THE THWACK

The thwack of leather upon willow is almost upon us. This summer will tell us whether England's Ashes win last year was a fluke, or whether our failure (abysmal in Pakistan, disappointing in India) during the winter was the one-off.

Unfortunately, corporate interests have ensured that the Luddites among us cannot watch any test cricket anymore. The small mercy of this is that Test Match Special on Radio 4, always the best way to consume cricket, remains invulnerable to commerce and profit margins.

Read this, get angry, go protest. Or I'll send Freddie round.