The sporting week in numbers

New Zealand cricket coach Mike Hesson is hoping Muttiah Muralitharan, who claimed a world record 800 test wickets, will teach his side a few things about spin bowling. Photo / Getty Images.

APNZ take a look at the sporting week in numbers

66 - Piri Weepu has played 66 tests for the All Blacks but it wasn't enough to convince Auckland coach Wayne Pivac to include him in the side to face Canterbury in Saturday night's ITM Cup final. Weepu was released by the All Blacks to play the final but Ponsonby's Wayne Ngaluafe, a former New Zealand Under-19 representative who hasn't played all year due to a knee injury, will start on the bench instead.

13 - The All Whites will play not only their 13th international of the year but also their 13th match against China when the two sides meet in Shanghai on November 14. The principal sponsor for the match is telecommunications giants Huawei, who were accused of spying by the US Government.

800 - New Zealand cricket coach Mike Hesson is hoping Muttiah Muralitharan, who claimed a world record 800 test wickets, will teach his side a few things about spin bowling on their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Former fast bowler Chaminda Vaas has also been approached about helping out.

348.23 - The speed Auckland businessman Eddie Freeman is hoping to beat at the Ohakea Air Base this weekend to break the New Zealand land speed record.

10 - Ten players have banked more than US$2 million on this year's PGA Tour without winning a tournament. World No 1 Rory McIlroy tops the earnings with US$8.04 million - he's also on top of the European money list with 2.8 million. Oh, and McIlroy is also rumoured to have signed a US$305 million 10-year deal to be the new face of Nike. Might be his shout.

2 - The number of weeks Wallabies flanker Scott Higginbotham was banned for after kneeing and headbutting All Blacks captain Richie McCaw in Saturday's drawn Bledisloe Cup test. The lenient sentence caused considerable angst on this side of the Tasman, but some justice was delivered when Higginbotham missed out on a place on Australia's end-of-year tour.

1 - Breakers forward Mika Vukona won the ANBL's Player of the Week award for the first time in his long career after his colossal efforts (15 rebounds, 15 points, three assists, three steals and one verbal spray for his teammates) to help his side to a narrow 73-71 win over the Townsville Crocodiles last weekend.

20 - The Silver Ferns were embarrassed 48-68 by Australia in Sydney last Sunday, the first time they had been beaten by 20 goals since defeat to the same side in 2000. The Ferns hardly rebounded in style when they scraped past England 57-46 in Wellington on Thursday night.

77 - All Blacks great Sir Wilson Whineray, who played 77 times for New Zealand (including 32 tests), died in Auckland on Monday but not before watching the world record for tier one nations set by the All Blacks of the 1960s, the side he captained, remain intact with New Zealand's 18-18 draw with Australia last weekend.

3 - San Francisco slugger Pablo Sandoval became just the fourth player to hit three home runs in a single World Series game joining luminaries Babe Ruth, who did it twice, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols. The Giants won the first game of the series with the Detroit Tigers 8-3.