That is sensational stuff - thank you! I felt slightly sorry for the Croatian wicket-keeper, who seemed pretty good in the face of almost impossible "bowling". He's even perfected the insouciant hand-on-thrust-hip exasperated stance of the true wicket-keeper/horse. It's a shame to think that, thanks to television coverage, all this will disappear within a few years as average ex-pros are brought in from Test countries to "improve" things.
Brilliant!
I think it's more likely to disappear when the sponsor pulls the plug. It must cost a pretty penny, what with player kit, travelling and accommodation expenses, TV coverage etc. The main sponsor seems to be HCLSoftware. There's no indication of their origin on their website, but wikipedia says the HCL stands for Hindustan Computers Limited, and HQ is un Uttar Pradesh. I wonder if any players are employees. They have sponsorships in F1, ocean racing and Premier League, but in the event of them pulling sponsorship of European Cricket I doubt if INEOS and the Qataris will be fighting over it. I suspect there's someone high up in the company who just really likes cricket, and it's more philanthropic than commercial.
On the subject of computer companies, cricket and Indians, my nephew (who when he worked for the LTA got Wimbledon tickets for me and mattc) worked for a time for the MCC at HQ. Something to do with introducing IT developments*. Anyway, one afternoon there was a meeting with the CEO of Microsoft. This was long after Gates and Balmer - the CEO was
Satya Nadella whose wikipedia entry says "He also nurses a passion for cricket, having played on his school team". Anyway, after the meeting he said that his lifelong dream had been to play cricket at Lords, so to grant his wish, some stumps were set up next to the square, and my nephew changed into his full kit including pads and helmet and faced an over or so of dibbly-dobblers from the distinguished executive.
Which is how my nephew came to play cricket at Lords.
* getting MCC to innovate was even harder than it sounds. Just about every proposal was shot down by a senior manager, who had even managed to resist email. Any emails sent to his account would be printed off and delivered to him by one of his PAs. Then he would dictate replies.
