MATT CRAM: Better off?

NS: Wrong.

MC: I don’t really know but I reckon the head counts would be a lot easier without any Tassie boys involved.

NS: Stop stereotyping for a minute and you’ll realise, in terms of population, Tasmania is the current powerhouse in Australian cricket.

MC: Can’t say I can agree with that — sounds like you’re trying to pump up your home state, you little Tassie Devil.

NS: There’s no arguing against it mate — there are three Tassie boys in the Test team, with captain Ricky Ponting, Ben Hilfenhaus and Tim Paine carrying the nation on their collective shoulders. Not a bad effort considering Tasmania contains just 2.5 per cent of the country’s population.

MC: A lucky coincidence more than a sign of an emerging power in Australian cricket I think.

NS: You keep telling yourself that. I’d also like to point out there is not one Victorian in the Test team at the moment. A woeful effort from a state with 10 times the population of the Apple Isle.

MC: I guess us Vics will just have to console ourselves with last season’s Twenty20 and Sheffield Shield championships, feats achieved without regular Test player Peter Siddle as well as short-form powerhouses, David Hussey and Cameron White.

NS: Well, I suppose you raise some valid points … but while we’re on cricket, what have you made of Shahid Afridi’s first Test at captain.

MC: Couldn’t tell you, mate.

NS: Why not?

MC: Couldn’t care less.

NS: I don’t think that’s what Border sports fans want to hear from sports journalists.

MC: Well, it’s not that I don’t care — it’s more that I’m saving myself. We have a magnificent summer of cricket ahead of us against England but it’s footy season. Mind you, I can understand why you Melbourne supporters might prefer to dwell on the marvels of Tasmania.

NS: Maybe when St Kilda pumps Collingwood by five goals tomorrow you’ll be more willing to chat about Afridi.