who call themselves The Jackson Five - cricket is, in fact, full of arcane symbols, secret signs and ancient mysteries. Hiding in plain view, amid scores, logos, stadium architecture and cricket literature are a plethora of mysteries, secrets and spells that have captivated investigators for centuries.

What do these symbols mean? What do these secrets hide from the world? Will we ever truly understand the symbological implications of international cricket? Only time will tell.

But as we wait for time to file a response to our query, this author would like to present a selection of five of the most shocking cricketing secrets that millions of fans have seen… but not "seen".

But I warn you, you will never look at cricket the same way again.

Mysterious Secret no. 1: Don Bradman's average
Donald Bradman is undoubtedly one of the greatest souls to ever have strode onto a cricket pitch. His achievements are without parallel. Generations of players have had their performances compared to the Don's.

And yet, Bradman's final innings was a damp squib. He was bowled second ball by Eric Hollies for a duck. Bradman, who retired after this Test, only needed four runs for a career Test average of 100. Instead he finished with 99.94.

Harmless enough so far?

But turn Bradman's average upside down and read back to front and what do you get? A broken cross shape, followed by 666: the number of the beast.

Coincidence? Maybe. But when you put this together with the fact that "Bradman b Hollies" is an anagram of "I'm born bad as hell"…

Gasp. Who was the Don really?

Mysterious Secret No. 2: The Lord's slope
The Lord's Cricket Ground is widely known as the home of cricket. There is no greater honour for an international cricketer than to score a century or take five wickets on the hallowed turf.

But oddly enough there is a peculiar, and very famous, quirk to the Lord's pitch. It slopes precipitously in one direction, from the Warner Stand in the north-west to the Mound Stand in the south-east. The slope is so sharp that is substantially deviates the path of the ball when it is bowled by non-Indian bowlers.

But why does the most important cricket ground in the world tolerate this? When millions of pounds have been spent to refurbish every other conceivable aspect of the ground, why does this slope remain?

Authorities at Lord's say that this is a traditional aspect of the ground and must never be changed.

They lie. In fact, there have been rumours for decades that the slope at Lord's is part of an ancient global network of signs and symbols.

Is it just coincidence that if you take a map and draw a straight line from the Giant's Causeway in Ireland, a place of great ancient mystery and paranormal experience, through to Loch Ness in Scotland, yet another place of great ancient mystery and paranormal experience, down to Lord's Cricket Ground, and then back to the Giant's Causeway - mysterious, as mentioned above - you form a triangle that points, in the exact same direction as the slope, to a village near Rome. And Rome is home to… exactly! The Vatican!

And that is not all. One of the most famous architectural elements at Lord's is the weather vane called Old Father Time. And what is the Italian translation of Old Father Time?

Exactly! Tempo Antico Papa!

Pope. Stonehenge. Antiquity. Lord.

Oh my god.

What lies beneath that slope? Will we ever know? Or is that a question mere mortals will never figure out?

Mysterious Secret No. 3: Bermuda logo
Bermuda is a tiny country in the north Atlantic Ocean of moderate cricketing abilities. Unlike some of their accomplished neighbours to the south-west in the Caribbean, the Bermudians have never really been a cricketing force. Their moment in the sun came in 2007, when they qualified for the cricket World Cup.

Bermuda did very poorly, of course. The highlight of their World Cup came when Dwayne Leverock, one of the largest men to ever play international cricket, took a blinder of a diving catch to dismiss Robin Uthappa. Since then, Bermuda have struggled to reach those heights.

So far, so good. But look closely at the logo of the Bermuda Cricket Board. Look at it closely, and if you have a nose for the arcane, you will immediately spot the chilling secrets. First of all the crossed bats form an unmistakable "X marks the spot"-type symbol. Secondly the red cricket ball looks like a bullet hole that has missed the centre of the logo.

All of which could be blamed on coincidence. But then look closely at the space below the crossed bats. What do you…? EXACTLY. A triangle.

Bermuda. Triangle. Gunshots. X marks the spot. You don't need me to tell you the implications of this "coincidence".

Mysterious Secret No. 4: The World Cup Kapil photo
I have saved the most blood-curdling cricket secret for last.

The year 1983 was a landmark one for Indian cricket. It was that year that India lifted the World Cup in London, against all odds, and became world champions. Right up to the final, the odds were mostly stacked against India. And somehow Kapil Dev's men were able to prevail against a star-studded West Indies.

Moments later a blabbering Kapil lifted the World Cup on the Lord's balcony with a trademark toothy grin. A photograph that is imprinted on every Indian's soul.

But look carefully and you will see two mysterious apparitions. First, just by Kapil's left shoulder is a fuzzy, disembodied hand. Whose hand is that? A spirit? A guardian angel? A phantom?

But what is even more chilling is the strange face under the trophy. Look closely under the base of the World Cup, and you will see nothing but a pale face with two lifeless eyes. They look at the viewer, piercing into the depths of our being. They are clearly not smiling. Shudder.

Who does that disembodied hand belong to? And who or what do those eyes belong to? Does anybody know? Or did they just appear on the photo? Does Kapil know?

The spine tingles.