MIDWINTER CRICKETY CRICKET

I still struggle to get used to the idea of cricket during the winter, even though my own personal experience of the game, even during the summer, is usually via a crackling old radio and that sort of thing can be done at pretty much any time of the year, day or night.

But the latest One-Day Series currently being played out in Sri Lanka has done little to excite me, not least because I still prefer to follow a good old five-day Test Match series to any of these rather vacuous and rather pointless-seeming series, but I know that I'm in the minority in thinking that in these days of short attention spans and deep, deep pockets...

Quite often, I've almost forgotten that there's even been a game on, which is "unusual" for me as, at this time of the year, I'm usually losing sleep by  trying to keep up with the updates from a Test Series as they occur overnight in some warm-sounding faraway place.

England, of course, remain in the doldrums, despite the Test Series having shown a certain tendency towards improvement towards the end of the summer, so that, when they finally discover some form, they stop actually playing for several months, just to give the footballists a chance at getting a few headlines for a change.

Of course, Cricket has recently been scarred by the tragedy that occurred to young Philip Hughes in the Australian Sheffield Shield competition... and if anyone has ever suggested that, in comparison to the all-conquering pastime of footballing, that cricket is somehow a "soft" option, maybe that horrific moment might just make them rethink that opinion.

That said, the series itself has managed to claw itself back from the potential seven-nil embarrassment that it did look as if it might run the risk of becoming at one point, and the outcome of the series managed to remain in doubt until at least the fifth match of the seven, which, under the circumstances, was probably a lot longer than most England (and Wales) supporters might have hoped to expect.

But the fate of Captain Alistair Cook remains the source of much debate as his form at the top of the order has still not shown any sign of recovering and, whilst the ECB seem to be keeping the faith with him, and have confirmed him as Captain for the forthcoming World Cup* (for which this "pointless" series is seen to be something of a "warm-up"), I can't help but think that this is just another embarrassment that is waiting for me to endure in the New Year, and will finally find him dropped, at least from that form of the game.

To be honest, I feel rather a lot of sympathy for old "Cooky", because I think that he's been the subject of unfair scrutiny from certain sections of the media, but it does sometimes seem as if, time and again during the past twelve months, he's been going out there every time with "something to prove" and then returning back to the Pavilion far too soon without having proved anything other than that his critics might have a point.

But, like Ian Bell, I do have a lot of respect for him as a player, and I really hope that he gets it right again soon, because I always feel that when either of these players has a good game, then the entire team has a good game, and whenever either of them fails, a losing result somehow seems inevitable.

Of course, Ian Bell was dropped relatively early on in this series, so what do I know?

Anyway, listening to cricket in the winter (apart - perhaps - from another "Ashes" series which seems perfectly natural because that's how I've always experienced it), really can't help but have an "oddness" about it as the outdoors remains cold, and dark, and miserable, but when I do remember that it's on, that little glimmer of sunshine and warmth from far, far away, can't help but remind me that summer can't be far away.

*Which just proves why writing your blog days in advance is a bad idea.