Dimitri Mascarenhas will be England's only representative when the IPL kicks off in two week's time after signing with Shane Warne's Jaipur franchise. Mascarenhas's England team-mates can only watch on enviously. In the Sunday Telegraph, Steve James looks at the man who is the first, but certainly won't be the last, to follow a path to riches and the impact it will have.
Here meetings are being held, statements made and gossip garnered. Shame that caution and compromise are county cricket's time-honoured watchwords. So probably best not to hold your breath about any great structural change. After all, Twenty20's invention was a blip in the conservatism; where marketeers prevailed over the majority of the cricketing fraternity.
Amid this maelstrom Mascarenhas's role appears refreshingly clear. To rake in the cash, you might argue. There is that. But what about experiencing the frisson of a world-class tournament? What about actually being quite good at this super-abbreviated form of the game?
Put simply, Mascarenhas is our best man for this job; the perfect revolutionary. Only a fully fit and available Andrew Flintoff would be better suited.
