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Anyone who has played rugby union at any level must surely find it laughable that, in a game where cheating is rife, can have caused such a splash - if you will pardon the pun.

Whether it is or , the technical nature of rugby union's rule book makes it a cheats' charter, whatever those who like to bang on about the sport being a would have you believe.

And how very English that when a , who has already equalled the record of six tries in one Six Nations campaign after only two matches, is unearthed, fans flock to message boards and blogs to pillory him for his arrogance.

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As a small boy I was something of a stats geek, poring over old record books in those pre-internet days and wondering how it was possible anyone could score 18 Test centuries - as my hero had - let alone the 34 had amassed. Then along came , whose figures would blow the minds of small boys - and old boys - to smithereens.

, India's 'Little Master' has scored 14,692 runs in 177 Tests, with 51 hundreds and 59 fifties, while in one-day internationals he has 17,629 runs from 444 matches, with 46 hundreds and 93 fifties.

He holds the record for most runs and tons in both formats of the game, and if Tendulkar does manage to score the three more centuries he needs to become the first man to reach 100 in international cricket, it will likely be a mark that will stand alongside until the end of time - or at least cricket as we know it. Which might not be long.

Tendulkar's feats are all the more remarkable because to achieve them it has been necessary to play at the top level for more than 20 years, in the most pressurised environment imaginable - as the signs at his home ground in Mumbai used to say: "If cricket is a religion, then Sachin is God."

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