As Luke points out, very rare is the occasion when one logs onto cricinfo to find an empty Live Scores box. The top players are in demand like never before - from their national boards and a plethora of globalising club franchises. Not to mention their families back home.
I have no problem with the Champions League or the IPL - which is good, because they represent the direction in which the sport is heading. But, while some see this uncertain path as exhilarating, and others vulgar, all agree it must be managed carefully. This is equally true of the international game.
Scrapping seven match ODI series, as advocated by Patrick Kidd, would be a start. Doing away altogether with pointless series, like the one currently being played between India and Australia, is a necessity.
Cricket administrators are dipping their toes into a sea of overkill. Whilst a balance is sought between international and franchise cricket, mistakes are bound to be made and learned from. The one certainty I am taking from all this, is the supreme reign of the longest from of the game.
Whilst the quantity of one-day cricket around the world increases, so too does my yearning for, and appreciation of, Test cricket.
I'm looking forward to the two T20Is and five ODIs on the upcoming tour of South Africa, but they're the warm-up act. The appertiser. The spat before the war. When the floodlights go down, the cricket whites come out.
Unlike the shorter forms of the game, Test matches provide a platform on which, in theory, any type of player can thrive, but in reality only the best do. They create heroes of greater stature, longer lasting memories and more strands of narrative.
The limited overs debate will rage on. The more it's talked about and tinkered with, the more it will serve to underline the brilliance of the purest form of the game.
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