Malinga among "Sexiest Men in Cricket"

COLOMBO: They were not good enough with the bat or the ball and now it turns out that the Men in Blue are not good looking enough either to feature in a 'Sexiest Men in Cricket' poll.

Neither did Mahendra Singh Dhoni's long locks, nor Rahul Dravid's charming looks impresse the fans, who, instead, chose Sri Lankan slinger Lasith Malinga for his blond-streaked hair and tattooed arms, in a contest conducted by a Barbados magazine.

"With his eye-catching, blond-streaked curly hairdo, eyebrow ring and tattooed biceps, the unique 23-year-old strikes 'Easy' as the type who would be up for anything, and anywhere," was how the magazine described the flamboyant pacer, a local daily said on Tuesday.

With a disarming smile, charming New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori is almost a regular in such lists and this was no different as the bespectacled spinner made it ahead of the awe-inspiring pacer Shane Bond.

English slam-banger Kevin Pietersen and West Indian Chris Gayle may have touched a low with batting during the mega-event but scored high on the glamour quotient.

The duo, along with newest Australian pacer Shaun Tait, completed the list.

Meanwhile, the blue-eyed boy of English cricket Andrew Flintoff, last seen drowning his sorrows at a pub following his team's World Cup exit in the Super Eight stage, may have fallen from grace after making headlines for binge drinking but continues to be popular for his good looks.

Retired West Indian skipper Brain Lara and South African pacer Makhaya Ntini also got honourable mentions.