If familiarity breeds contempt, then cricket's administrators are doing their merry best to ensure that England and Australia's cricketers loathe the sight of one another. It is less than two months since these traditional rivals locked horns in the World Twenty20 final in the Caribbean, and only nine months since the end of last summer's Ashes joust, which finished with Ricky Ponting's side surrendering their grip on the urn for all of well, 14 months actually, before the combatants face up again for a fresh outbreak of hostilities in November.
Perhaps that explains why it was difficult to get excited about the prospect of another meeting of the teams, in Replica watches the guise of the five-match ODI series, which commenced at the Hampshire Rose Bowl yesterday. In the past, contests between these antagonists possessed an aura, because of their rarity, and there was something special about the quadrennial excursions of the Blighty personnel Down Under. One of my earliest memories of becoming addicted to the sport came when I listened, via a crackly old radio, to the commentary of the 1974-75 series, where the Australians secured crushing victories in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney and Adelaide, prior to Mike Denness restoring some pride for the embattled tourists with a magnificent 188, which helped his side record an innings win at the MCG.
In that period, there were precious few limited-overs fixtures. Nowadays, as most of us are aware, the sport would be struggling to survive, on a truly global basis, without a plethora of quick-fire ODI thrills to attract significant crowds. Yet, even if we accept that the pyjama parties help bolster revenue for cash-strapped treasurers, that doesn't justify the ongoing series. For one thing, Australia have used the matches as an opportunity to blood a string of new personnel - including the inexperienced trio, Josh Hazlewood, Clint McKay and Ryan Harris, alongside the likes of Doug Bollinger and James Hopes in an underwhelming attack - while England have opted to Replica watches "hide" their new pace weapon, Steven Finn (pictured), to deny Ponting a crack at him before the Ashes scrap.
This means that, whatever transpires, the action more closely resembles a Phoney War than a continuation of the relentless competitiveness which has typified campaigns between these nations. In addition, considering the ODIs are on at the same time as the World Cup and Wimbledon, there is no chance of them being accorded the same amount of attention as they would merit if they were happening before or after a Test rubber. From which standpoint, one is entitled to question why these games have been organised at all. There are plenty of other Test countries, most notably India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, who would offer guaranteed entertainment value for spectators, without the Australians being sandwiched in between a back-to-back Ashes.
As it is, these matches will tell us little we didn't already know. If the Aussies crash, they will argue that they were only building for next year's World Cup. If England toil, there will be renewed pressure on Andrew Strauss to relinquish his one-day position. In the meantime, the crowds are being charged hefty prices for occasions which carry the whiff of "contractural obligation" about them.
It isn't the first time recently that cricket has chased the fast buck too blatantly. One only trusts that an Australian visit doesn't begin to echo that of their rugby compatriots, who have long since sacrificed any mystique in a blitz of annual autumn Tests.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
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