England and Australia in Sri Lanka

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

I'd say grass roots interest is the most important of all, if not in 20 years time you'll have a long trip to watch your nearest pro game because it will be in India !

[Rachael]

LOL - yes, you are right... though I must admit to preferring ODI contests where the pitch allows a proper contest between bat and ball.

I recall seeing one match in which Pollock bowled beautifully and went for something like 6-8 an over.. which was hardly any different from his less able colleagues who bowled dross: no matter what anyone did the ball was still dispatched... and there was more chance of a catch at deep mid wicket than there was of someone rooting out the off stump!

At it's best I think ODI cricket is excellent. The genuine bowlers come into their own: they pose genuine wicket taking threat and the need to keep wickets in hand keeps the batsmen honest. The need to keep wickets in hand means you see genuine batsmen, batting properly. The bits-n-pieces folk just can't hack it with bat or ball.

Consider the following:

Team {a} Richardson, Langer, Kirsten, Dravid, Tillekerathne, Read, Pollock, Warne, Kumble, McGrath, Gillespie

Team {b} Afridi, Jayasuria, Gayle, Symonds, Styris, Boucher, R. Clarke, Flintoff, Klusenor, Oram, Razzaq.

Quality wise... you'd hope the first team won... but would it? On a pitch with anything in it for the bowlers that attack should make scoring very, very hard... but on a flat track the likes of Jayasuria and Styris would probably flay 300+ off them!

That's the trend I object to: tracks that mean guys like Rikki Clarke actually loook a better bet than guys like McGrath!!!

[CJ D]

Okay - I now get your point - it should be a contest between bat and ball, if all you get is a flat pitch with nothing in it for the bowler then it just becomes a competition to see which set of batsmen can hit it furthest, the entertainment level being somewhat lower than the suspense of will he survive the next ball.

[Rachael]

Yes.. the only thing I'd add is that this obsession with 350+ a side slogfests seems to go hand in hand with a desire to see Shoaib bowl sooooo fast that even on a pitch where guys like Kumble and Pollock don't know where to bowl... world class batsmen like Tendulkar are in danger of being decapitated!

That's the contradiction: supporters want their own side to score at 7-8 an over and not lose any wickets.. and the other side to get all out inside 10 overs with everyone "retired hurt"!

[CJ D]

Who would want to see that? I always want to see my team win and don't mind the odd drubbing of weaker sides, but surely the evenly matched,hard fought games that come down to the last over (and then your team wins) are the most enjoyable matches - whether the scores are 350 - 351 or 180 - 181.

[Rachael]

LOL - you should have a look on the BBC International board some time... there's a lot of genuine appreciation of close contests.... but the one great obsession is the pace of Sami and Shoaib. We get it on the England board sometimes.

{a] Freddie gets nominated for a world XI as a matchwinning batsman... with the implication that he's going to score century after century at 10+ an over of Shoaib and SAmi...

Yet

{b} there's talk of a World cup squad for 2007 that includes talk of the ever miserly Simon Jones (that renowned ODI specialist) carrying all before him... such that Tendulkar and Dravid, Hayden, Gilchrist and Ponting.... wil go running back to mummy to hide.

I wish they would make their mind up: either they want a track so flat that Freddie will score 10 an over off 90+ mph bowling... or they want a track where Tendulkar will get stuffed by Jones.

LOL - I just can't see one track meeting both criteria!

[CJ D]

I tried the International board some time ago - it's scary - I have been following the TMS boards since about September and particularly like the County board (or did when lots of people were regularly posting) I don't post a lot, just when I think I have something to add to the thread.

[Rachael]

Yes.. I think the County board should be the best board come the summer: all the nits will be ranting on about Tresco, Freddie and Jimmy on the England board (and repeating the endless campaigns for us to ditch anyone over 28 as that seems very old to them)... and the county board will have lots of folk who can actually shed some light on things.

That's my hope, anyway.. but as i wasn't around on these boards last summer either.. it's pure conjecture!

[CJ D]

I caught the end of the season on the TMS boards last year and the knowledge going round on the Counties board was astounding - lots of people posting who were watching a lot of the 4 day stuff and could give you first hand accounts of players rather than just relying on newspaper reports.

Only 3 weeks to go and I can't wait.

[Rachael]

Excellent! I feel really isolated out here in Norfolk - first hand reports on performances in the shires will be a godsend.