The sport certainly has some major attractions – long winters in Australia and the Caribbean for instance.

But in many ways it is the players themselves who remain its biggest selling point.

A couple of weeks ago I heard radio reporters bemoaning the gradual decline of quote-worthy characters in the game.

(To find something to moan about when you’ve just spent the entire winter covering the Ashes followed by a couple of months island hopping in the West Indies takes some doing.)

The fear is that cricketers – some of the more erudite and quirky individuals world sport has to offer – are gradually having their edges sanded down by the increasing number of media relations officers who seem to be taking root in the game.

Spin is no longer confined to the pitch.

That process has already reached unbearable proportions in football where press officers exert such control over access to players that any hope of striking up a rapport which might lead to them saying something remotely interesting is becoming as likely as an Accrington Stanley Champions League win.

The thought of approaching a footballer for an interview without first asking permission from the press office is as out-of-date as a Frankie Says Relax t-shirt.

But after Saturday night’s experience I can confirm that reports of the demise of cricketers with something interesting to say are greatly exaggerated – in the West Midlands at least.

A host of Worcestershire and Warwickshire stars turned out to mark Solanki’s 10-years at New Road and they were all happy to go in front of our camera to talk about the man – no need to seek permission for the media relations chiefs first.

During an interview with Gareth Batty I asked whether he was surprised his team-mate had not won more England caps.

Used to hearing the rather anodine quotes that so often pass for comment from footballers I wasn’t quite prepared for the direct manner in which Batty answered the question, saying he would “go further than that” and this it was nothing short of a “disgrace” how Solanki had been treated by England.

A straight and forthright answer to a straight question.

Graeme Hick, Gladstone Small and Solanki were less controversial but equally entertaining during their brief stints in the glare of the lens.

It seems the characters are still alive and well – for now at least.