It’s been a few weeks of silence from the cricket half of this blog as I (Martin) assume American citizenship and put my house in order. Nonetheless, cricket has continued, and thus needs to be reported on. The 2013 Indian Premier League came to a rousing conclusion, only to be completely overshadowed by corruption. Cynics might suggest that corruption is always the rousing conclusion that the IPL reaches, given the dodginess of its beginnings, but I’d actually enjoyed the tournament—especially its excessiveness.

Moving from the Twenty20 form of the game of cricket to the one-day form, the final Champions Trophy has come to an end, with India beating England in a rain-curtailed day that meant that the 50 overs the teams were meant to play became 20. Thus the one-day international (ODI) was a T20! India deservedly won when England choked with one hand on the trophy. But the rain it raineth every day in England, and many games were thwarted—so I can’t summon up much in the way of enthusiasm or malaise. What have we learned from the competition, which is being ended because no one can see any particular reason why it exists in a calendar already packed full or tournaments? India are back on top in the short form of the game; Australia are woeful; and England sometimes need to keep calm and carry on.