Miserly with runs, but generous with autographs: there's a reason Big Bird is a kids' favourite Kevin Solness / © Fairfax Media/Getty Images

Who doesn't love an autograph from their favourite cricketer? Selfies may have now overtaken autographs as the preferred medium for documenting encounters with famous celebrities, but the signature, or if you're lucky, a message from a sportsperson you've long admired remains a treasured possession. How many of the kids in the photo above would have had Joel Garner's signature framed and hanging above their mantlepiece as adults?

Would fans be allowed to run onto the field with sharp objects today? In the photo below Garry Sobers finds the time to sign kids' notebooks even as he tries to outrun a pitch invasion.

Titch invasion: or are the kids getting a talking to from Sir Garry? © PA Photos

Alas, the closest some fans will get to cricketers now is through layers of security and a chicken-wire fence. But, to paraphrase Jeff Goldblum, "life… uh, finds a way".

Autograph-seekers' love knows no boundaries, and Barbara Daniels reciprocates it Craig Prentis / © Allsport/Getty Images

Or you play the long game and wait for them to write a book, then spend hours queuing up to get an autographed copy but time runs out just before you get to the head of the line.

"That's very nice Athers, but shouldn't it read 'best' and not 'pest' wishes?" Adam Davy / © EMPICS/Getty Images

Then there's the poor players' point of view, for whom with great power comes great wrist-ponsibility.

Matthew Hayden and Andy Bichel risk repetitive-stress injury signing stacks upon stacks of memorabilia licensed by the Australian cricket board Darrin Braybrook / © Allsport/Getty Images

Okay, so fans didn't always have pen and paper on them even in the past, but they improvised, in creative ways. Did the woman below get her autograph? It remains a mystery.

Shane Warne isn't thrown by this googly

The problem with autographs on body parts is that they're prone to get basted in sweat, tears and beer, and will wash off if you eventually decide to take a shower. What do you do if you want it to last a lifetime?

A fan shows off a tattoo of Sachin Tendulkar's autograph Marty Melville / © Getty Images

Do identical twins have identical signatures? A lucky bunch of fans had the opportunity to find out.

Two for the prize of one: a bunch of kids surround Alec and Eric Bedser at the Waverley Oval in Sydney in 1955 Martin James Brannan / © Fairfax Media/Getty Images

What did most of us get when we shattered a window playing cricket in the neighbourhood? A scolding if you were lucky, a hiding if not, and a lifetime ban from playing there again if your neighbour was the Grinch. Not so for proper cricketers, though - smash a window, get a commemorative plaque, most likely.

A warning to journalists? Rovman Powell leaves his mark on a press-box window Julian Herbert / © ICC/Getty Images

And it isn't just cricketers who are celebrities. England's club mascots have their own fan club.

Surrey mascot Kenny Kennington is dogged by a fan © PA Photos/Getty Images

Who makes heroes out of cricketers? The fans, of course. So it stands to reason that superfans are recognised nearly as much as the cricketers they revere.

Sachin Tendulkar superfan Sudhir Gautam finds out that being a superfan comes with its own responsibilities Dibyangshu Sarkar / © AFP/Getty Images

Do cricketers give other cricketers autographs?

On the opening day of the third Test at The Oval in 1982, Sunil Gavaskar, fielding at silly point, found himself in the firing line of an Ian Botham square cut. The ball caught Gavaskar on the left shin, snapping his tibia and reducing him to a spectator for the rest of the match. When the two caught up later, Botham signed the cast on Gavaskar's leg.

Then there are times when cricketers turn fans.

Left hook, line and sinker: Muhammad Ali signs autographs for the West Indies players in the Lord's dressing room in 1966 © PA Photos/Getty Images

Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

 

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