Is that a vision statement?

Former England captain Paul Collingwood walked up to his team mate,off-spinner Graeme Swann,with a look that said that he...

Former England captain Paul Collingwood walked up to his team mate,off-spinner Graeme Swann,with a look that said that he had a funny story up his sleeve. You know what I was asked by the Indian media? Collingwood started. But Swann got the drift and cut him off: Oh,I was asked the same question. I told them to please send Gary Kirsten to coach England. Id heartily welcome him!

Collingwood had earlier burst into peals of laughter when asked about the four-part document by coach Kirsten and mental conditioning expert Paddy Upton,which was intended for the Indian cricketers but was inadvertently leaked to the media. Its the greatest thing Ive ever heard, Collingwood had said,before walking off.

As news of the document spread in South Africa on Wednesday,it became a source of amusement across the Champions Trophy teams. While the Kirsten-Paddy advisory touched upon various issue such as fitness,mental conditioning and spirituality,its recommendations about sexual activity and their correlation to on-field performance became the main talking point and the butt of many a joke.

The Indian team management,meanwhile,remained tight-lipped as Kirsten and manager Anurag Thakur offered no comments to any questions on the subject.

Excerpts that became public said that the document explained how sex increased testosterone levels,which caused an increase in strength,energy,aggression and competitiveness,and was therefore recommended.

When England captain Andrew Strauss was asked if sex was ever discussed in the stiff-upper-lipped English dressing-room,he was bemused. Not really. We dont have any such thing in the documents that we get, he said with a smile,I dont quite see the word appearing in it in the future.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting,too,was caught off-guard after answering a question about the strength of his team,life on the road and the intense competition in the tournament. Is that in the teams vision statement? he asked,as the world media burst into laughter. Thats some vision statement. Next question please.

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Mr Cricket Michael Hussey also saw the funny side behind the document. Ive been away from home for the past four months so I have not been doing that sort of stuff, he said,reaffirming his faithfulness.

It remains to be seen if the vision statement will help the Indian team on the field,but one thing is certain the leaked report has given their opposition some pretty explosive sledge ammunition.