Bums on the field of play put bums on seats...

Christopher Marrin-Jenkins was not a great football fan - he always referred to it as "Soccer" and always sounded puzzled when the sport was being discussed around him. But I thought of CMJ when I heard of the latest Luis Suarez incident. Not only did the player cheat but he is entirely unapologetic about having done so. By any standard of sporting fair play, and certainly by CMJ's, this is cynical and to be condemned.

But what then of the unseemly brawl involving Shane Warne in Australia? Is there a link with the Suarez incident? I think that there is. That link is, of course, money. Whether Shane Warne is beyond his sell-by date as a player remains to be seen. At 43 I would have thought that he probably was - he's four years older than England coach Ashley Giles for heaven's sake! But as a "Celebrity" his allure is undimmed. That is why "The Cricketer" magazine ran that horrific "feature" on him in its last edition. 

Warne is big-bashing (in more ways than one it seems) because its a nice little earner. And in his behaviour the old maxim that there's no such thing as bad publicity is apparent. Will there be more bums on seats next time Warne or Suarez plays? Maybe there will. Sadly in these times people are prepared to pay serious money to see Bums on the field of play.... In Memoriam CMJ.