The new leagues in India are providing tremendous opportunities for players and giving cricket more exposure in its biggest marketplace. While I am really excited about the forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL), a change of dates means that I will miss more of the season with Hampshire than I intended when I signed the contract.
When I agreed to support the IPL, it was scheduled to begin around the middle of March and continue until towards the end of April. I would have missed only the first game or two in the County Championship. Now it will run from mid-April until the end of May, but I am still strongly committed as an ambassador and captain of one of the eight franchises.
I will be in England for a couple of days this month on the way to the Laureus World Sports Awards in St Petersburg, Russia. I am due to meet Rod Bransgrove, the chairman of Hampshire, on February 15 to talk about a replacement for me for the first part of the season. I still hope that I will be able to play in much more than half of the matches.
I think this is an incredible time for world, as well as Indian, cricket. The IPL and the Indian Cricket League (ICL) are not only good for the players, but for the spectators at the grounds and watching on television. Once Twenty20 takes off over there - which I am sure it will - the atmosphere will be amazing.
Some players may miss the start of the county season in England. That is a shame, but the benefits that could arise are huge. Who knows what other opportunities in business may crop up through contact with people behind the franchises? For example, I would like to help to take Advanced Hair Studios into India and this may be a way in.
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I have been involved with Hampshire on and off since 2000 and put a lot of time and energy into the team. It has been a fantastic ride so far and I wanted to play close to a full season this time for a last crack at the championship. But if I miss a few more games than I intended, so be it.
There is something I need to correct. Talk of preferring to play poker than play for Hampshire is rubbish. There is one event, in Las Vegas, that coincides with the Twenty20 Cup. In recent years I have missed that competition to recharge the batteries and give younger players opportunities in front of bigger crowds.
Counties stand to benefit from the IPL because the finalists of the Twenty20 in England will be able to compete in the Champions League-style event due to go ahead in the autumn. The prize-money on offer there will be many times greater than anything in the domestic competitions.
Some of the figures being mentioned are mind-boggling. The television deal for the IPL is worth more than $1billion (about £500million) over ten years. And the winners of the competition in May stand to win $2million - double the amount Australia took in prize-money for winning the World Cup last year.
I think of the IPL and ICL together in promoting and expanding the game. With that in mind, it is ridiculous that Shane Bond should be banned for taking part in the ICL. It just strikes me as short-sighted that one of the most exciting bowlers in the world is no longer allowed to play for New Zealand. He is one of their best players.
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I spoke to Adam Gilchrist after he announced his retirement at the weekend to wish him all the best and to say congratulations on a great career. He has changed the way that selectors pick their teams. Nowadays, everybody wants a Gilchrist, a destructive batsman-wicketkeeper rather than a wicketkeeper-batsman.
In not much more than a year, Australia have lost Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Gilchrist and myself. That is nearly half of the side. It seems clear that, in the short term, the team will not be as strong consistently while new players come in and grow used to their roles. Bearing that in mind, it has been an achievement to beat Sri Lanka and India for the loss of one Test match in our home season. The India series was fantastic and, apart from a couple of incidents that attracted a lot of attention and comment, I believe that it was played in a good, competitive spirit.
I thought that India would hang on in Sydney. Had they survived those last few minutes, we would have gone to Adelaide at 1-1 with everything geared towards a decider. The problem for India was in their preparation. They did not seem ready at the start of the series and, overall, I think that Australia were good value for the win.
Sachin Tendulkar batted brilliantly for his hundred in Adelaide. I am pleased that he marked his last Test in Australia that way. I spoke to him before the game and we reminisced about going to see Sir Donald Bradman together many years ago. Sachin has been a great ambassador and he deserved to leave on a strong personal note.
Un-Australian? Nothing wrong with sledging
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The sledging issue has become topical again after the Harbhajan Singh appeal - even being described as un-Australian by Michael Jeffery, the Governor-General. I am not in a position to comment specifically on the Harbhajan case, but I do believe that sledging is a legitimate weapon as long as it does not become abusive. Foul language or an aggressive tone are signs of a frustrated player.
I found it an extremely effective tactic against an insecure batsman who could be intimidated. South Africa’s Darryl Cullinan springs to mind as a good player who was not confident against Australia, particularly leg spin.
On the other hand, with Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, it was better to be friends and make them smile rather than wind them up.
Allan Border, who was captain when I made my Test debut in 1992, showed me how sledging can be used in a different way. Sometimes I would fire myself up at the end of an over, for example, by saying to a batsman: “What are you looking at?” He would usually reply: “What are you talking about?” Suddenly, there was a contest - nothing nasty, just full-on cricket. I do not see any harm in that.