Strictly Come Batting

IPL 3 is underway and I have an issue with it.

Season one got by on novelty value and season two consolidated that. Now, though, it just looks like old men having a knockabout with some kids they bumped into on a local field.

The big stars of IPL 1 were the recently retired Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist et al. Now, however, they've been out of cricket for three years and their presence seems all the more unlikely and incongruous as a result. The backers would have you believe that this is supposed to be the best players in the world playing against each other, but the best players in the world are, in large part, involved in internationals elsewhere and won't arrive for a while, so instead you have this retirement home atmosphere and a competition featuring some of the best ex-players in the world.

It's much like the issues I have with Strictly Come Dancing. If I want to watch dancing, I'd like to see it done by people who know what they're doing and are at the top of their game. So it is with cricket. I'm just not interested in seeing long-retired players trundle in for four overs.