A letter sits with the head of the International Cricket Council Haroon Lorgat. A well-thought out blueprint for the future of 50-over cricket, from Sachin Tendulkar. I hope it really is a handwritten letter. How romantic to think of him sitting at a desk, forehead in hand, ink-stained fingers furiously covering half a dozen sheets of A4 with hasty spidery writing, sticking a stamp on the envelope and trusting his thoughts to the postman.

Anyway, the contents of the letter, as reported on Tuesday, are of a man still hopelessly in love with the game. For Tendulkar, even now, there is no time for ennui. He suggests that 50-over cricket should become a four innings game — with 25 overs slots played alternately between the two sides. He also recommends that bowlers should be allowed 12 overs each and he wants to fiddle with the Powerplays to give advantage to the fielding side.

It is all very considered and thoughtful and probably where the game is going — if Tendulkar doesn’t know, who does? But disappointingly it is without the dripping poison or incompetence that decorates cricket’s most infamous messages. Take the Australian Cricket Board’s famous telegram of January 1933. Sent to the MCC in London, it stated forlornly that bodyline bowling is causing “intensely bitter feeling between the players, as well as injury. In our opinion it is unsportsmanlike”.