Love...IPL...Hate

We are now just days away from the eagerly anticipated, for whatever reason, Indian Premier League (IPL). No matter what you have to say about it there is going to be something spectacular about watching the worlds best players, who have practically whored themselves out for huge wodges of cash, performing in this rebel league. It makes the original rebel competition, the Indian Cricket League (ICL) look about as rebellious as a nun confessing to eating an extra roll at dinner.

So what will it be like? Who knows? Well no one does, that's the beauty of it. We have had these incredible sums of money changing hands and all of it really a gamble. But then again what is there to gamble about, if you wave enough money around it surely cant fail to succeed can it?? Personally I'm looking forward to it, I know that will have the real purists wanting to tie me to a tree and allow me to die by being eaten slowly via small woodland creatures, but lets face it, the tournament is going to be littered with the worlds best bowlers fighting it out with the cream of the crop with the willow, so what more could you want? But wait a minute, let me just untie my hands here and flick off some of the field mice that have been nibbling at my feet. There is a little doubt in my mind about this brash and mouthy league, so before I get too carried away lets look at a few of the problems as I see it.

Firstly, this competition is going to have less soul than a David Hasselhoff concert. There simply isn't anything better than county or international test cricket, fact. Secondly, one of the reasons I have been more drawn to cricket over the years is because I became so fed up with the money drenched football premier league that seeing these sportsmen out there performing at the highest level for their county or country for a fraction of the wages was refreshing. There is also the impact the loss of players is going to have on the counties during the opening few weeks of the county season. Shane Warne has already packed up and headed off and could mean more follow. This isn't good, but I guess on the flip side there may be more opportunity for young English cricketers to come through the ranks and be given a chance.

It's going to be a strange old time over the next month or so, but I guess it is here and whether we like it or not the IPL is going to happen. Lets just hope it becomes a great novelty spectacle to be enjoyed but not taken too seriously, we don't want the end of good competitive cricket in the formats we already find exciting enough.