He writes, “Slim dumps a small pile of powder on the coffee table. He cuts it, snorts it. He cuts it again. I snort some. I ease back on the couch and consider the Rubicon I’ve just crossed. There is a moment of regret, followed by vast sadness. Then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I’ve never felt so alive, so hopeful – and I’ve never felt such energy. I’m seized by a desperate desire to clean. I go tearing around my house, cleaning it from top to bottom. I dust the furniture. I scour the tub. I make the beds.”
Is it something about autobiographies that makes people see red every time a high-profile personality comes out with a work on his/her life? Former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist had rubbed many shoulders the wrong way when he came out with his book early this year. Thankfully, Gilly did not have any dirty details about his exploits off the field and only had myriad ones on it. Agassi on the other hand, has many juicy details to share to the reader.
While some say that these worms are coming out of Agassi’s bag to help the book sell well. Named ‘Open: An Autobiography’ —the book is priced at $31.99 and has surely opened up many questions regarding the integrity of Agassi and not surprisingly Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had expressed displeasure and shock at the revelations.

The man for the T&T was Kieron Pollard who first blasted a 14-ball 31 that included a boundary and four sixes to shore up the total, and then flung himself on the mid-wicket boundary to pull off an outstanding catch to dismiss the dangerously shaping Gilchirst to push the hosts literally out of the match and the tournament.
With wickets falling at a constant pace, it was too much of an ask from the lower-middle order and then failed to fire. With 9 needed off the final over, Dwayne Bravo varied his pace beautifully and ensured that the Chargers finished second-best in the night.

For example, IPL-2’s success overshadowed the first edition of the premier tournament.
Is this a change of the world order? Absolutely. While no one is debating on whether Tests or ODIs have become too boring but the issue to deal is the growing concern to spice up these formats of the game. By this, I do not mean the introduction of cheerleaders, as that would just mean following the Twenty20 route.

To draw crowds to a Test or a ODI, the organisers need to look at innovative ways and that could possibly include reducing the overs or bringing in the night element. Yes, boards such as Cricket Australia are mulling the idea of night cricket for long and are even testing pink balls to suit the conditions which matches will pose.
However, players both current and former ones are of the view that Test cricket should not be meddled around with. Former Australian star Adam Gilchrist who captains the Deccan Chargers feels that Test cricket is the ultimate form of the game and has such a rich heritage.
But, at the end of the day, the game can’t move ahead without tweaking the format to bring in the fun element.

Now, fun element could mean someone handpicked from the crowd—to give commentary on the game or better one lucky winner from a contest (just a hypothetical solution this!) conducted randomly could mean that the player of that particular day would get to meet and have a photograph clicked with him.
Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar had remarked that school children must be given free tickets. Point taken! But, not many school authorities would take the initiative to bring the children to the grounds and also — a Test or a one-dayer will mean that the toddlers will have to be out for one full day. Now, that really looks unlikely.
Also, a unique way of promoting the ODIs and Tests could mean bringing in IPL teams not just playing Twenty20s but also Test or ODI cricket. I know, writing this piece will raise a lot of eyebrows but a little thought on the part of the ruling cricketing bodies of the world can make things much greener — much the grounds.

The Somerset side started off well with Marcus Trescothick and skipper Justin Langer but Trescthick was dismissed by R.P. Singh for 14 and RP then accounted for Zander De Bruyn for 19 before Langer was dimissed to a good catch by Venugopal Rao for 19. Somerset 51 for 3 after six overs. Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist then Pragyan Ojha and Rohit Sharma from the two ends. Kieswetter was the next to go caught Harmeet Singh bowled Pragyan Ojha for just 5. Somerset 59 for 4 in the 9th over. At the halfway mark, Somerset were 71 for 4, needing 83 off the last 60 balls. Peter Trego was the next man to go at 12 caught by RP off T.Suman to reduce Somerset to 84 for 5 in 11.3 overs. It became 93 for 6 in 13 overs with Suppiah dismissed caught by Styris off Ojha for 19. It was soon seven down when Suman removed Phillips for 5 caught by Symmo to leave Somerset at 99 for 7. Last 36 balls required 55 runs to be achieved. The seventh wicket pair of Thomas and  James Hildreth ensured that the Chargers’ party was spoilt.

 The Saturday night clash at the the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad saw Chargers losing the toss and being put in to bat on a wicket that was rock hard for batting and it interestingly marked the return of Marcus Trescothick in a game outside his native country. The hosts started with a bang with skipper Adam Gilchrist opening with stylish batsman VVS Laxman opening the batting. They duo started briskly adding 35 in 3.2 overs before Gilly was dismissed for 18. Laxman played a cool innings scoring 46 off 35 balls. T. Suman and Andrew Symonds could not contribute and were out for 6 and 8 respectively. A late assault by Venugopal Rao ensured that the Chargers reached  a respectable total.

