Cricketers go under the hammer

New York

CHRISTIE'S, like any of the world's great auction houses, is renowned for the pace, the tension and the sense of excitement that occur when a bidding war acquires a life of its own.

Yet for Richard Madley, former president of Christie's East in New York, the high drama of arts trading has been replaced by a pioneering life: Instead of paintings and sculptures, he now auctions cricketers.