An empty summer

Oh dear lord! It seems that the only cricket team we will see in New Zealand next summer will be Bangladesh. Richard Boock has provided an excellent analysis which reveals a few more clues about what happened with the Indian tour. "Sources" tell Boock that New Zealand Cricket had no option but to agree to India's wish to cancel the tour after the ICC shifted the dates of the World Cup, something which meant New Zealand Cricket had to enter into further negotiations with the Indians. He also reports that the Indian Board is getting even stroppier, with its secretary saying the ICC "cannot force us" to play in tours from 2007 to 2015 - despite his previous administration agreeing to the future tours programme schedule last year.

Now I know that the ICC is about as effective as a wet blanket and that the only time it ever springs into action is when a bell tinkles to indicate that the buffet lunch is ready - but the Indian Board has just destroyed the next New Zealand summer and I really hope that just this once the ICC will come down on them with all the weight it has gained from years of prawn sandwiches, chilled chardonnay and two helpings of dessert. The BCCI reminds me of the New Zealand Rugby Union - selfish egotists who think that just because they hold the purse-strings they can hold smaller countries to ransom.