Wickets at regular intervals meant that the Chargers could not post a competitive total and could only manage 153 for 9 in their 20 overs.

Are you feeling the pressure of playing on the home turf?
Not at all. The support that we have received from the people of Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh has been overwhelming. They supported us during the first edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which was held in India. They showed their belief in us during the second edition of  IPL held in South Africa. I used to go through the websites and the messages that were posted in them showed their trust in us. We are extremely happy to have won the IPL title. So, there is no pressure at all as it feels like I am back to home town.

Been four months since you won the IPL. Was there an agenda given to the players that had to be followed for them to remain in the best shape?
We didn’t have an agenda. However, our strength and conditioning coach Steve Smith did give the players a training schedule and I am very impressed to see our guys so fit and raring to go for this tournament. Fitness  plays a big role in Twenty20 matches.
What will be the first target for the Deccan Chargers going into the tournament?
The first target will be to get into the second stage of the tournament. Look, Twenty20 is anybody’s game and you have to be on your toes all the time. There are no favourites in this format of the game.
Have you studied the teams that you are pitted against?
Well, I am very impressed with the teams that we are playing. Teams such as the New South Wales have international stars in the fray and will be extremely dangerous. The key is to not take any team lightly and put forth our best show in every match.
With the weather playing spoilsport, how have you altered the team’s plans?
The schedule has already been altered and we are training indoors for the moment. We do have a couple of practice games before the start of the tournament.

The famous ‘Aussie grit’ will be on view again when they begin the defence of their title even without some of their key players who figured prominently in their the Champions Trophy win in 2006. Aussies will be without  Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn and Andrew Symonds, but skipper Ricky Ponting appears quite confident. ”We’ve got great depth in Australian cricket and I think this is one of the things that has held us ahead of the game for the last seven or eight years,” Ponting told reporters before the start of the fifth ODI against England on Tuesday.

“We expect the young guys who come into the side to make an impact as well as those who have been in the side for some time,” he said. Australia are in Group A with unpredictable Pakistan, in-form India and the depleted West Indies. Easy matches are not expected in Group B, with South Africa, Sri Lanka, England and New Zealand all capable of raising their game.

The top two sides from each group advance to the semi-finals, with the final on October 5. Home team South Africa will look to break the jinx of not winning a major title at home. Australia are expected to cruise past the West Indies, who are without their first-choice team following a bitter contract row and the 2004 champions are not expected to perform that well in this edition. But then cricket has always been a funny game.

Defending champions Australia need to beat either India or Pakistan to make their chances of reaching the last four stage. A mouth-watering contest will await the cricket fans when India and Pakistan clash for the first time in more than a year. “No rivalry can match the India-Pakistan rivalry and I think the September 26 match will be something billions of people all over the world will be waiting for,” said Pakistani paceman Umar Gul to a news agency.

India are on a roll with five successive bilateral series wins under captain MS Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten boosted further by Monday’s success over Sri Lanka.

England’s ODI performance left a lot to be desired and have been brought back to ground realities in the ongoing ODI series by the Australians. 

New Zealand can never be underestimated as they have match-winners in skipper Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder. The return of paceman Shane Bond has also strengthened their attack.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara leads an exciting band of cricketers - Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Muttiah Muralitharan and Mahela Jayawardene - but expects his team to be more consistent.

The right-hander maintains that the longer version would always remain the pinnacle of the game. McCullum said he wanted to become a premier Test batsman and does not think the traditional format of the game cricket is on its deathbed. “Test cricket is still so special. I cannot see that it’ll ever die,” he said. “It may take a different course, but I don’t think it’ll die. There’s too much history, there’s too much support, there are too many purists out there for it to die,” McCullum was quoted as saying in an ICC release.

Making a comparison of both the formats, McCullum said, “Twenty20 is a vehicle to get more people to the game so that cricket has more followers. If we can do that and then we can even have a small percentage of them into Test followers, I think we would be doing our job. I cannot imagine Test cricket dying. Of course guys have their priorities and maybe the youngsters would like to play Twenty20 a little more but Test cricket would still survive because it’s the pinnacle of the game.”

Dwelling on keeping, McCullum, who represents Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League, said Australian stumper-batsman Adam Gilchrist has changed the game for the glovesmen. “Adam Gilchrist changed the face of what a wicketkeeper’s role in the team was. He was phenomenal and he did it against all trends and he changed ideas of how a wicketkeeper should be involved in the team,” he  said.