'You think this is cricket? You just wait...'

Everyone, it seems, now loves cricket, enthralled by colourful characters, on-field heroics, and nail biting finishes. But, says Magazine reader and long-time cricket-lover Conrad Floyd, the game's new fans have a nasty shock in store.

The air of expectation is building. All phone lines into Trent Bridge, the scene of next week's hotly awaited fourth Test, are engaged non-stop. From all over the world, people are asking for tickets to the game - even though the whole thing was sold out months ago.

Yes, the whole country can now join in the lyrics of the 10cc classic ..."I don't like cricket, oh no.... I LOVE IT!"

Hmmm. We'll see.

Conrad Floyd: 'I don't like cricket... oh no...'

There's one thing that the collective excitement over our wonderful national summer sport is forgetting, something everyone actually knows but seems to be in denial over.

It's simple - cricket is normally very dull. Very, very dull. Not much happens for long periods of the day. It often rains. Every six balls, the game stops while people change their positions. Only very rarely - such as when a resurgent England challenge the almighty Australia - does it get truly exciting.

Low turnout

While the staff at Trent Bridge are rushed off their feet this week, it's not normally like that. A typical county championship match, such as the one that Nottinghamshire won yesterday against my beloved Warwickshire, is lucky if it has 1,000 people in the audience. Even the very lowly Notts County, whose ground is next door, gets more than four times that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm addicted to the game. If I had just one disc on my desert island, it would be Soul Limbo (the instantly recognisable signature tune to cricket coverage). My luxury would be a bat. And if I couldn't fashion a ball out of a coconut, I would quite happily spend my time just going through the motions of a cover drive.

BBC Sport's Ashes coverage

So what is it that we cricket-lovers are so dedicated to? Part of the beauty for me is that this is a subtle game, with almost imperceptible twists, where stories unfold slowly and there's a premium on patience. It's only a joke to non-cricketers that you can be well-satisfied with a draw after playing the same game for five days. To us, it's true. Cricket is a game played largely in the head.

This game is a bit like gardening - after 10 years' dedication, you begin to have a real feeling for it. You come to pace your summer to a soundtrack of Jonathan Agnew chatting amiably with Vic Marks. Blofeld going on as only he can. CMJ's steady assurance. An occasional wicket, some champagne moments, probably a bit more rain.

Still, us cricket lovers are a decent bunch, and no-one is going to question any newcomer's right to be enthusiastic about the game. Everyone's welcome, especially if it helps highlight the small matter of Test cricket no longer being shown on free-to-air television.

Next summer's Tests, against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, should also be excellent matches. But will these newcomers still be around to see them?