Championship here to stay

While the focus of attention will be on India and the launch of the IPL, back in England the County Championship begins on Wednesday. The domestic game comes in for more than it's fair share of criticism, but the Championship has developed into a keenly fought competition where the quality has improved with two divisions. In The Sunday Telegraph, Steve James welcomes the new season by saying there is plenty of interest in what will happen.

At least the championship has the excuse of being mostly played on working days. So it has a mystifying multitude of hidden fans. They include the scourers of newspaper scorecards on the train to work; the Ceefax addicts ensconced on the sofa at home, and more recently, of course, the internet browsers sneaking a look in the workplace. Cricinfo, the leading cricket website, says that its county cricket site recorded a remarkable 26-million page views during the 2007 season.

The IPL - cricket's fourth epoch

The Indian Premier League, which launches in less than a week, has brought forth a host of responses from respected voices in the game. To start things off, Scyld Berry, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, labels the IPL as the 'fourth age of cricket'.
When dusk descends on India this Friday evening, and the lights go on in Bangalore, not only will the Indian Premier League commence. It will also launch the fourth age of cricket.
The first era extended from the sport's birth in medieval England to the 1870s; the second covered Test cricket for the next hundred years; and the third was the commercial, international era launched in Australia by Kerry Packer.
Starting next weekend, India will shape the sport, as their eight city-based franchises play matches of 20 overs per side in a three-hour package designed for mass, global entertainment. The salaries of the top IPL cricketers are beyond the wildest imaginings of anyone who has played before - unless the Aladdin who went into a cave was a useful all-rounder.

Martin omission a strange move

No, he can't bat, and you wouldn't stake your life on him under a steepler, but he's a better fielder than Gillespie and not far behind Mason. Neither of those two are threatening allrounder status with the bat either, though Gillespie will always be remembered after fluking some runs in that epic Chappell-Hadlee run chase last year.
Martin's dumping is a nonsense; it's just a shame it is only his team-mates and not the selectors who recognise that.