Cricket fans in Sydney cheered themselves up after rain stopped play - by creating the world's longest ever beer snake.

The serpent - made out of plastic beer cups - made its way round the Sydney Cricket Ground during a break in play between Australia and Sri Lanka.

Mass cheers broke out around the ground when the two halves were eventually joined to completely circle the ground.

The scoreboard confirmed that the snake had broken the previous record for length, set at the WACA in 2007.

A spokesman for Cricket New South Wales said that while beer snakes were normally discouraged for safety reasons and to avoid annoying other spectators, this one was allowed because people were having so much fun.

"The atmosphere in the rain break was as good as it's ever been, people were having a good time," he said.

--Courtesy of Orange.co.uk