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So, after being rudely interrupted, the Benson and Hedges Cup resumes normal service next year, returning in its old format. This news seemed to cause outrage in certain influential circles. ``Too much one-day cricket . . . damages technique. . prostitutes the game. . . blah, blah, blah.'' Why do people denigrate one-day cricket so, blaming it for all the ills of the English game, labelling it a tasteless sideshow that devalues the main (first- class) fare?

The fact is one-day cricket is English cricket. The vast majority of players in England know only games that begin and end in a few hours. From the sheep-infested outfield at Goathland on the North York Moors to the quaint bowl at Cockington, on the outskirts of Torquay, where long-off and long-leg have a grandstand view 30ft above the batsmen, to all the players in between, one-day cricket is all they know.

In leagues and cups and Sunday friendlies and Tuesday night knockabouts, batsmen nudge and nurdle 20s and 30s, bowlers wheel through a handful of overs and that's their fill. They're experts at making the most of an hour at the crease or six overs up the hill. It's an asset we constantly undervalue.

The pinnacle of the game for county players is generally regarded to be first-class cricket. They are judged principally on their performances over the four-day version - number of centuries, five-wicket hauls, best partnerships, etc. Averages and assessments are never produced for one-day performances, as if they don't count or are somehow inferior.

Now lets get this straight. Whether its 50-over, 40-over or 20-over, its still cricket, not some cheap arcade business. The skills are the same, and in many ways are tested more severely by the constraints of time.

One-day cricket also examines fitness, versatility and mental fortitude in pressure situations. Many fine players - Glenn Turner in the Seventies, Desmond Haynes in the Eighties and Graham Thorpe and Darren Gough in the Nineties - really came out and discovered themselves through one-day cricket.

Added to the fact that the shortened form is as stimulating (generally) as four-day cricket is stultifying, it seems amazing that we have failed to build on this feature. For 28 years we've staged a maximum of three one-day internationals a summer, while the domestic game pottered along slowly expiring. Only now have we at last heeded the general public clamour for more (there will be 10 one-dayers next year).

As the World Cup demonstrated, England are way behind the six-ball in one day cricket. With more exposure to it there's no reason why we shouldn't catch up. Surely a successful England one-day side should be something to be proud of. And yet there is still some snobbish resistance to the latest idea to introduce a 20 or 25-over competition for county teams.

Don't look down your nose, think of the positives. Evening matches, excitement, all the games skills and a result in three hours. Why not use this as an appetite-whetter for the first-class match the next day.

Players overburdened? Well here's a simple solution. Reduce first-class matches to three days again. As many people pointed out in this paper's letters page on Monday, four-day cricket has been around for eight years now without producing the goods.

Frankly, four-day cricket is boring. It's boring to watch and it's boring to play. It removes time as a challenge in cricket. It's mainly an exercise in making the same work last longer. At county level, a briefer game is a better game.

``HEY, Simon, are you doing the cricket for the BBC again this summer?'' an elderly man asked me at Worcester last Saturday. ``Er no,'' I told him, ``Test cricket is not on the BBC this summer, Channel 4 have bought it.''

``Oh really?'' he said in velvet Evesham tones. ``Channel 4? Oy think that might be next to the BBC 2 button on moy TV. Oy'll 'ave to ask moy woyfe.'' This summer there are going to be a lot of similar consultations before armchair-peace is restored.