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In recent years many changes have been made to the rules of cricket to make the game more attractive to spectators.

To the casual observer cricket can, sometimes, get very boring. In Test cricket, for example, it may take four days or more to get a result. In a one-day international, getting a result can take up to eight hours. In the very popular Twenty20 game, the average time to get a result is just under three hours.

Cricket, when compared with other popular team games such as football, basketball and netball, can only attract a special breed of spectator. That is, those who have lots of time for recreation and are prepared to sit and concentrate for long periods.

Various changes have been made to the rules of cricket over the past 30 years to get more spectators into games. It started with the Packer revolution in the late 1970s where the best players from all over the world were invited to Australia. Packer's World Series Cricket changed the game in many ways. Colour clothing with the names of players on the back was introduced. There were also special fielding restrictions, and players began to wear the helmet and to pay more attention to their fitness.

Free hit

With the advent of the Twenty20 format, rules such as the 'free hit' following a no-ball have become popular with cricket crowds. The free hit has now even become a part of the regular 50-overs game.

As one who has followed cricket for many years, I am against too much tinkering with the rules of the game. While it must be appreciated that changes have to be made to maintain interest and to attract new people, these must not be at the expense of watering down the game.

I totally agree with the local Test cricketers who have been questioning some of the recent changes. Cricket is traditionally seen as a battle between bat and ball but the one-day game is increasingly becoming a batsman's game. The rules governing wides, bouncers and field placing are all intended to reduce the effectiveness of the bowlers. While all this may be great to watch, the game could be suffering. One of the rules the administrators could think of changing is the one-bouncer-per-over stipulation. This should be increased to at least two.

Jockeys', trainers' championships

The battles for the two most popular titles at Caymanas Park are poised to go down to the wire this year.

Two apprentices, Omar Walker and Javour Simpson, are giving the wily veteran, Trevor Simpson, a real run for his money.

With 53 wins from 253 rides, Trevor Simpson leads Walker by two and Javour Simpson by six.

Walker is in the best position to defeat Simpson. In addition to his very useful two-kilogramme claim, he is getting a number of 'live' rides from the powerhouse stables of leading trainer Wayne DaCosta. Simpson also gets some very good mounts from the barn of Philip Feanny, who is now second in the trainers' race, but DaCosta starts far more horses than Feanny. Since the beginning of the year, DaCosta has had 257 starters, while Feanny has sent out 156.

In the trainers' race, DaCosta had a September to remember. Going into last month, Feanny, who has been in front for much of the year, led the defending champion by over a million dollars in stakes. DaCosta has now turned it around to be leading by over $800,000 - $18,937,900 to $18,111,150. It's anybody's guess who will be on top at the end of the year.