twenty20

"What I have seen in India is Bollywood, whereas we are more Under Milk Wood. If you compare the match we played against the Deccan Chargers the spectator experience was like an Elvis Presley concert. I think back to Twenty20 finals day at Edgbaston and it was like watching Des O'Connor."

(Update: See the first comment for a Postscript to this article.)

Ricky Ponting will play more Twenty20 cricket in 2010 than in 2009 despite his announcement on Monday of his retirement from the three-hour version of the game at international level.

There is no sport and no sporting competition in the world where a team can suddenly and unaccountably include a world record holder in their lineup for a Grand Final, when that player has not been part of the squad for any part of the tournament leading up to that final. No sport, that is, apart from the under-regulated, money-hungry sub-sport of Twenty20(TM) Cricket.

In the 1980's, VHS beat Betamax. Just a couple of weeks ago, Bluray was victorious over HD-DVD. Who will be the winner between the IPL and the ICL? One thing that has become clear this week is that the Indian Cricket League is not ready to roll over and die... yet.

Not content with picking up the crumbs of recently-retired Test cricketers, the Icicle seems to be either pouncing on players as soon as they retire, or maybe coaxing them into "retirement".

Today, Jason Gillespie, the only Australian batsman to score a Test double-hundred against Bangladesh, announced that he is retiring from first-class cricket in Australia at the conclusion of the current Pura Cup game between South Australia and Queensland.