Andre Agassi to pay tribute to Hookes

The tennis champion Andre Agassi has expressed his desire to address Victoria's cricketers while he is in Melbourne for the Australian Open, following an invitation he received from David Hookes.

"David spoke to Darren [Cahill], my coach, and inquired just a few days before this tournament if I would be interested in speaking to the players," said Agassi. "It's something I've never done before, but something I'd be very keen to do."

"I have a lot of respect for that sport [cricket]. I think it's under-rated in its athleticism, and just to be around the athletes would have been a great thing. Darren responded leading up to this tournament that it was probably too close to organise anything, but I would soon make myself available."

Agassi was shocked to learn of Hookes's death on Monday. "It's just affected everybody at the tournament," he said. "You can feel it. I never met him, but I know of him and obviously the great history with him being a great cricket player. I don't know the reason for the incident that took place, but it's just a shame anybody would want to hurt anybody for any reason. It's the world we live in right now, and I hope for it to only get better."

Agassi is currently chasing his fifth Australian Open title, and hopes to find the time to talk to the players - even if it's not this year. "I can't honestly say that I could sit people down in a room and keep their amusement or attention for very long," he admitted. "But if it was something that the guys would be interested in and something that they would enjoy sort of chatting with me about, I would enjoy that."