TWENTY PLENTY CRICKET

I'm feeling nostalgic for a moment. Remember the times when the whack of leather on willow symbolised an Australian summer?

Not any more. Now, that sound could be permeating from anywhere, at any time of the year. Cricket has reached saturation point. No longer is it an indulgence to be enjoyed at a particular time of the year.

The reason is two-fold. First, and we shouldn't under-estimate this, is the fact that the world has become a much smaller place due to cable television, the internet and a multitude of other technological advances that most of us find difficult to keep up with.

In other words, due to the varying climate conditions, an Australian summer of cricket is at odds with an English pretence of summer. And, in between, there are the seasonal oddities of Asia, South Africa and the West Indies. So nothing new here, with international cricket having always been played in different countries on different months of the calendar. What makes it more noticeable now, however, is that communications technologies have brought virtually all games into our lounge rooms all year round. Whether it's Australia versus India, or Pakistan versus Sri Lanka, there's every chance we will be able to catch the action live on television.

So that's one reason. The same amount of cricket, but the game is enjoying more exposure. No harm done so far.

However, there's another far more salient point. And that is the extraordinary growth first of the 50-over game but, more significantly, the monster of T20. The Twenty20 bankroll.

Former England captain Ian Botham is the latest of a growing list of luminaries to express his concerns about T20. He's quoted in the Wisden Cricketer magazine as saying it's a case of greed, greed and more greed to schedule another World Twenty20 tournament in 2010, so close to the 2009 event in England.

Botham has accused cricket authorities of exploiting the format in a move which will ultimately kill the format. And that, one gathers, is precisely what he'd like to see -- at least at an international level.

"It is a domestic and franchise sport," Botham says. "I don't want to see the best players in the world standing there and slogging. T20 is bastardising the game."

Of course, the problem as Botham and others see it, has been borne out of money. T20has proved to be a cash cow for promoters and players alike. Chris Gayle and Freddie Flintoff are just two examples of players making clear where their priorities lie. And the promoters are only too happy to oblige, with
more and more scheduling of matches to cause a giant case of overkill.

As one tournament finishes, another begins. And we, the public, are getting a case of cricket indigestion.

The anticipation of cricket in summer is losing its appeal. It's a case of more is less.