Indecent Proposal

There was a film out a while ago called Indecent Proposal. The synopsis of the plot was that John Gage (played by Robert Redford) would offer Diana Murphy (played by Demi Moore) $1m to spend a night with him. In bed.

The film has a look at the relationship of Diana Murphy and her husband around the $1m offer. I have to admit I've never seen it but it's definitely springing to mind at the moment. In Robert Redford's shoes, you have a certain Texan billionaire (who for some reason is a Sir ...) and in Demi Moore's stilettos you have the English Cricket establishment ...

The scene is Antigua, where there's a tournament going on with a "Stanford Superstars" team, Middlesex, Trinidad and Tobago and finally England. It's Twenty20 cricket, which should be the most exciting and fun version of the game with the event being a showcase to show cricket off to the non-cricketing world.

There's just a couple of problems ... The pitch has a big influence on how a game of cricket goes, the bounce can be good, low or nasty and there are different speeds too. Good bounce and decent pace (the ball "coming on") means good scoring and tense games. High bounce can get nasty as it can lead to broken fingers or worse. Slow and low pitches make it difficult to hit the ball out of the ground as the batsman is always reaching for the ball without any confidence to hit through their shots.

Instead of being a spectacular showcase, we have a slow and low pitch. What's worse is that the floodlights at the ground are also low, making catching awkward. Dropped catches that would have been held at any other ground have changed the results in the games so far. The shameful thing is that the combination of slow, low pitch and bad floodlights is making good International players look utterly inept. And that is bad for the game in general, not just for the players on show.

It's terrible timing too, as it's clashed with the Baseball World Series. I try and watch as much baseball as I can get away with, partly because I like watching the execution of perfection that Major League Baseball puts on show. Things like a double play that the fielders make look like child's play, plus bonuses like Joe Blanton, Phillies pitcher, smacking a Homer that amazed everyone in the crowd. It's a well grooved sport but there's still room for class to show and luck to come to the party. It's a shame that TV timings and work mean I can't catch more baseball.

So where does the Indecent Proposal reference fit in ? The games in Antigua are leading up to a $20 million showdown between the England team and the Stanford Superstars, winner takes all. Personally, I think it's an attempt to move away from the Twenty20 series in the West Indies by looking to outside competitors. I've put up an opinion of the Stanford Twenty20 competition before and it wasn't a good one - I turned off their grand final because it was boring and tedious - for a cricket addict ! So the money has gone to bring in people from a successful Twenty20 tournament.

It's a little sad and the media backlash has been happening over the last couple of days. The players are stating publicly that they don't particularly want to be there - the harsh reality of the aftermath of the Indecent Proposal thing is really coming to light.

That's enough cricket for now, except to say that while there's actually cricket on the telly as I write this, I'm actually watching Ice Road Truckers instead. Yep, I'd rather watch the guys on the ice than the sport I'm addicted to.

Also in the news - it's birthday season ! I'll be buying the donuts in a fortnight but before then ... Crazie Party. Which I have a lot of work to do to prepare for it because we're having it at my place this time and the house is a tip. Too much accumulated garbage that I'll be moving into my spare room.