I read where Michael Slater says the NSW cricket shouldn’t “flirt with the integrity” of what it stands for. This in relation to the Rugby League player, Andrew Johns, supposedly lining up for NSW in two Twenty20 games this coming season, in an attempt to attrack larger crowds.

Excuse me Slats, but integrity and Twenty20 shouldn’t really appear in the same sentence.. hang on, they just did! Oh well…. seriously, when it comes to Twenty20, there is no integrity. Check out the definition on dictionary.com. Words like “unimpaired”, “completeness”, “whole or undivided” - now think of cricket…mmm… Now think of the last game of Twenty20 you saw anything of……any resemblance? Nope.

So of course Andrew Johns can play Twenty20 for NSW. Of course it will put “more bums on seats” as the promoters want. This stunt will only highlight further what a farce the game is and widen the divide between the “cricketing purists” and the “cricketing tourists”.

Of course, the game needs the promotion and the money etc. that comes along with this rubbish, and getting more people involved with cricket will only make for a stronger pool of talent in the future - all those arguments still hold true, and still mean there is going to be a place for the promotional game, whether you like it or not, but please don’t talk to me about integrity!

Michael Slater says that this could be depriving a young contracted player from a position he more richly deserves - I disagree. No-one richly deserves a spot in a Twenty20 game anyway, and I don’t think a Rugby League jock, playing a couple of games of hit and giggle would have made any difference to Slat’s career. The blokes that are good enough will make it, whether or not they play in these promotional games - in fact they’re probably better of without them early on. Imagine if a young up-and-comer was dismissed in his first two Twenty20 games, by a Rugby League player, what then? Maybe an evictee from the Big Brother house could represent Queensland, or a Neighbours star could open the bowling for Victoria…

Cross posted on STUmpcam.