CRICKET RSS WORLD

I don't know how owners of large department stores that make you wind your
way past things that they want you to see feel about doing so, but I feel
a bit sheepish about luring you in with this headline. Though it does not lie,
Harbhajan and Symonds are only bit players in this piece: the main agenda
is something else.

Now that I have secured your attention, allow me you lead you on to a brand
new section on Cricinfo. Unlike department stores, I won't guarantee
satisfaction, but I have a hunch it will bring a smile to your face.

You have two choices. You can click on this link to check out the section right away and then come back read this if you need to. Or you can read on and explore later.

I recommend the second option.

So let me tell you what Page 2 is all about.

To start with, it will not have news and scores, which form the core of
Page 1, otherwise known as the homepage. It will have elements of opinion, a
blog or two, lists, games, byte-sized features, and even "stats" - though
unlike the ones you have seen on Cricinfo.

With Page 2, Cricinfo is venturing into new territory. And after having put
it together we are now wondering why we waited so long. It is no
coincidence, however, that it is being launched during the IPL: Page 2
mirrors Twenty20.

Twenty20 was born out of a strikingly simple idea. It stripped cricket of
all its adornment - and even character, it can be argued - to pursue one
objective: entertainment. You could say that it reduced a grand game to a merely
entertaining one. But in doing so, it has opened up a new world, and the
sport is richer for it. It is a tribute to cricket that it can accommodate three
distinct forms.

By the same token, Page 2 makes no apologies about making entertainment its
sole objective. It is not a deviation from our core values, but rather an
expansion of our range. Cricinfo has always been, and will remain, a
serious site for serious fans. But like Twenty20 itself, Page 2 will serve as an aperitif to a
substantial main course.

Even though its scope is currently limited to the IPL, there is a lot to
sample. Try out The
CV, our alternative player profiles, or Quick Singles, where cricketers provide glimpses into their lives off the field as well as on it.

In Hit or Miss, poet,
dancer and soon-to-be novelist Tishani Doshi will offer daily meditations
on a love that she is hoping to reignite (with cricket, lest you get
ideas), and in The Daily
Dose our reporters at the venues will bring you the sidelights from
South Africa.

If you still didn't believe that the IPL has changed everything, try this
new cricket
dictionary,
by Andy Zaltzman, of The Confectionery Stall fame. And for further evidence,
sample Rules from
Hell, inspired by the various edicts of He Who Must Not Be Named.

In You Asked For It
you will find rubbish answers to questions our other q&a columnists on the
site, Geoff Boycott and Steven Lynch, would dismiss out of hand.