G'day again Uncle Phil,

I'm not the "cricket tragic" that my wife Patricia is ... but I do (distantly) remember when cricket was a long-drawn-out affair of 5 days ... and only the last day was of interest ... when all the previous 4 days' strategy and tactics began came to fruition.

Today's game - since the rise of 50-over "one-day" cricket (and the recent novelty of 20-over "20-20" matches) bears about as much resemblance to those days as modern sports car does to a horse-drawn dray! Unfortunately, it's only available on commercial television ... punctuated by mind-numbing pap that supplies names and products to your "never buy!" list.

Regards,

Bob