Bring on the Big Game!

I'm looking forward to the big game at Bellerive. Two top ranking sides at the top of their games. Long standing rivalries and individual brilliance and all the color and movement we expect when India play Sri Lanka. February 28 is the date we await. By then the series against New Zealand will be forgotten, the Big Hash will be over (not that I am against T20 which I think perfectly suits our modern lifestyle I just can't believe the scheduling), the tests against India will have been played too.

What a welcome return to the old Tri series format. I would like it to be called the World Series Cup again - that title had all the right elements. Adamant exaggeration - designed to drive the purists mad.

I suspect the crowd will be poor for this game because Australia won't be playing. (It would be interesting to speculate on the make up of the Australian team by the end of February. ) But it could be the one day game of the summer- one of the teams might be playing to keep the Aussies out of the finals - although current rankings suggest both may be playing to keep the other team out. I think the day will be worth the admission price.

Before that, we have the Test match against New Zealand at Bellerive. No doubt we will be exhorted to attend and told we are ungrateful if we don't. With so much Test cricket to watch on TV and the novelty of the Test Match event having worn I doubt the crowds will be big - unless Punter scores a day straddling 300. Give us an Engalnd or an India Test and the crowds might come - just as they do in any discerning market.

On a footnote I think the selectors have not gone far enough with their renewal policy. It's time from renewal in the batting order too. Surely it is better to build against New Zealand when we are one up than to become desparate against India where are one down with one to play?