At Albert Park

The Australian Formula One Grand Prix 2010.

The wild, thronging crowds, flooding the track post-race.




Seas of Ferrari, British, Italian, Finnish flags.




And, through the masses of people, a sight that gladdened my heart.

Leconte - Refreshing at first, but eventually annoying

Henri Leconte - former World No. 5 and French Open finalist in 1988 - was one of the commentators at the Australian Open last night. He was on during the match between Jo Wilfred Tsonga (Fra) and Nicloas Almagro (Esp).

I found his performance... Gallic, for lack of a better word.

A highly excited and emotional bit of commentating, with an unabashed bias towards the Frenchman. Some gems:

• "I'm sorry to bother you, but do you have any ball?.. Ello, ello, we are out of balls!"
• "AAAAHHHH" (in a high pitched voice), followed by "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH" (in a more manly one)
• "Come on Jooooooo, come on... YEAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
• And, for almost every point: "AHNBILEEVABULL!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Leconte screams in anguish as Almagro wins a point

It was nice to have someone so passionate in the commentary box, with such free flowing, off the cuff and breezy observations on the match. A welcome change, for a bit, from the hushed-voice snooze inducers some of the matches have seen. It was like having a Mexican football commentator in the box.

But the fact that he was practically yelling every time he spoke, coupled with his inability to be fair and objective to both players and use adjectives apart from AHNBILEEVABULL made him pretty annoying beyond a point.

A full Cup must be carried steadily

Starting September 2011 (20 months from now), New Zealand will host the Rugby World Cup.
Starting February 2011 (13 months from now), India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will host the Cricket World Cup.

20 rugby teams will feature in 48 matches, playing in 13 locations over a period of 44 days.
14 cricket teams will feature in 49 matches, playing in 13 locations over a period of 43 days.

The full draw and venues for the tournament were announced in March 2009.
The full draw and venues for the tournament were announced in October/November 2009.

A dedicated and detailed website has been launched.
The website, a page within the ICC's Yahoo website, features the latest news from recent cricket, but has limited information about the World Cup itself.

In New Zealand, a significant marketing campaign is being launched. Cathedral Square in Christchurch features a large billboard with a countdown to the World Cup.
Crickets chirping. No pun intended.

Merchandise is widely available across New Zealand and other countries.
No merchandise has been launched in South Asia yet.

Tickets went on sale (through travel agents) to a global audience on 1st January 2010.
Ticket information "will be announced to the public in due course", according to the website.

Hmmm.

At the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground... watching Aussie Rules Football!