I read professionalist nostalgist Frank Keating's Graun column the other day- he says the county game has finally expired. But it hasn't been a major spectator attraction for decades- that was the whole justification for starting the limited over competitions in the 60s.

I think the championship can continue as a valid competition in its own right, not merely as feeder for and funded by test matches on TV. As others say, there are straightforward improvements- play under floodlights, over weekends etc.

Villa Warwickshire fans should be relieved it isn't Coventryshire (which was long the largest town thereabouts).

I'll admit that if four-innings cricket ever disappeared my eccentric interest in the game would certainly fall off. That said, I welcome the greater interest 20-20 brings, though I'm not sure the Indian viewers- and thus the paymasters- will love it to quite the extent suggested. They love Tendulkar and Dhoni, sure, but the next generation of stars might not be as good. For all that Boyd Rankin and other foreign imports will add exotic glamor...