The long cricket season has begun

In virtually all of the world in which cricket is played except for England, the game is principally played at the time of the English winter (which may or may not be summer in the country in question). As more and more matches have been scheduled, most of the international cricket teams of the world have become more and more busy in this period, and the period itself has slowly expanded, so that it now generally starts in early October (sometimes even September) and goes through to May (and occasionally even June), with the season being centred on different months in different countries.

In any event, this long season has been underway for about a week. South Africa are in Pakistan, and are playing a one day series. After three matches, Pakistan lead the five match series 2-1. New Zealand are in India, and after one day, they are in a good position in the first test thanks to a hundred from Rahul Dravid. England are about to arrive in Bangladesh. And Zimbabwe are in Australia, with the first test to start in Perth this evening British time. Scott Wickstein has been covering the buildup to this on ubersportingbpundit, and I will be providing coverage there as well, of all sides but with a particular focus on my Australians. (I think that is where most of my cricket coverage will be from now on, although I will continue to provide links from here). Any any event, that little buzz of pleasure I get whenever Australia is playing is about to hit.