Enough has been said about how the IPL is a show, I'm going to dive straight into how to increase the spectacle.

As far as I'm concerned, the IPL brains trust haven't really cottoned on to the potential they have here and so I'm going to see if I can help out with logical developments for improving the game.

My latest proposal is called IPL on 'e' or eIPL, whichever you prefer.

'The thought of Herschelle Gibbs with a 30cm wide Titanium Driver bat gives me goose pimples'


The 'e' doesn't stand for the speed-like drug ecstasy, but for EQUIPMENT - and for all intents and purposes the effect is about the same as cricket on crack.

Enchanced equipment has seen tennis and golf metamorphasise and I reckon that cricket will do the same and that the IPL is the perfect forum for it.

I was watching Virender Sehwag against South Africa during the recent tour when he hit 309 and his bat looked a wee bit oversized and thought, 'hmm, I'm going to sound like a bad sport if I raise the alarm here'. The idea struck home and now I wonder if the IPL too could benefit a la Sehwag.

The thought of Herschelle Gibbs with a 30cm wide Titanium Driver bat gives me goose pimples.

Lets get the Q from the 007 movie set to look into some high-tech gadgets and I guarantee the game will go from Wimbledon with wooden rackets to the US Open with Carbon Fibre and Pete Sampras.

With a reworked ball and titanium bat the slog-feast will be spectaclar and satelites might need realigning prior to each IPL on 'e'.

I'm not a science-techie but I think fielders could benefit with some sort of glove arrangement, maybe a streamlined baseball mit. And in this creative fashion the extravaganza could really be set alight. Rocketballs with personal messages could be put into orbit and who knows, maybe NASA will buy into this format.

Some might say, 'It's not cricket', but ha, ha... as Test fans, we've already crossed that bridge, we might as well go the whole way.