It's the Cold War all over again, but with cricket instead of nuclear bombs!

Two worlds collide, rival nations
It's a primitive clash, venting years of frustrations
Bravely we hope against all hope, there is so much at stake
Seems our freedom's up against the ropes
Does the crowd understand?
Is it a East vs. West, or man against man
Can any nation stand alone?

Never have more insightful words been spoken of the Iron Curtain than those above by Survivor in the epic Burning Heart. Now it seems the rubble of the great east-west divide that so dominated world politics (until some students got drunk and pulled a wall down in Germany) looks as though it is settling on cricket. 

The battle lines for this new Cold War, this clash of the hemispheres, were today drawn by Giles Clarke, who looks about as likely a player in such a grand scheme as Eisenhower did, as he admits that the ECB are meeting with Sir Allen Stanford to discuss a multi-franchise competition of our very own.    Clarke knows, like Eisenhower, that you don't need to look cool when you have the money behind you - and in Allen Stanford there is a veritable packed pustule of money.

"We don't want a knee-jerk reaction to the IPL" Clarke knee-jerkingly said today, "but we believe that we can set up a robust, spectator-friendly, economically sustainable competition of our own which will not cut across the core revenue streams of Test and one-day international cricket."

Have you ever heard less inspiring fighting talk in you life?