ON Tuesday evening, Rajasthan Royals’ Indian Premier League game with Mumbai Indians was washed out without a ball being bowled.

Eighteen hours later, and on the opposite side of the world, Durham began the defence of their County Championship title in glorious sunshine at Riverside.

Who says the IPL is now the only show in town?

“I tried watching some of that Premier League stuff on the TV the other night,” said Geoff Clarke, a committed Durham supporter ensconced in the newly-built County Durham Stand. “But if I want to watch a 20-over game I’ll watch my lad play for his school on a Thursday night.”

When it comes to the brave new world of cricket, Durham members know what they like and like what they know. And the pocket of Yorkshiremen in attendance at Riverside yesterday weren’t even prepared to be that conciliatory.

It’s easy to scoff at county cricket, with its elderly support base, pedestrian pace and arcane ritual. But just because something isn’t hyped to the heavens doesn’t mean it is inherently invaluable.

Sitting in the afternoon sun yesterday, watching Ian Blackwell bring up his halfcentury with a classic square cut that ambled lazily to the boundary, it was impossible not to acknowledge the charms of the four-day game.

It might not court the younger generation, something that seems to have become an obsession for the ECB, but then, why should the youngsters have all the fun?

If Twenty20 is the equivalent of a fizzy alcopop, this is cricket as real ale. Warm and full-bodied, naturally. But not to be downed in one or tarted up with an array of gaudy colours and flavours.

“I’ve been looking forward to this since we set off back from Kent last September,”

said Clive Robson, a regular attendee who expects to spend plenty of leisurely afternoons under the watchful eye of Lumley Castle this summer.

“The first day of a new season is like the first day back at school. You meet up with lots of old friends and catch up on the gossip of what’s been happening since you last saw each other. Then you settle back and watch the cricket.”

Part sporting occasion, part social club, county cricket has an ambience all of its own.

The camaraderie of the 1,000-or-so supporters in attendance yesterday was evidenced by the regularity with which pleasantries were exchanged on a first-name basis.

Friendships have been forged here, and if you’re free on a Wednesday afternoon, why not renew old acquaintances on the edge of the boundary rope?

But the quality of the sport is not bad either, and those who would decry the value of county cricket should have been at Riverside to watch Blackwell and Matthew Hoggard attempting to resurrect international careers that have been on the wane for a while. Blackwell won most of the battles, playing a series of impeccable cover drives during the accumulation of 95 runs, but Hoggard eventually won the war, rescuing an otherwise inconsistent day with the delivery that lured Durham’s leading run maker into an injudicious drive that was caught behind.

A classic battle between bat and ball in other words. Cricket at its finest, and not a cheerleader or item of coloured clothing in sight.