Hideous, slaverig, 18-headed monster...there's a mother-in-law joke in this somewhere, but I can't for the life of me put it together.

Whilst I know very little about the ECB, one thing I do know is that the Ashes should be free for all to see. In Australia we are fortunate enough to have our international cricket (matches in Australia) on free to air and even if you're out you can be sure wherever you go there will be a tv on showing Australia smacking the Poms or some other team. It gets us as a nation talking and interested in cricket and is a good way to keep track of tests when you're busy.

Lots of insults and sarcasm, zero analysis and tons of prejudice. All amounting to a belief that prejudice expressed in a supposedly daring style will cover for a total absence of knowledge. Arrogant, shallow, offensive, misguided, deeply sad.

A couple of questions:

Would we even be having this conversation if England had been thumped like we were Down Under last time?

How loud will the complaints be from the broadcasters when the next 5 home Ashes matches are all over (in my dreams by England of course) within the first three days of each match?

Should all sportsmen and women be banned from 'writing autobiographies' until they are officially retired from the sport they are involved in? (Monty Panesar's first instalment is looking a bit sick now....)

Woh..nice humour yaar(i mean friend if you dont mind..ofcourse)I follow almost very cicket writing posssible and i have found a lot of criticism towards this man and his colleagues....duing and after stanford series,KP issue,when Stanfod went missing,when he was arrsted..wonder whether hes just another inept and coupt official or thrs is more to it....
again good humour espcially the intro and the laws...:)

Those of us who have followed Somerset for longer than we can remember can only shout 'told you so'. As Chairman of the county Clarke kept Somerset in the dark ages a publicity vehicle for his own ends.
We were delighted when he left for the ECB job and not surprised when he nearly derailed the England team only rescued by the weak Australia Ashes team of 2009.
Somerset are one of the best county teams currently and the revival began the day Clarke left.

This hits the nail on the head. Unfortunately I doubt whether the beast wants to change. It needs slaying (or at least have 10 heads removed)

The ashes is as important to Australians and Englishmen as the Olympics. It should be protected on free to air so that pensioners and the like who cant afford pay TV can watch. Mike Atherton has become a bit of a mouthpiece for Sky latley, shame, he has some fantastic points.

Scary that the leadership for the game in this country is in the hands of bloated windbag like Clarke. His performance trying to defend the SKY deal on Radio 5 was one of the most pathetic things I've heard in many years.

Interesting..are you suggesting that the county governing structure is more like a Quango, interested only in enriching the administrators and not in promoting the game or nurturing talent?

What would be an alternative to the current structure then? Or is this piece merely a rant that is to be ignored?

Quite good, actually, Andrew. From comments to previous articles, it might seem you have more detractors than fans. But, IMHO, your opinions often have a core of truth. I'm afraid that rest of the the slavering beast's tribe can be found in a similar cavern in the bowls of BCCI's office, where they not only continue to proliferate prodigiously, but have also set up a law firm to better handle the numerous pacts with the equally numerous Modis and the Shahs. Which explains, of course, why they are also imbubed with the Giles' First Law.

Does this mean Giles Clarke has multiple personality disorder problems him being the King, human foghorn, wise man, teacher, old chubby cheeks, hot head, philosopher, King of English Cricket, a large plump slightly indignant rat? ouch ;)

beowolf eh andrew?nice one but in this casethe 18 headedmonster needs to be kept alive andnourished...just tamed not killed :)