Shane Warne prays for a new sponsor

During the last World Cup, the ECB had the logos of its four principal event sponsors emblazoned behind the bowlers' run-ups, two at each end.

What would have happened if the ECB's marketing department had secured the eight "global partners" it had originally sought?

Outfields might have come to resemble the small-ads pages of a magazine.

With it becoming increasingly difficult to secure one-off packages, the future might indeed lie in numerous micro-deals. Space on the outfield could then be divided up and sold accordingly.

Nothing can be taken for granted. After all, the ECB know only too well that sponsors are now more inclined to chop and change between sports rather than opt for long-term brand association.

The ICC, too, have felt the pinch recently.

The travel and accommodation costs of their panel of international umpires, funded by National Grid from February 1994, and then last year by Happy Shopper, is now paid for out of their own pockets as a replacement sponsor is yet to be found.

Virtual advertising

But the future might not be as gaudy as it sounds.

Live spectators might be spared a myriad of company logos festooned everywhere from stumps to pavilion steps by the advent of "virtual advertising", the superimposition on television screens of adverts over the field of play.

As well as Channel 4 and Channel 7's coverage in England and Australia, the Ashes series will be carried throughout Asia by ESPN/Star, to South Africa by M-Net, and to New Zealand by Sky.

Therefore, virtual advertising could in future allow sponsorship deals to be tailored to individual telecasters, enabling national boards to tap into new markets.

Perhaps the Aussies are on to something after all.

Not content with carrying off the famous urn at the end of the summer, they have set their sights on carrying off a few pounds with it.