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I have to admit that I thought that Middlesex had a snowball in hell’s chance of beating Durham in the second semi-final at the weekend.  It seemed to me that Durham were simply destined to get to the final against Essex before finals day started, and Kent’s beating of Essex did nothing to dampen my certainty in the outcome of the second semi.  Heigh ho.  Lucky I stopped betting on cricket a few years ago, eh?

Now let’s see what the ECB do about the Champion’s League…

We all know that the ECB was secretly hoping for an Essex - Middlesex final today.  Looks extremely likely now that it’s going to be Durham v Kent.  Here’s wondering what they’re going to do about the Champion’s League now….

For the uninitiated the BCCI (the Indian cricket governing body) has said that any teams fielding players who had played in the unsanctioned ICL won’t be eligible for the Champion’s League.  Neither Essex nor Middlesex had been “guilty” of such action, while both Kent and Durham have refused to bow to the pressure. Theoretically the two finalists from today’s Twenty20 fandango should be going to the Champions’ League.  If Essex and Middlesex had done their bit there wouldn’t be a problem; now, however, it’s going to be conflict between the ECB and the BCCI all over again.

The final really didn’t let us down.  To the wire, between two old rivals (and two nations who really can change the shape of international cricket too).

Some say that Twenty20 is a flash in the pan, not real cricket.  Others say that it is the future of the game.  I, for one, have enjoyed the tournament way beyond my expectations.  I am a 5 day cricket lover above all other forms of the sport, but after the dreary fiasco of the World Cup this ICC World Twenty20 has been a real shot in the arm.

Friends who have repeatedly told me that cricket is boring have watched matches without my encouragement.  Friends who are cricket fans who were bored by the world cup have talked incessantly about the performance of teams they previously could not have cared about.

It has been an eye opener.  And it made my experiences of One Day Internationals over the last few years seem rather dull in comparison.  Fifty over cricket has a problem.

Simply put, between overs 20 and 40, with the fifth bowler at one end and the slow guy at the other the match is dead.  We go to the bar, we converse, we wait for the tempo to pick up again.  As Lawrence Booth says, unless teams start thinking that 180 off 20 should equate to 350 off 50 the fifty over game is in trouble.  And if Twenty20 is to replace it, I’m not sure I’m that worried.

Just please please please don’t bugger up 5 day cricket along the way.

A sporting competition ended up with the right result, it would be the word Twenty20 final being India Pakistan.  Here’s hoping it lives up to the billing.

They may be the pariahs of world cricket, but apparently they can still play.  It’s hard not to laugh…  No…  Let me correct myself.  It’s hard to try not to laugh…