Let the games begin (or so said Ijaz Butt)

Cricket doesn't seem to do much entertainment by way of actual sporting action these days. Rather, we get soap-operas. Here is the latest, for Pakistani cricket, is as usual, convinced of conspiracies. Ijaz Butt has started the fun and games. I'd advise everyone to settle down with the popcorn and peanuts, and enjoy the spectacle.

Kesavan on the BCCI/WADA furore

A great piece by Mukul Kesavan on the ICC/WADA/BCCI standoff. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Edit: I realize this little pointer was just a bit of glib flattery but I did want to say that Kesavan's piece manages to capture the fact that there is a level of complexity to the drug testing standoff that doesn't seem to have been captured by the debate thus far.

Is making room for the IPL so difficult?

Could some wise soul, savvier than me in the ways of world finance and cricket scheduling and the like, please explain to the barriers that stand in the way of the IPL finding a slot for itself within the ICC's FTP? It is organized by one of the ICC's member boards, it utilizes those players that play in ICC-sanctioned international cricket, and it has the ICC's blessings. What stands in the way of such an arrangement, and why, increasingly, do players and players' bodies sound desperately pessimistic that such a scheduling no-brainer can be carried out?